CEN EXAM QUESTIONS WITH COMPLETE AND ACCURATE
SOLUTIONS
1) An emergency nurse is interviewing fellow staff nurses in order to understand
how the emotional states of fatigued nurses impact outcomes of patients with
behavioral health disorders. What type of research study is the nurse conducting?
A) Quantitative study
B) Cohort study
C) Randomized controlled trials
D) Qualitative study -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Qualitative study
2) Which complication is associated with orbital wall fractures?
A) Trismus
B) Development of mastoiditis
C) Ocular entrapment
D) Inability to protect one's own airway -- Correct Answer ✔✔
Ocular entrapment
3) What intervention is used to manage seasonal affective disorder?
A) Increasing caffeine intake
B) Vitamin D supplements
C) Moving to a warmer climate
, D) Use tanning beds -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Vitamin D supplements
4) Which of the following would be indicative of Alzheimer's disease?
A) Gradual onset of memory loss and aphasia
B) Sudden onset of disorganized speech and disorientation
C) Acute onset of dysarthria and ataxia
D) Chronic symptoms of sadness, slow speech, and flat affect --
Correct Answer ✔✔ Gradual onset of memory loss and aphasia
5) What is the best way to promote a successful family presence practice?
A) Ensure that social services leads the practice
B) Allow immediate family to be present
C) Have administrative support
D) Make it a facility requirement -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Have
administrative support
6) A patient arrives unresponsive. Cardiopulmonary monitoring indicates a
ventricular tachycardia. He has no pulse. What will the nurse anticipate as the
next intervention?
A) Synchronized cardioversion
B) Administer epinephrine intravenously
C) Administer atropine intravenously
D) Defibrillation -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Defibrillation
7) What is a late sign of intussusception?
A) Colicky pain
B) Ribbon-like stools
C) Left lower quadrant tenderness
D) Currant jelly-like stools -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Currant jelly-like
stools
8) A patient presents with a sudden onset of shortness of breath, cough, and mild
chest pain. Past medical history includes heart failure and recent treatment for
, pneumonia. Considering the patient's history, the nurse anticipates a workup for
which respiratory problem?
A) Chronic bronchitis
B) Pleural effusion
C) Pulmonary embolism
D) Pulmonary contusion -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Pleural effusion
9) A patient presents to the emergency department with right-sided facial drooping,
right arm weakness and slurred speech. Which of the following assessments
indicates exclusion criteria for receiving tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)?
A) Blood glucose of 180 mg/dL
B) BP 190/110 mm Hg
C) NIH stroke scale of 6
D) Headache -- Correct Answer ✔✔ BP 190/110 mm Hg
10) A 16-year-old male is brought to the ED by his coach. The patient was playing
football in moderately cold weather one hour prior to arrival and felt severe pain
in the left groin area. This is suggestive of which genitourinary emergency?
A) Paraphimosis
B) Testicular torsion
C) Priapism
D) Acute epididymitis -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Testicular torsion
11) A 3-year-old boy is brought to the ED by his mother, who noticed bruises on the
boy's left thigh, back, and feet developing over the last week. Past medical history
includes a mild respiratory virus a month ago. The assessment reveals, he is
awake and alert, with some bleeding noted around the gums. Initial laboratory
values include a low platelet count with a normal white blood cell count.
Hemoglobin and hematocrit are slightly low. Which disorder does the nurse
suspect is the cause of his signs and symptoms?
A) Leukemia
B) Thrombocytosis
C) Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy
D) Idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura -- Correct Answer ✔✔
Idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura
, 12) A 37-year-old female walks into the ED holding her abdomen. She is writhing in
pain. Her history includes vaginal bleeding for the past 6 days. She soaked 5
sanitary pads in 2 hours. What is the most likely cause of the heavy bleeding?
A) Uterine fibroids
B) Mittelschmerz
C) Pelvic inflammatory disease
D) Bartholin cyst -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Uterine fibroids
13) Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is characterized by which clinical manifestations?
A) Ataxia, mental confusion, and ophthalmoplegia
B) Delirium tremens, hyperthermia, and disorientation
C) Tachycardia, tremors, and tachypnea
D) Hypothermia, muscle rigidity, and bradycardia -- Correct Answer
✔✔ Ataxia, mental confusion, and ophthalmoplegia
14) A 35-year-old man presents with complaints of stomach pain that comes and goes
for the past two weeks. The nurse asks additional questions about the nature of
this pain and finds that it is relieved with antacids and he feels better after eating.
The patient mentions that he had some similar pain about two years ago, but it
stopped after about a month and he never sought care for it. This is most likely
which type of gastrointestinal disorder?
A) Cholecystitis
B) Pancreatitis
C) Duodenal ulcer
D) Stress ulcer -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Duodenal ulcer
15) Which immunoglobulin is responsible for Type 1 allergic responses?
A) IgA
B) IgE
C) IgG
D) IgM -- Correct Answer ✔✔ IgE
16) A middle-aged male patient presents to the ED with complaint of fever. He is
awake, alert, and in no acute distress. On arrival, vital signs are BP 118/58 mm
Hg, HR 112 beats/min, RR 20 breaths/min, SpO2 95%, T 38.8 C (101.9 F). His
SOLUTIONS
1) An emergency nurse is interviewing fellow staff nurses in order to understand
how the emotional states of fatigued nurses impact outcomes of patients with
behavioral health disorders. What type of research study is the nurse conducting?
A) Quantitative study
B) Cohort study
C) Randomized controlled trials
D) Qualitative study -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Qualitative study
2) Which complication is associated with orbital wall fractures?
A) Trismus
B) Development of mastoiditis
C) Ocular entrapment
D) Inability to protect one's own airway -- Correct Answer ✔✔
Ocular entrapment
3) What intervention is used to manage seasonal affective disorder?
A) Increasing caffeine intake
B) Vitamin D supplements
C) Moving to a warmer climate
, D) Use tanning beds -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Vitamin D supplements
4) Which of the following would be indicative of Alzheimer's disease?
A) Gradual onset of memory loss and aphasia
B) Sudden onset of disorganized speech and disorientation
C) Acute onset of dysarthria and ataxia
D) Chronic symptoms of sadness, slow speech, and flat affect --
Correct Answer ✔✔ Gradual onset of memory loss and aphasia
5) What is the best way to promote a successful family presence practice?
A) Ensure that social services leads the practice
B) Allow immediate family to be present
C) Have administrative support
D) Make it a facility requirement -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Have
administrative support
6) A patient arrives unresponsive. Cardiopulmonary monitoring indicates a
ventricular tachycardia. He has no pulse. What will the nurse anticipate as the
next intervention?
A) Synchronized cardioversion
B) Administer epinephrine intravenously
C) Administer atropine intravenously
D) Defibrillation -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Defibrillation
7) What is a late sign of intussusception?
A) Colicky pain
B) Ribbon-like stools
C) Left lower quadrant tenderness
D) Currant jelly-like stools -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Currant jelly-like
stools
8) A patient presents with a sudden onset of shortness of breath, cough, and mild
chest pain. Past medical history includes heart failure and recent treatment for
, pneumonia. Considering the patient's history, the nurse anticipates a workup for
which respiratory problem?
A) Chronic bronchitis
B) Pleural effusion
C) Pulmonary embolism
D) Pulmonary contusion -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Pleural effusion
9) A patient presents to the emergency department with right-sided facial drooping,
right arm weakness and slurred speech. Which of the following assessments
indicates exclusion criteria for receiving tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)?
A) Blood glucose of 180 mg/dL
B) BP 190/110 mm Hg
C) NIH stroke scale of 6
D) Headache -- Correct Answer ✔✔ BP 190/110 mm Hg
10) A 16-year-old male is brought to the ED by his coach. The patient was playing
football in moderately cold weather one hour prior to arrival and felt severe pain
in the left groin area. This is suggestive of which genitourinary emergency?
A) Paraphimosis
B) Testicular torsion
C) Priapism
D) Acute epididymitis -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Testicular torsion
11) A 3-year-old boy is brought to the ED by his mother, who noticed bruises on the
boy's left thigh, back, and feet developing over the last week. Past medical history
includes a mild respiratory virus a month ago. The assessment reveals, he is
awake and alert, with some bleeding noted around the gums. Initial laboratory
values include a low platelet count with a normal white blood cell count.
Hemoglobin and hematocrit are slightly low. Which disorder does the nurse
suspect is the cause of his signs and symptoms?
A) Leukemia
B) Thrombocytosis
C) Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy
D) Idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura -- Correct Answer ✔✔
Idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura
, 12) A 37-year-old female walks into the ED holding her abdomen. She is writhing in
pain. Her history includes vaginal bleeding for the past 6 days. She soaked 5
sanitary pads in 2 hours. What is the most likely cause of the heavy bleeding?
A) Uterine fibroids
B) Mittelschmerz
C) Pelvic inflammatory disease
D) Bartholin cyst -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Uterine fibroids
13) Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is characterized by which clinical manifestations?
A) Ataxia, mental confusion, and ophthalmoplegia
B) Delirium tremens, hyperthermia, and disorientation
C) Tachycardia, tremors, and tachypnea
D) Hypothermia, muscle rigidity, and bradycardia -- Correct Answer
✔✔ Ataxia, mental confusion, and ophthalmoplegia
14) A 35-year-old man presents with complaints of stomach pain that comes and goes
for the past two weeks. The nurse asks additional questions about the nature of
this pain and finds that it is relieved with antacids and he feels better after eating.
The patient mentions that he had some similar pain about two years ago, but it
stopped after about a month and he never sought care for it. This is most likely
which type of gastrointestinal disorder?
A) Cholecystitis
B) Pancreatitis
C) Duodenal ulcer
D) Stress ulcer -- Correct Answer ✔✔ Duodenal ulcer
15) Which immunoglobulin is responsible for Type 1 allergic responses?
A) IgA
B) IgE
C) IgG
D) IgM -- Correct Answer ✔✔ IgE
16) A middle-aged male patient presents to the ED with complaint of fever. He is
awake, alert, and in no acute distress. On arrival, vital signs are BP 118/58 mm
Hg, HR 112 beats/min, RR 20 breaths/min, SpO2 95%, T 38.8 C (101.9 F). His
