HESI A2 CRITICAL THINKING 2026
COMPREHENSIVE TEST QUESTIONS WITH
ACCURATE ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
⩥ The Patient: An older confused male.
The Situation: At 3 am the patient, who thinks he is in the bathroom,
defecates in the bed. The bed needs to be changed. However, there are
no bed sheets on the nursing unit.
The Question: What action should the nurse take first?
Answer: Ask a nursing assistant to go to another unit and borrow linen.
⩥ The Patient: A 25-year-old female hospitalized for anorexia.
The Situation: The charge nurse denies the patient permission to pass
dinner trays.
The Question: What is the most important reason for the nurse to deny
this anorexic patient permission to pass the dinner trays?
Answer: Treatment protocol for anorexics mandates that they avoid
preoccupation with food.
⩥ The Patient: A 75-year-old male who had a heart attack four years ago.
The Situation: The patient tells the nurse, "Even though I stopped
smoking 10 years ago, I have a terrible cough."
, The Question: What action should the nurse take first?
Answer: Auscultate all lung fields.
⩥ The Patient: A 70-year-old man dying of prostate cancer.
The Situation: Nurse "A," who is charge of a medical unit, notices that a
dying patient continues to moan in pain after receiving intravenous
injections of morphine whenever Nurse "B" may be diluting the patient's
dose and taking the morphine to feed an addiction.
The Question: What should Nurse "A" do in this situation?
Answer: Notify the shift supervisor and unit director of the
circumstances before taking action.
⩥ The Patient: A 29-year-old male.
The Situation: A lower leg cast was applied yesterday to a fractured leg.
Today the patient tells the nurse that he is in "terrible pain."
The Question: Which action is most important for the nurse to take?
Answer: Check the patient's those for adequate circulation.
⩥ The Patient: A 54-year-old male who weighs 275 pounds. He is 5'10'
tall and has many family members who have died of heart disease.
The Situation: He comes to the clinic stating that he has had several
episodes of "chest pain" in the last week.
The Question: What is the most important action for the nurse to take?
Answer: Ask the patient to describe the chest pain.
COMPREHENSIVE TEST QUESTIONS WITH
ACCURATE ANSWERS AND SOLUTIONS
GRADED A+
⩥ The Patient: An older confused male.
The Situation: At 3 am the patient, who thinks he is in the bathroom,
defecates in the bed. The bed needs to be changed. However, there are
no bed sheets on the nursing unit.
The Question: What action should the nurse take first?
Answer: Ask a nursing assistant to go to another unit and borrow linen.
⩥ The Patient: A 25-year-old female hospitalized for anorexia.
The Situation: The charge nurse denies the patient permission to pass
dinner trays.
The Question: What is the most important reason for the nurse to deny
this anorexic patient permission to pass the dinner trays?
Answer: Treatment protocol for anorexics mandates that they avoid
preoccupation with food.
⩥ The Patient: A 75-year-old male who had a heart attack four years ago.
The Situation: The patient tells the nurse, "Even though I stopped
smoking 10 years ago, I have a terrible cough."
, The Question: What action should the nurse take first?
Answer: Auscultate all lung fields.
⩥ The Patient: A 70-year-old man dying of prostate cancer.
The Situation: Nurse "A," who is charge of a medical unit, notices that a
dying patient continues to moan in pain after receiving intravenous
injections of morphine whenever Nurse "B" may be diluting the patient's
dose and taking the morphine to feed an addiction.
The Question: What should Nurse "A" do in this situation?
Answer: Notify the shift supervisor and unit director of the
circumstances before taking action.
⩥ The Patient: A 29-year-old male.
The Situation: A lower leg cast was applied yesterday to a fractured leg.
Today the patient tells the nurse that he is in "terrible pain."
The Question: Which action is most important for the nurse to take?
Answer: Check the patient's those for adequate circulation.
⩥ The Patient: A 54-year-old male who weighs 275 pounds. He is 5'10'
tall and has many family members who have died of heart disease.
The Situation: He comes to the clinic stating that he has had several
episodes of "chest pain" in the last week.
The Question: What is the most important action for the nurse to take?
Answer: Ask the patient to describe the chest pain.
