5/18/26, 7:15 HESI RN ADVANCED PATHOPHYSIOLOGY 2024-2025 ACTUAL EXAM 160 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
AM ANSWERS…
HESI RN Advanced Pathophysiology 2025–2026
Actual Exam | 160 Questions and Correct Answers
with Detailed Rationales | RN Exit Exam & NCLEX
Review.
An initial disturbance in a system sets off a chain of a. positive feedback
events that does not favor stability and often
abruptly displaces a system from its steady state:
what is that?
a. Positive Feedback
b. Negative Feedback
c. Disease
d. Homeostasis
What organ shrinks with age? b. gums
a. Prostate
b. Gums
c. Heart
d. All of the above
Which of the following is true? d. there is less thirst perception in the elderly
a. An infant will have a slower heart rate than an
adult
b. The elderly have better temperature sensations
c. There are more sweat glands in an elderly person
d. There is less thirst perception in the elderly
Which of the following is true? c. Women have a lower hemoglobin than men
a. Women snore more than men
b. Men have higher calcium levels
c. Women have a lower hemoglobin than men
d. Men have a lower creatinine level than women
An increase in normal adaptive response to the b. Acclimatization
decreased availability of oxygen at high altitude is
termed which?
a. Circadian
b. Acclimatization
c. Population
d. Diurnal
What does it mean when the cause of the disease is d. Iatrogenic
unwanted medical treatment?
a. Idiopathic
b. Ecogenetic
c. Genotypical
d. Iatrogenic
Which term is used for the first two months of life? d. Neonatal
a. Infancy
b. Childhood
c. Prenatal
d. Neonatal
Which is an objectively identifiable aberration of d. Sign
the disease?
a. Symptom
b. Syndrome
c. Stage
d. Sign
Which of the following is true regarding c. They include epinephrine and norepinephrine
catecholamines?
a. They are from the parasympathetic nervous
system
1/
19
,5/18/26, 7:15 HESI RN ADVANCED PATHOPHYSIOLOGY 2024-2025 ACTUAL EXAM 160 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
AM ANSWERS…
b. They cross the blood brain barrier
c. They include epinephrine and norepinephrine
d. They cause of decrease in heart rate
Which of the following is a true statement? b. Endorphins increase with stress, resulting in a decrease in pain
a. Antidiuretic hormone is not important for blood perception
volume regulation
b. Endorphins increase with stress, resulting in a
decrease in pain perception
c. Epinephrine and cortisol act very differently
d. Cortisol negates epinephrine's activity
By what mechanism do lipid molecules cross cell d. They cross by diffusion
membranes?
a. They use channel proteins as a membrane
transport system
b. They are transported across the plasma
membrane by endocytosis and exocytosis
c. They use voltage-gated ion channels
d. They cross by diffusion
Which of the following metabolic processes is a a. Protein synthesis
component of anabolic metabolism?
a. Protein synthesis
b. Glycolysis
c. Citric acid cycle
d. Oxidative phosphorylation
Which of the following electrochemical c. The sodium-potassium pump
mechanism is responsible for maintaining cell
volume?
a. The calcium pump
b. Glucose transporters
c. The sodium-potassium pump
d. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters
Cellular hypoxia results in: d. Failure of the sodium-potassium pump
a. Enhanced ATP activity
b. Loss of intracellular calcium
c. Increased pH
d. Failure of the sodium-potassium pump
A 75 yo woman develops weakness in her lower a. Atrophy of her leg muscles
extremities after a prolonged period of bed rest.
This is most likely caused by:
a. Atrophy of her leg muscles
b. Dysplasia of her leg muscles
c. Hypertrophy of her leg muscles
d. Hyperplasia of her leg muscles
Which of the following types of cellular adaption is c. Atrophy
most likely to occur from chronic ischemia?
a. Hypertrophy
b. Metaplasia
c. Atrophy
d. Hyperplasia
What is the mechanism of cellular injury that d. Gas bubbles from in the blood, blocking circulation and resulting in
occurs when deep sea divers get 'the bends'? ischemia
a. Free radicals form abnormal chemical bonds
which destroy the cellular membranes
b. Carbon monoxide binds tightly to
hemoglobin, preventing the RBCs from
carrying O2
c. Intracellular calcium accumlation create muscle
tetany
d. Gas bubbles from in the blood, blocking
circulation and resulting in ischemia
2/
19
, 5/18/26, 7:15 HESI RN ADVANCED PATHOPHYSIOLOGY 2024-2025 ACTUAL EXAM 160 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
AM ANSWERS…
Which type of cellular adaption would create the a. Dysplasia
greatest concern if found on a biopsy report?
a. Dysplasia
b. Metaplasia
c. Hyperplasia
d. Atrophy
Which of the following is the process by which d. Transcription
mRNA is synthesized from single stranded DNA?
a. Sense stranding
b. Replication
c. Translation
D. Transcription
Which of the following is not one of the 4 cell c. Hematopoietic tissue
types found in adult humans?
a. Epithelium
b. Connective tissue
c. Hematopoietic tissue
d. Nervous tissue
If a patient has a recessive trait, which of the a. aa
following is the genotype of this patient?
a. aa
b. AA
c. Aa
d. aA
Which of the following chromosomal a. duplication
abnormalities has been linked with Down
Syndrome?
a. Translocation
b. Inversion
c. Deletion
d. Duplication
Which of the following refers to a deficiency of c. Hemophilia
factor VIII that causes a bleeding disorder?
a. Marfan Syndrome
b. Phenylketonuria
c. Hemophilia
d. Huntington
Which of the following is a retrovirus that causes c. Epstein-Barr virus
cancer?
a. Rhinovirus
b. Parvovirus
c. Epstein-Barr virus
d. Poxvirus
Which of the following genes contributes b. BRCA1
specifically to some breast cancer?
a. Rb
b. BRCA1
c. P53
d. VHL
Which is used to describe the histologic c. Grading
characteristics of tumor cells?
a. Staging
b. Cachexia
c. Grading
d. Angiogenesis
Which of the following offers the best prognosis a. Early detection
for the cure of cancer?
a. Early detection
b. Aggressive chemotherapy
c. Adjunct radiation
d. Gene therapy
3/
19
AM ANSWERS…
HESI RN Advanced Pathophysiology 2025–2026
Actual Exam | 160 Questions and Correct Answers
with Detailed Rationales | RN Exit Exam & NCLEX
Review.
An initial disturbance in a system sets off a chain of a. positive feedback
events that does not favor stability and often
abruptly displaces a system from its steady state:
what is that?
a. Positive Feedback
b. Negative Feedback
c. Disease
d. Homeostasis
What organ shrinks with age? b. gums
a. Prostate
b. Gums
c. Heart
d. All of the above
Which of the following is true? d. there is less thirst perception in the elderly
a. An infant will have a slower heart rate than an
adult
b. The elderly have better temperature sensations
c. There are more sweat glands in an elderly person
d. There is less thirst perception in the elderly
Which of the following is true? c. Women have a lower hemoglobin than men
a. Women snore more than men
b. Men have higher calcium levels
c. Women have a lower hemoglobin than men
d. Men have a lower creatinine level than women
An increase in normal adaptive response to the b. Acclimatization
decreased availability of oxygen at high altitude is
termed which?
a. Circadian
b. Acclimatization
c. Population
d. Diurnal
What does it mean when the cause of the disease is d. Iatrogenic
unwanted medical treatment?
a. Idiopathic
b. Ecogenetic
c. Genotypical
d. Iatrogenic
Which term is used for the first two months of life? d. Neonatal
a. Infancy
b. Childhood
c. Prenatal
d. Neonatal
Which is an objectively identifiable aberration of d. Sign
the disease?
a. Symptom
b. Syndrome
c. Stage
d. Sign
Which of the following is true regarding c. They include epinephrine and norepinephrine
catecholamines?
a. They are from the parasympathetic nervous
system
1/
19
,5/18/26, 7:15 HESI RN ADVANCED PATHOPHYSIOLOGY 2024-2025 ACTUAL EXAM 160 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
AM ANSWERS…
b. They cross the blood brain barrier
c. They include epinephrine and norepinephrine
d. They cause of decrease in heart rate
Which of the following is a true statement? b. Endorphins increase with stress, resulting in a decrease in pain
a. Antidiuretic hormone is not important for blood perception
volume regulation
b. Endorphins increase with stress, resulting in a
decrease in pain perception
c. Epinephrine and cortisol act very differently
d. Cortisol negates epinephrine's activity
By what mechanism do lipid molecules cross cell d. They cross by diffusion
membranes?
a. They use channel proteins as a membrane
transport system
b. They are transported across the plasma
membrane by endocytosis and exocytosis
c. They use voltage-gated ion channels
d. They cross by diffusion
Which of the following metabolic processes is a a. Protein synthesis
component of anabolic metabolism?
a. Protein synthesis
b. Glycolysis
c. Citric acid cycle
d. Oxidative phosphorylation
Which of the following electrochemical c. The sodium-potassium pump
mechanism is responsible for maintaining cell
volume?
a. The calcium pump
b. Glucose transporters
c. The sodium-potassium pump
d. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters
Cellular hypoxia results in: d. Failure of the sodium-potassium pump
a. Enhanced ATP activity
b. Loss of intracellular calcium
c. Increased pH
d. Failure of the sodium-potassium pump
A 75 yo woman develops weakness in her lower a. Atrophy of her leg muscles
extremities after a prolonged period of bed rest.
This is most likely caused by:
a. Atrophy of her leg muscles
b. Dysplasia of her leg muscles
c. Hypertrophy of her leg muscles
d. Hyperplasia of her leg muscles
Which of the following types of cellular adaption is c. Atrophy
most likely to occur from chronic ischemia?
a. Hypertrophy
b. Metaplasia
c. Atrophy
d. Hyperplasia
What is the mechanism of cellular injury that d. Gas bubbles from in the blood, blocking circulation and resulting in
occurs when deep sea divers get 'the bends'? ischemia
a. Free radicals form abnormal chemical bonds
which destroy the cellular membranes
b. Carbon monoxide binds tightly to
hemoglobin, preventing the RBCs from
carrying O2
c. Intracellular calcium accumlation create muscle
tetany
d. Gas bubbles from in the blood, blocking
circulation and resulting in ischemia
2/
19
, 5/18/26, 7:15 HESI RN ADVANCED PATHOPHYSIOLOGY 2024-2025 ACTUAL EXAM 160 QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
AM ANSWERS…
Which type of cellular adaption would create the a. Dysplasia
greatest concern if found on a biopsy report?
a. Dysplasia
b. Metaplasia
c. Hyperplasia
d. Atrophy
Which of the following is the process by which d. Transcription
mRNA is synthesized from single stranded DNA?
a. Sense stranding
b. Replication
c. Translation
D. Transcription
Which of the following is not one of the 4 cell c. Hematopoietic tissue
types found in adult humans?
a. Epithelium
b. Connective tissue
c. Hematopoietic tissue
d. Nervous tissue
If a patient has a recessive trait, which of the a. aa
following is the genotype of this patient?
a. aa
b. AA
c. Aa
d. aA
Which of the following chromosomal a. duplication
abnormalities has been linked with Down
Syndrome?
a. Translocation
b. Inversion
c. Deletion
d. Duplication
Which of the following refers to a deficiency of c. Hemophilia
factor VIII that causes a bleeding disorder?
a. Marfan Syndrome
b. Phenylketonuria
c. Hemophilia
d. Huntington
Which of the following is a retrovirus that causes c. Epstein-Barr virus
cancer?
a. Rhinovirus
b. Parvovirus
c. Epstein-Barr virus
d. Poxvirus
Which of the following genes contributes b. BRCA1
specifically to some breast cancer?
a. Rb
b. BRCA1
c. P53
d. VHL
Which is used to describe the histologic c. Grading
characteristics of tumor cells?
a. Staging
b. Cachexia
c. Grading
d. Angiogenesis
Which of the following offers the best prognosis a. Early detection
for the cure of cancer?
a. Early detection
b. Aggressive chemotherapy
c. Adjunct radiation
d. Gene therapy
3/
19
