1 Inquire through: | Professional | Confidential Support
NCLEX pre op/post op Questions and Answers
(100% Correct Answers)
Common Preoperative Medications:
Ans: 1) Benzodiazepines and barbiturates: for sedation and amnesia
2) Anticholinergics: to reduce secretions
3) Opioids: to decrease intraoperative anesthetic requirements and pain
4) Additional drugs include antiemetics, antibiotics, eye drops, and regular
prescription drugs
Drug Use in Pre-Op setting:
Benzodiazepines and barbiturates
Ans: Drug used in pre-op setting for sedation and amnesia
Drug Use in Pre-Op setting:
Anticholinergics
Ans: Drug used in pre-op setting to reduce secretions.
Drug Use in Pre-Op setting:
Opioids
Ans: Drug used in pre-op setting to decrease intraoperative anesthetic requirements
and pain.
Pre-Op patients should be screened for possible critical allergies?
Ans: Pre-Op pts should be screened for critical allergies:
Latex, Iodine, and allergies to anesthesia that may result in Malignant Hyperthermia.
In the surgical setting, where is the center of the sterile field?
Ans: The center of the sterile field is the site of the surgical incision.
Five minutes after receiving a preoperative sedative medication by IV injection, a
patient asks the nurse to get up to go to the bathroom to urinate. Which of the
following is the most appropriate action for the nurse to take?
A.) Assist patient to bathroom and stay next to door to assist patient back to bed
when done.
,2 Inquire through: | Professional | Confidential Support
B. Allow patient to go to the bathroom since the onset of the medication will be more
than 5 minutes.
C. Offer the patient to use the urinal/bedpan after explaining the need to maintain
safety.
D. Ask patient to hold the urine for a short period of time since a urinary catheter
will be placed in the operating room.
Ans: C. Offer the patient to use the urinal/bedpan after explaining the need to
maintain safety.
The prime issue after administration of either sedative or opioid analgesic
medications is safety. Because the medications affect the central nervous system, the
patient is at risk for falls and should not be allowed out of bed, even with assistance.
As the nurse is preparing a patient for surgery, the patient refuses to remove a
wedding ring. Which of the following is the most appropriate action by the nurse?
A. Note the presence of the ring in the nurse's notes of the chart.
B. Insist the patient remove the ring.
C. Explain that the hospital will not be responsible for the ring.
D. Tape the ring securely to the finger.
Ans: C. Explain that the hospital will not be responsible for the ring.
It is customary policy to tape a patient's wedding band to the finger and make a
notation on the preoperative checklist that the ring is taped in place.
While performing preoperative teaching, the patient asks when she needs to stop
drinking water before the surgery. Based on the most recent practice guidelines
established by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the nurse tells the patient
that:
A. She must be NPO after breakfast.
B. She needs to be NPO after midnight.
C. She can drink clear liquids up to 2 hours before surgery.
D. She can drink clear liquids up until she is taken to the OR.
Ans: C. She can drink clear liquids up to 2 hours before surgery.
Practice guidelines for preoperative fasting state the minimum fasting period for
clear liquids is 2 hours. Evidenced-based practice no longer supports the long-
standing practice of requiring patients to be NPO after midnight.
, 3 Inquire through: | Professional | Confidential Support
The nurse is admitting a patient to the same day surgery unit. The patient tells the
nurse that he was so nervous he had to take kava last evening to help him sleep.
Which of the following nursing actions would be most appropriate?
A. Inform the anesthesiologist of the patient's ingestion of kava.
B. Tell the patient that using kava to help sleep was a good idea.
C. Tell the patient that the kava should continue to help him relax before surgery.
D. Inform the patient about the dangers of taking herbal medicines without
consulting his health care provider.
Ans: A. Inform the anesthesiologist of the patient's ingestion of kava.
Kava may prolong the effects of certain anesthetics. Thus the anesthesiologist needs
to be informed of recent ingestion of this herbal supplement.
The nurse would be alerted to the occurrence of malignant hyperthermia when the
patient demonstrates:
A. Hypocapnia
B. Muscle rigidity
C. Decreased body temperature
D. Confusion upon arousal from anesthesia
Ans: B. Muscle rigidity
Malignant hyperthermia is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperthermia with
rigidity of skeletal muscles occurring secondary to exposure to certain anesthetic
agents in susceptible patients. Hypoxemia, hypercarbia, and dysrhythmias may also
be seen with this disorder.
Before admitting a patient to the operating room, the nurse recognizes that which of
the following must be attached to the chart of all patients?
A. A functional status evaluation
B. Renal and liver function tests
C. A physical examination report
D. An electrocardiogram
Ans: C. A physical examination report.
NCLEX pre op/post op Questions and Answers
(100% Correct Answers)
Common Preoperative Medications:
Ans: 1) Benzodiazepines and barbiturates: for sedation and amnesia
2) Anticholinergics: to reduce secretions
3) Opioids: to decrease intraoperative anesthetic requirements and pain
4) Additional drugs include antiemetics, antibiotics, eye drops, and regular
prescription drugs
Drug Use in Pre-Op setting:
Benzodiazepines and barbiturates
Ans: Drug used in pre-op setting for sedation and amnesia
Drug Use in Pre-Op setting:
Anticholinergics
Ans: Drug used in pre-op setting to reduce secretions.
Drug Use in Pre-Op setting:
Opioids
Ans: Drug used in pre-op setting to decrease intraoperative anesthetic requirements
and pain.
Pre-Op patients should be screened for possible critical allergies?
Ans: Pre-Op pts should be screened for critical allergies:
Latex, Iodine, and allergies to anesthesia that may result in Malignant Hyperthermia.
In the surgical setting, where is the center of the sterile field?
Ans: The center of the sterile field is the site of the surgical incision.
Five minutes after receiving a preoperative sedative medication by IV injection, a
patient asks the nurse to get up to go to the bathroom to urinate. Which of the
following is the most appropriate action for the nurse to take?
A.) Assist patient to bathroom and stay next to door to assist patient back to bed
when done.
,2 Inquire through: | Professional | Confidential Support
B. Allow patient to go to the bathroom since the onset of the medication will be more
than 5 minutes.
C. Offer the patient to use the urinal/bedpan after explaining the need to maintain
safety.
D. Ask patient to hold the urine for a short period of time since a urinary catheter
will be placed in the operating room.
Ans: C. Offer the patient to use the urinal/bedpan after explaining the need to
maintain safety.
The prime issue after administration of either sedative or opioid analgesic
medications is safety. Because the medications affect the central nervous system, the
patient is at risk for falls and should not be allowed out of bed, even with assistance.
As the nurse is preparing a patient for surgery, the patient refuses to remove a
wedding ring. Which of the following is the most appropriate action by the nurse?
A. Note the presence of the ring in the nurse's notes of the chart.
B. Insist the patient remove the ring.
C. Explain that the hospital will not be responsible for the ring.
D. Tape the ring securely to the finger.
Ans: C. Explain that the hospital will not be responsible for the ring.
It is customary policy to tape a patient's wedding band to the finger and make a
notation on the preoperative checklist that the ring is taped in place.
While performing preoperative teaching, the patient asks when she needs to stop
drinking water before the surgery. Based on the most recent practice guidelines
established by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, the nurse tells the patient
that:
A. She must be NPO after breakfast.
B. She needs to be NPO after midnight.
C. She can drink clear liquids up to 2 hours before surgery.
D. She can drink clear liquids up until she is taken to the OR.
Ans: C. She can drink clear liquids up to 2 hours before surgery.
Practice guidelines for preoperative fasting state the minimum fasting period for
clear liquids is 2 hours. Evidenced-based practice no longer supports the long-
standing practice of requiring patients to be NPO after midnight.
, 3 Inquire through: | Professional | Confidential Support
The nurse is admitting a patient to the same day surgery unit. The patient tells the
nurse that he was so nervous he had to take kava last evening to help him sleep.
Which of the following nursing actions would be most appropriate?
A. Inform the anesthesiologist of the patient's ingestion of kava.
B. Tell the patient that using kava to help sleep was a good idea.
C. Tell the patient that the kava should continue to help him relax before surgery.
D. Inform the patient about the dangers of taking herbal medicines without
consulting his health care provider.
Ans: A. Inform the anesthesiologist of the patient's ingestion of kava.
Kava may prolong the effects of certain anesthetics. Thus the anesthesiologist needs
to be informed of recent ingestion of this herbal supplement.
The nurse would be alerted to the occurrence of malignant hyperthermia when the
patient demonstrates:
A. Hypocapnia
B. Muscle rigidity
C. Decreased body temperature
D. Confusion upon arousal from anesthesia
Ans: B. Muscle rigidity
Malignant hyperthermia is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperthermia with
rigidity of skeletal muscles occurring secondary to exposure to certain anesthetic
agents in susceptible patients. Hypoxemia, hypercarbia, and dysrhythmias may also
be seen with this disorder.
Before admitting a patient to the operating room, the nurse recognizes that which of
the following must be attached to the chart of all patients?
A. A functional status evaluation
B. Renal and liver function tests
C. A physical examination report
D. An electrocardiogram
Ans: C. A physical examination report.
