NR302 Final Exam 2026/2027
Comprehensive Nursing Exam
Questions and Answers
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━
Health Assessment for Nursing Practice
2026
75 NCLEX-Style Review Questions
Categorized by Health Assessment Domain
with Rationales and Answer Key
,Table of Contents
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 2
Domain 1: Comprehensive Health History & Interview Techniques ................................. 3
Domain 2: Physical Examination Techniques ....................................................................... 5
Domain 3: Assessment Across the Lifespan .......................................................................... 7
Domain 4: Cultural & Spiritual Assessment ......................................................................... 9
Domain 5: Nutritional Assessment ....................................................................................... 10
Domain 6: Mental Status Assessment .................................................................................. 11
Domain 7: Integumentary Assessment ................................................................................. 13
Domain 8: Head, Neck & Lymphatic Assessment .............................................................. 14
Domain 9: Eye Assessment .................................................................................................... 16
Domain 10: Ear Assessment .................................................................................................. 17
Domain 11: Nose, Mouth & Throat Assessment ................................................................. 19
Domain 12: Thorax & Lung Assessment ............................................................................. 20
Domain 13: Cardiovascular Assessment .............................................................................. 22
Domain 14: Peripheral Vascular Assessment ...................................................................... 24
Domain 15: Abdominal Assessment ..................................................................................... 26
Domain 16: Musculoskeletal Assessment ............................................................................. 27
Domain 17: Neurological Assessment .................................................................................. 29
Domain 18: Male & Female Genitourinary Assessment .................................................... 30
Domain 19: Breast & Axillae Assessment ............................................................................ 31
Domain 20: Anus, Rectum & Prostate Assessment ............................................................ 32
Domain 21: Documentation & Clinical Reasoning ............................................................. 33
Answer Key ............................................................................................................................. 34
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 2
Page 2
,Domain 1: Comprehensive Health History & Interview Techniques ................................. 3
Domain 2: Physical Examination Techniques ....................................................................... 5
Domain 3: Assessment Across the Lifespan .......................................................................... 7
Domain 4: Cultural & Spiritual Assessment ......................................................................... 9
Domain 5: Nutritional Assessment ....................................................................................... 10
Domain 6: Mental Status Assessment .................................................................................. 11
Domain 7: Integumentary Assessment ................................................................................. 13
Domain 8: Head, Neck & Lymphatic Assessment .............................................................. 14
Domain 9: Eye Assessment .................................................................................................... 16
Domain 10: Ear Assessment .................................................................................................. 17
Domain 11: Nose, Mouth & Throat Assessment ................................................................. 19
Domain 12: Thorax & Lung Assessment ............................................................................. 20
Domain 13: Cardiovascular Assessment .............................................................................. 22
Domain 14: Peripheral Vascular Assessment ...................................................................... 24
Domain 15: Abdominal Assessment ..................................................................................... 26
Domain 16: Musculoskeletal Assessment ............................................................................. 27
Domain 17: Neurological Assessment .................................................................................. 29
Domain 18: Male & Female Genitourinary Assessment .................................................... 30
Domain 19: Breast & Axillae Assessment ............................................................................ 31
Domain 20: Anus, Rectum & Prostate Assessment ............................................................ 32
Domain 21: Documentation & Clinical Reasoning ............................................................. 33
Answer Key ............................................................................................................................. 34
Domain 1: Comprehensive Health History & Interview Techniques
1. A nurse is obtaining a health history from a new patient. Which question is an example of an
open-ended question?
Page 3
, A. Do you have chest pain?
B. Are you experiencing any breathing difficulties?
C. Tell me about your breathing since you were diagnosed with asthma.
D. Have you taken your medication today?
Rationale: Open-ended questions encourage the patient to elaborate and provide detailed
information. 'Tell me about your breathing since you were diagnosed with asthma' invites a narrative
response. Options A, B, and D are closed-ended questions that elicit yes/no or brief factual answers,
which limit the depth of information gathered during a health history interview.
2. During a health history interview, a patient states, "I've been having headaches for the past three
weeks." Which component of the history of present illness (HPI) does this statement represent?
A. Location
B. Onset and duration
C. Severity
D. Associated symptoms
Rationale: The patient describes the timing of the symptom ('past three weeks'), which corresponds to
onset and duration in the HPI framework (OLD CARTS: Onset, Location, Duration, Character,
Aggravating factors, Relieving factors, Timing, Severity). Location would be where the pain occurs;
severity would rate the intensity; associated symptoms are additional symptoms that accompany the
primary complaint.
3. A nurse is using therapeutic communication techniques during a patient interview. Which
response best demonstrates the technique of reflection?
A. I understand how you feel about your diagnosis.
B. It sounds like you are feeling frustrated about the delay in your test results.
C. Can you tell me more about what happened yesterday?
D. Why did you decide not to take your medication?
Rationale: Reflection involves restating the patient's message in the nurse's own words to validate
feelings and encourage further expression. Option B reflects the patient's implied emotions
(frustration about delays). Option A is a cliché that can feel dismissive. Option C uses open-ended
questioning. Option D asks 'why,' which can make patients feel interrogated or defensive.
4. When collecting a family history, the nurse learns that the patient's father had hypertension, the
mother had type 2 diabetes, and a sibling died of breast cancer at age 45. Which condition should
the nurse prioritize for further screening discussion?
Page 4
Comprehensive Nursing Exam
Questions and Answers
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
━━━━━━━━━━
Health Assessment for Nursing Practice
2026
75 NCLEX-Style Review Questions
Categorized by Health Assessment Domain
with Rationales and Answer Key
,Table of Contents
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 2
Domain 1: Comprehensive Health History & Interview Techniques ................................. 3
Domain 2: Physical Examination Techniques ....................................................................... 5
Domain 3: Assessment Across the Lifespan .......................................................................... 7
Domain 4: Cultural & Spiritual Assessment ......................................................................... 9
Domain 5: Nutritional Assessment ....................................................................................... 10
Domain 6: Mental Status Assessment .................................................................................. 11
Domain 7: Integumentary Assessment ................................................................................. 13
Domain 8: Head, Neck & Lymphatic Assessment .............................................................. 14
Domain 9: Eye Assessment .................................................................................................... 16
Domain 10: Ear Assessment .................................................................................................. 17
Domain 11: Nose, Mouth & Throat Assessment ................................................................. 19
Domain 12: Thorax & Lung Assessment ............................................................................. 20
Domain 13: Cardiovascular Assessment .............................................................................. 22
Domain 14: Peripheral Vascular Assessment ...................................................................... 24
Domain 15: Abdominal Assessment ..................................................................................... 26
Domain 16: Musculoskeletal Assessment ............................................................................. 27
Domain 17: Neurological Assessment .................................................................................. 29
Domain 18: Male & Female Genitourinary Assessment .................................................... 30
Domain 19: Breast & Axillae Assessment ............................................................................ 31
Domain 20: Anus, Rectum & Prostate Assessment ............................................................ 32
Domain 21: Documentation & Clinical Reasoning ............................................................. 33
Answer Key ............................................................................................................................. 34
Table of Contents ..................................................................................................................... 2
Page 2
,Domain 1: Comprehensive Health History & Interview Techniques ................................. 3
Domain 2: Physical Examination Techniques ....................................................................... 5
Domain 3: Assessment Across the Lifespan .......................................................................... 7
Domain 4: Cultural & Spiritual Assessment ......................................................................... 9
Domain 5: Nutritional Assessment ....................................................................................... 10
Domain 6: Mental Status Assessment .................................................................................. 11
Domain 7: Integumentary Assessment ................................................................................. 13
Domain 8: Head, Neck & Lymphatic Assessment .............................................................. 14
Domain 9: Eye Assessment .................................................................................................... 16
Domain 10: Ear Assessment .................................................................................................. 17
Domain 11: Nose, Mouth & Throat Assessment ................................................................. 19
Domain 12: Thorax & Lung Assessment ............................................................................. 20
Domain 13: Cardiovascular Assessment .............................................................................. 22
Domain 14: Peripheral Vascular Assessment ...................................................................... 24
Domain 15: Abdominal Assessment ..................................................................................... 26
Domain 16: Musculoskeletal Assessment ............................................................................. 27
Domain 17: Neurological Assessment .................................................................................. 29
Domain 18: Male & Female Genitourinary Assessment .................................................... 30
Domain 19: Breast & Axillae Assessment ............................................................................ 31
Domain 20: Anus, Rectum & Prostate Assessment ............................................................ 32
Domain 21: Documentation & Clinical Reasoning ............................................................. 33
Answer Key ............................................................................................................................. 34
Domain 1: Comprehensive Health History & Interview Techniques
1. A nurse is obtaining a health history from a new patient. Which question is an example of an
open-ended question?
Page 3
, A. Do you have chest pain?
B. Are you experiencing any breathing difficulties?
C. Tell me about your breathing since you were diagnosed with asthma.
D. Have you taken your medication today?
Rationale: Open-ended questions encourage the patient to elaborate and provide detailed
information. 'Tell me about your breathing since you were diagnosed with asthma' invites a narrative
response. Options A, B, and D are closed-ended questions that elicit yes/no or brief factual answers,
which limit the depth of information gathered during a health history interview.
2. During a health history interview, a patient states, "I've been having headaches for the past three
weeks." Which component of the history of present illness (HPI) does this statement represent?
A. Location
B. Onset and duration
C. Severity
D. Associated symptoms
Rationale: The patient describes the timing of the symptom ('past three weeks'), which corresponds to
onset and duration in the HPI framework (OLD CARTS: Onset, Location, Duration, Character,
Aggravating factors, Relieving factors, Timing, Severity). Location would be where the pain occurs;
severity would rate the intensity; associated symptoms are additional symptoms that accompany the
primary complaint.
3. A nurse is using therapeutic communication techniques during a patient interview. Which
response best demonstrates the technique of reflection?
A. I understand how you feel about your diagnosis.
B. It sounds like you are feeling frustrated about the delay in your test results.
C. Can you tell me more about what happened yesterday?
D. Why did you decide not to take your medication?
Rationale: Reflection involves restating the patient's message in the nurse's own words to validate
feelings and encourage further expression. Option B reflects the patient's implied emotions
(frustration about delays). Option A is a cliché that can feel dismissive. Option C uses open-ended
questioning. Option D asks 'why,' which can make patients feel interrogated or defensive.
4. When collecting a family history, the nurse learns that the patient's father had hypertension, the
mother had type 2 diabetes, and a sibling died of breast cancer at age 45. Which condition should
the nurse prioritize for further screening discussion?
Page 4
