2026/2027 ACTUAL EXAM COMPLETE 400
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT DETAILED
ANSWERS (VERIFIED ANSWERS) WITH
DETAILED RATIONALE S |ALREADY GRADED
A+|BRAND NEW VERSION
PATIENT ASSESSMENT:
All the following could cause capnography to go from 3 6 to 30 EXCEPT:
A. Endotracheal tube positioned in the right mainstream bronchus
B. Hyperventilation
C. pulmonary emboli
D. Hypovolemia - Answer-Endotracheal tube positioned in right mainstem
bronchus is a problem but the co2 reading would not change, so
ANSWER is A.
A patient in the emergency dept has frothy secretions, moist crackles, and
tachypnea. The patient has marked dyspnea and a history of heart disease. Which
of the following should the respiratory therapist recommend.
1.suction immediately
2.administer 100% oxygen
3.place in Fowlers position
,4.administer furosemide - Answer-This is an emergency, they are having heart
problems, dyspnea, frothy secretions indicating severe pulmonary edema, etc. so
100% oxygen immediately, having the patient in the Fowlers position (an upright
position) will help pull fluid down away from the lungs, furosemide is a lasix (loop
diuretic) which gets rid of excess fluid. You do NOT suction someone with frothy
secretions and heart problems, this just delays appropriate therapy. So ANSWER is
2,3,4
Fine crepitant crackles are most commonly associated with which of the following
conditions.
a. Bronchiectasis
b. Congestive heart failure
c. Pneumonia
d. Croup - Answer-Crackles are associated with fluid so a, b, and c would be good
answers, but "fine crepitant" crackles indicates fluid entering alveoli (pulmonary
edema) which is most often caused by heart failure so the best ANSWER is B.
(with croup you would hear more of a stridor sound).
A patient is found in full cardiopulmonary arrest. CPR is started and the patient is
orally intubated with an EtCO2 monitor attached. Which of the following EtCO2
patterns would the respiratory therapist expect to observe on the monitor?
a. Initially high, then falling
b. Initially low, then rising
c. Initially high, stays high
d. Initially low, stays low - Answer-Full cardiac arrest will cause the CO2 in the
lungs to slowly dissipate out because no blood is flowing, then during CPR when
you get blood flowing, the CO2 should slowly rise back up;
,so ANSWER is B
If the blood pressure obtained from the arterial line is higher than the blood
pressure obtained from a sphygmomanometer (cuff pressure). Based upon this
information, the respiratory therapist should conclude that.
a. Non-compliant tubing is being used
b. Transducer is placed too low
c. Patient was lying flat during the measurement of the arterial line pressure
d. Transducer dome contained air bubbles - Answer-Arterial line BP and cuff
pressure should be the same, so there is a problem. Non-compliant tubing is a
good thing because it's a stiff tubing, if transducer is placed too high (above the
heart), the flood will have to go uphill and you will get a lower pressure;
transducer dome contained air bubbles would give you erratic readings but not a
higher reading, but if the transducer is placed too low (below heart), the blood is
flowing downhill & will give a higher pressure reading, so ANSWER is B
A 2-year old child enters the emergency room. The mother states that the child
was playing with friends and developed violent coughing and unilateral wheezing.
Physical examination reveals a hyperresonant percussion note on the left and
resonant percussion on the right. Inspiratory and expiratory chest films indicate
air trapping with no foreign bodies "noted." The respiratory therapist should
suspect the child has.
a.pneumothorax
b.orthopnea
c.aspirated a foreign object
d.tachyphylaxis - Answer-Unilateral wheezing indicates aspirated object and fact
that the child was playing with friends causes you to believe the child inhaled a
small toy or something, hyperresonant percussion indicates air trapping, so you
, are thinking foreign object but x-ray says no foreign bodies "noted." Just because
it says "noted" does not mean something is not there, it just means it could not be
seen on the xray, also if the child had swallowed a small plastic toy, "plastic" does
not show up on xrays (radiolucent). The ANSWER is C
A patient is admitted to the ICU complaining of nausea and chest pain. A
nasogastric tube has been inserted to help relieve the nausea. The patient was
started on Lasix and nitroglycerin. Which of the following should be monitored to
closely identify side effects at this time.
a. Cardiac enzymes
b. Serum electrolytes
c. Arterial blood gases
d. Digitalis levels - Answer-Since the patient received Lasix and nasogastric tube,
they are losing fluids, and a side effect of fluid loss is a decrease in electrolytes, so
ANSWER is B (there isn't enough evidence of heart attack to justify cardiac
enzymes, also they are used to confirm a heart attack).
Which of the following will determine aortic pulse pressure.
a. systolic + systolic + diastolic/3
b. diastolic + pulse pressure/3
c. systolic pressure - diastolic pressure
d. stroke volume x heart rate x 10. - Answer-Aortic pulse pressure is just the
difference between systolic and diastolic pressure, so ANSWER is C