NCLEX NCLEX-PN
Nclex PN Questions and Answers
1. A nurse monitoring a client with a chest tube notes that there is no tidaling of fluid in the water seal chamber. After further assessment, the nurse suspects that the client’s lung has reexpanded and notifies the healthcare provider. The healthcare provider verifies with the use of a chest x-ray that the lung has reexpanded, then calls the nurse to ask that the chest tube be removed. Which action should the nurse take first?
- A. Explain the procedure to the client, then remove the chest tube.
- B. Call the nursing supervisor.
- C. Inform the healthcare provider that removal of a chest tube is not a nursing procedure.
- D. Obtain petrolatum-impregnated gauze and ask another nurse to assist in removing the chest tube.
Correct answer: Inform the healthcare provider that removal of a chest tube is not a nursing procedure.
Rationale: The correct action for the nurse to take first is to inform the healthcare provider that removal of a chest tube is not a nursing procedure. Actual removal of a chest tube is the duty of a healthcare provider. If the healthcare provider insists that the nurse remove the tube, the nurse must contact the nursing supervisor. Some agencies’ policies and procedures may permit an advanced practice nurse to remove a chest tube, but there is no information in the question to indicate that the nurse is an advanced practice nurse. Choice A is incorrect because the nurse should not proceed with removing the chest tube without proper authorization. Choice B is incorrect as calling the nursing supervisor should come after clarifying with the healthcare provider. Choice D is incorrect as the nurse should not begin the process of removing the chest tube without proper guidance and authorization.
2. All of the following interventions should be performed when fetal heart monitoring indicates fetal distress except:
- A. increase maternal fluids
- B. administer oxygen
- C. decrease maternal fluids
- D. turn the mother
Correct answer: decrease maternal fluids
Rationale: When fetal distress is indicated, interventions are aimed at improving oxygenation and blood flow to the fetus. Increasing maternal fluids helps improve blood flow and oxygen delivery, administering oxygen increases oxygenation levels, and turning the mother can help optimize fetal oxygenation. Decreasing maternal fluids would negatively impact blood volume and can worsen fetal distress, making it the exception among the listed interventions. Therefore, decreasing maternal fluids should not be performed when fetal distress is present.
3. A one-month-old infant in the neonatal intensive care unit is dying. The parents request that the nurse administer an opioid analgesic to their infant, who is crying weakly. The infant’s heart rate is 68 beats per minute, and the respiratory rate is 18 breaths per minute. The infant is on room air, and the oxygen saturation is 92%. The nurse’s response is based on which of the following principles?
- A. Providing analgesia during the last days and hours is an ethically appropriate nursing action.
- B. Withholding the opioid analgesia during the last days and hours is an ethical duty because administering it would represent assisted suicide.
- C. Administering analgesia during the last days and hours is the parents' ethical decision.
- D. Withholding the opioid analgesia is clinically appropriate because it will hasten the infant’s death.
Correct answer: Providing analgesia during the last days and hours is an ethically appropriate nursing action.
Rationale: All patients, regardless of age, have the right to die with dignity and be free from pain. In this case, the parents' request for an opioid analgesic to relieve the child's distress aligns with the principles of palliative care and ensuring comfort. Assisted suicide involves a conscious decision by the individual, which is not applicable to a 1-month-old infant. Both the nurse and the parents have an ethical duty to ensure the infant's comfort and well-being. Withholding opioid analgesia solely to hasten death is not appropriate, as providing pain relief is a crucial aspect of end-of-life care. Opioids can be administered to dying patients at any age to alleviate suffering without the intention of hastening death. Therefore, providing analgesia during the last days and hours is an ethically appropriate nursing action. Choices B, C, and D are incorrect because the decision to administer analgesia in this scenario is based on the best interest and comfort of the infant, not concerns about assisted suicide or hastening death. The ethical consideration is to provide compassionate care and alleviate suffering.
4. While assessing for costovertebral angle tenderness, a nurse percusses the area, and the client complains of sharp pain. The nurse interprets this finding as most indicative of which disorder?
- A. Liver enlargement
- B. Ovarian infection
- C. Spleen enlargement
- D. Kidney inflammation
Correct answer: D: Kidney inflammation
Rationale: When assessing for costovertebral angle tenderness, sharp pain on percussion of the area indicates inflammation of the kidney or paranephric area. The correct technique involves placing one hand over the 12th rib, at the costovertebral angle, and thumping that hand with the ulnar edge of the other fist. The client normally feels a thud and should not experience pain. Ovarian infection, liver enlargement, or spleen enlargement are not associated with the costovertebral angle tenderness. Therefore, the correct answer is kidney inflammation.
5. A client has chronic respiratory acidosis caused by end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Oxygen is delivered at 1 L/min via nasal cannula. The nurse teaches the family that the reason for this is to avoid respiratory depression, based on which of the following explanations?
- A. COPD clients are stimulated to breathe by hypoxia.
- B. COPD clients depend on a low carbon dioxide level.
- C. COPD clients tend to retain hydrogen ions if they are given high doses of oxygen.
- D. COPD clients thrive on a high oxygen level.
Correct answer: COPD clients are stimulated to breathe by hypoxia.
Rationale: In clients with COPD and chronic respiratory acidosis, they are compensating for low oxygen and high carbon dioxide levels. Hypoxia acts as the main stimulus to breathe in individuals with chronic hypercapnia. When oxygen is administered, it can decrease the respiratory drive by eliminating the hypoxic drive and reducing the stimulus to breathe. Therefore, delivering oxygen at 1 L/min via nasal cannula helps prevent respiratory depression by maintaining the hypoxic drive to breathe. The other options are incorrect: COPD clients do not depend on a low carbon dioxide level as they are chronically hypercapnic, they do not retain hydrogen ions with high oxygen doses, and they do not thrive on a high oxygen level.
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