1. HESI Prep - Health Assessment Practice Questions
Western Governors University D 236 QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED
ANSWERS) |ALREADY GRADED A+
The nurse is attempting to assess the femoral pulse in an obese patient. Which of these actions would
be most appropriate?
A) Have the patient assume a prone position.
B) Ask the patient to bend his or her knees to the side in a froglike position.
C) Press firmly against the bone with the patient in a semi-Fowler position.
D) Listen with a stethoscope for pulsations because it is very difficult to palpate the pulse in an obese
person. - answer :B) Regular "lub, dub" pattern
Pages: 510-511. To help expose the femoral area, particularly in obese people, the nurse should ask the
person to bend his or her knees to the side in a froglike position.
When using a Doppler ultrasonic stethoscope, the nurse recognizes arterial flow when which sound is
heard?
A) Low humming sound
B) Regular "lub, dub" pattern
C) Swishing, whooshing sound
D) Steady, even, flowing sound - answer :C) Swishing, whooshing sound
Pages: 515-516. When using the Doppler ultrasonic stethoscope, the pulse site is found when one hears
a swishing, whooshing sound.
,The nurse is reviewing an assessment of a patient's peripheral pulses and notices that the
documentation states that the radial pulses are "2+." The nurse recognizes that this reading indicates
what type of pulse?
A) Bounding
B) Normal
C) Weak
D) Absent - answer :B) Normal
Pages: 506-507. When documenting the force, or amplitude, of pulses, 3+ indicates an increased, full, or
bounding pulse, 2+ indicates a normal pulse, 1+ indicates a weak pulse, and 0 indicates an absent pulse.
1. The nurse is percussing the seventh right intercostal space at the midclavicular line over the liver.
Which sound should the nurse expect to hear?
A) Dullness
B) Tympany
C) Resonance
D) Hyperresonance - answer :A) Dullness
Page: 541. The liver is located in the right upper quadrant and would elicit a dull percussion note.
2. Which structure is located in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen?
A) Liver
B) Duodenum
C) Gallbladder
D) Sigmoid colon - answer :D) Sigmoid colon
,Page: 530. The sigmoid colon is located in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen.
3. The nurse suspects that a patient has a distended bladder. How should the nurse assess for this
condition?
A) Percuss and palpate in the lumbar region.
B) Inspect and palpate in the epigastric region.
C) Auscultate and percuss in the inguinal region.
D) Percuss and palpate the midline area above the suprapubic bone. - answer :D) Percuss and palpate
the midline area above the suprapubic bone.
Pages: 539-540. Dull percussion sounds would be elicited over a distended bladder, and the hypogastric
area would seem firm to palpation.
4. While examining a patient, the nurse observes abdominal pulsations between the xiphoid and
umbilicus. The nurse would suspect that these are:
A) pulsations of the renal arteries.
B) pulsations of the inferior vena cava.
C) normal abdominal aortic pulsations.
D) increased peristalsis from a bowel obstruction. - answer :C) normal abdominal aortic pulsations.
Pages: 538-539. Normally, one may see the pulsations from the aorta beneath the skin in the epigastric
area, particularly in thin persons with good muscle wall relaxation.
5. A patient has hypoactive bowel sounds. The nurse knows that a potential cause of hypoactive bowel
sounds is:
A) diarrhea.
B) peritonitis.
C) laxative use.
, D) gastroenteritis. - answer :B) peritonitis.
Page: 561. Diminished or absent bowel sounds signal decreased motility from inflammation as seen with
peritonitis, with paralytic ileus after abdominal surgery, or with late bowel obstruction.
6. The physician comments that a patient has abdominal borborygmi. The nurse knows that this term
refers to:
A) a loud continuous hum.
B) a peritoneal friction rub.
C) hypoactive bowel sounds.
D) hyperactive bowel sounds. - answer :D) hyperactive bowel sounds.
Pages: 539-540. Borborygmi is the term used for hyperperistalsis when the person actually feels his or
her stomach growling.
7. During an abdominal assessment, the nurse would consider which of these findings as normal?
A) The presence of a bruit in the femoral area
B) A tympanic percussion note in the umbilical region
C) A palpable spleen between the ninth and eleventh ribs in the left midaxillary line
D) A dull percussion note in the left upper quadrant at the midclavicular line - answer :B) A tympanic
percussion note in the umbilical region
Pages: 539-540. Tympany should predominate in all four quadrants of the abdomen because air in the
intestines rises to the surface when the person is supine. Vascular bruits are not usually present.
Normally the spleen is not palpable. Dullness would not be found in the area of lung resonance (left
upper quadrant at the midclavicular line).
8. During an abdominal assessment, the nurse is unable to hear bowel sounds in a patient's abdomen.
Before reporting this finding as "silent bowel sounds" the nurse should listen for at least:
Western Governors University D 236 QUESTIONS
AND CORRECT DETAILED ANSWERS (VERIFIED
ANSWERS) |ALREADY GRADED A+
The nurse is attempting to assess the femoral pulse in an obese patient. Which of these actions would
be most appropriate?
A) Have the patient assume a prone position.
B) Ask the patient to bend his or her knees to the side in a froglike position.
C) Press firmly against the bone with the patient in a semi-Fowler position.
D) Listen with a stethoscope for pulsations because it is very difficult to palpate the pulse in an obese
person. - answer :B) Regular "lub, dub" pattern
Pages: 510-511. To help expose the femoral area, particularly in obese people, the nurse should ask the
person to bend his or her knees to the side in a froglike position.
When using a Doppler ultrasonic stethoscope, the nurse recognizes arterial flow when which sound is
heard?
A) Low humming sound
B) Regular "lub, dub" pattern
C) Swishing, whooshing sound
D) Steady, even, flowing sound - answer :C) Swishing, whooshing sound
Pages: 515-516. When using the Doppler ultrasonic stethoscope, the pulse site is found when one hears
a swishing, whooshing sound.
,The nurse is reviewing an assessment of a patient's peripheral pulses and notices that the
documentation states that the radial pulses are "2+." The nurse recognizes that this reading indicates
what type of pulse?
A) Bounding
B) Normal
C) Weak
D) Absent - answer :B) Normal
Pages: 506-507. When documenting the force, or amplitude, of pulses, 3+ indicates an increased, full, or
bounding pulse, 2+ indicates a normal pulse, 1+ indicates a weak pulse, and 0 indicates an absent pulse.
1. The nurse is percussing the seventh right intercostal space at the midclavicular line over the liver.
Which sound should the nurse expect to hear?
A) Dullness
B) Tympany
C) Resonance
D) Hyperresonance - answer :A) Dullness
Page: 541. The liver is located in the right upper quadrant and would elicit a dull percussion note.
2. Which structure is located in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen?
A) Liver
B) Duodenum
C) Gallbladder
D) Sigmoid colon - answer :D) Sigmoid colon
,Page: 530. The sigmoid colon is located in the left lower quadrant of the abdomen.
3. The nurse suspects that a patient has a distended bladder. How should the nurse assess for this
condition?
A) Percuss and palpate in the lumbar region.
B) Inspect and palpate in the epigastric region.
C) Auscultate and percuss in the inguinal region.
D) Percuss and palpate the midline area above the suprapubic bone. - answer :D) Percuss and palpate
the midline area above the suprapubic bone.
Pages: 539-540. Dull percussion sounds would be elicited over a distended bladder, and the hypogastric
area would seem firm to palpation.
4. While examining a patient, the nurse observes abdominal pulsations between the xiphoid and
umbilicus. The nurse would suspect that these are:
A) pulsations of the renal arteries.
B) pulsations of the inferior vena cava.
C) normal abdominal aortic pulsations.
D) increased peristalsis from a bowel obstruction. - answer :C) normal abdominal aortic pulsations.
Pages: 538-539. Normally, one may see the pulsations from the aorta beneath the skin in the epigastric
area, particularly in thin persons with good muscle wall relaxation.
5. A patient has hypoactive bowel sounds. The nurse knows that a potential cause of hypoactive bowel
sounds is:
A) diarrhea.
B) peritonitis.
C) laxative use.
, D) gastroenteritis. - answer :B) peritonitis.
Page: 561. Diminished or absent bowel sounds signal decreased motility from inflammation as seen with
peritonitis, with paralytic ileus after abdominal surgery, or with late bowel obstruction.
6. The physician comments that a patient has abdominal borborygmi. The nurse knows that this term
refers to:
A) a loud continuous hum.
B) a peritoneal friction rub.
C) hypoactive bowel sounds.
D) hyperactive bowel sounds. - answer :D) hyperactive bowel sounds.
Pages: 539-540. Borborygmi is the term used for hyperperistalsis when the person actually feels his or
her stomach growling.
7. During an abdominal assessment, the nurse would consider which of these findings as normal?
A) The presence of a bruit in the femoral area
B) A tympanic percussion note in the umbilical region
C) A palpable spleen between the ninth and eleventh ribs in the left midaxillary line
D) A dull percussion note in the left upper quadrant at the midclavicular line - answer :B) A tympanic
percussion note in the umbilical region
Pages: 539-540. Tympany should predominate in all four quadrants of the abdomen because air in the
intestines rises to the surface when the person is supine. Vascular bruits are not usually present.
Normally the spleen is not palpable. Dullness would not be found in the area of lung resonance (left
upper quadrant at the midclavicular line).
8. During an abdominal assessment, the nurse is unable to hear bowel sounds in a patient's abdomen.
Before reporting this finding as "silent bowel sounds" the nurse should listen for at least:
