Page 1 of 34
Concepts Exam 2 Practice Questions 2026 | Verified Nursing Test Bank
& Comprehensive Study Guide – Instant PDF Download
1. Two patient deaths have occurred on a medical unit in the last month. The staff notices that
everyone feels pressured and team members are getting into more arguments. As a nurse on
the unit, what will best help you manage this stress?
1. Keep a journal
2. Participate in a unit meeting to discuss feelings about the patient deaths
3. Ask the nurse manager to assign you to less difficult patients
4. Review the policy and procedure manual on proper care of patients after death - ANSWER-
2. Participate in a unit meeting to discuss feelings about the patient deaths
2. A nurse has seen many cancer patients struggle with pain management because they are
afraid of becoming addicted to the medicine. Pain control is a priority for cancer care. By
helping patients focus on their values and beliefs about pain control, a nurse can best make
clinical decisions. This is an example of:
1. Creativity.
2. Fairness.
3. Clinical reasoning.
4. Applying ethical criteria. - ANSWER-4. Applying ethical criteria.
3. A nurse prepares to insert a Foley catheter. The procedure manual calls for the patient to lie
in the dorsal recumbent position. The patient complains of having back pain when lying on her
back. Despite this, the nurse positions the patient supine with knees flexed as the manual
recommends and begins to insert the catheter. This is an example of:
1. Accuracy.
2. Reflection.
3. Risk taking.
, Page 2 of 34
4. Basic critical thinking. - ANSWER-4. Basic critical thinking.
4. A nurse is preparing medications for a patient. The nurse checks the name of the medication
on the label with the name of the medication on the doctor's order. At the bedside the nurse
checks the patient's name against the medication order as well. The nurse is following which
critical thinking attitude:
1. Responsible
2. Complete
3. Accurate
4. Broad - ANSWER-1. Responsible
5. A nurse on a busy medicine unit is assigned to four patients. It is 10 AM. Two patients have
medications due and one of those has a specimen of urine to be collected. One patient is having
complications from surgery and is being prepared to return to the operating room. The fourth
patient requires instructions about activity restrictions before going home this afternoon. Which
of the following should the nurse use in making clinical decisions appropriate for the patient
group? (Select all that apply.)
1. Consider availability of assistive personnel to obtain the specimen
2. Combine activities to resolve more than one patient problem
3. Analyze the diagnoses/problems and decide which are most urgent based on patients' needs
4. Plan a family conference for tomorrow to make decisions about resources the patient will
need to go home
5. Identify the nursing diagnoses for the patient going home - ANSWER-1,2,3
6. By using known criteria in conducting an assessment such as reviewing with a patient the
typical characteristics of pain, a nurse is demonstrating which critical thinking attitude?
1. Curiosity
2. Adequacy
3. Discipline
, Page 3 of 34
4. Thinking independently - ANSWER-3. Discipline
7. A nurse just started working at a well-baby clinic. One of her recent experiences was to help a
mother learn the steps of breastfeeding. During the first clinic visit the mother had difficulty
positioning the baby during feeding. After the visit the nurse considers what affected the
inability of the mother to breastfeed, including the mother's obesity and inexperience. The
nurse's review of the situation is called:
1. Reflection.
2. Perseverance.
3. Intuition.
4. Problem solving. - ANSWER-1. Reflection.
8. Place the steps of the scientific method in their correct order with number 1 being the first
step of the process.
1. Formulate a question or hypothesis.
2. Evaluate results of the study.
3. Collect data.
4. Identify the problem.
5. Test the question or hypothesis. - ANSWER-4,3,1,5,2
9. A nurse changed a patient's surgical wound dressing the day before and now prepares for
another dressing change. The nurse had difficulty removing the gauze from the wound bed
yesterday, causing the patient discomfort. Today he gives the patient an analgesic 30 minutes
before the dressing change. Then he adds some sterile saline to loosen the gauze for a few
minutes before removing it. The patient reports that the procedure was much more
comfortable. Which of the following describes the nurse's approach to the dressing change?
(Select all that apply.)
1. Clinical inference
2. Basic critical thinking
, Page 4 of 34
3. Complex critical thinking
4. Experience
5. Reflection - ANSWER-3,4
10. Which of the following describes a nurse's application of a specific knowledge base during
critical thinking? (Select all that apply.)
1. Initiative in reading current evidence from the literature
2. Application of nursing theory
3. Reviewing policy and procedure manual
4. Considering holistic view of patient needs
5. Previous time caring for a specific group of patients - ANSWER-1,2,4
11. Fill in the Blank. When a nurse tries to understand a patient's and family caregiver's
perspective of why a patient is falling at home, the nurse applies the intellectual standard of
_________________________ to understand all viewpoints. - ANSWER-broad
12. An aspect of clinical decision making is knowing the patient. Which of the following is the
most critical aspect of developing the ability to know the patient?
1. Working in multiple health care settings
2. Learning good communication skills
3. Spending time establishing relationships with patients
4. Relying on evidence in practice - ANSWER-3. Spending time establishing relationships with
patients
13. In which of the following examples is a nurse applying critical thinking skills in practice?
(Select all that apply.)
1. The nurse thinks back about a personal experience before administering a medication
subcutaneously.
Concepts Exam 2 Practice Questions 2026 | Verified Nursing Test Bank
& Comprehensive Study Guide – Instant PDF Download
1. Two patient deaths have occurred on a medical unit in the last month. The staff notices that
everyone feels pressured and team members are getting into more arguments. As a nurse on
the unit, what will best help you manage this stress?
1. Keep a journal
2. Participate in a unit meeting to discuss feelings about the patient deaths
3. Ask the nurse manager to assign you to less difficult patients
4. Review the policy and procedure manual on proper care of patients after death - ANSWER-
2. Participate in a unit meeting to discuss feelings about the patient deaths
2. A nurse has seen many cancer patients struggle with pain management because they are
afraid of becoming addicted to the medicine. Pain control is a priority for cancer care. By
helping patients focus on their values and beliefs about pain control, a nurse can best make
clinical decisions. This is an example of:
1. Creativity.
2. Fairness.
3. Clinical reasoning.
4. Applying ethical criteria. - ANSWER-4. Applying ethical criteria.
3. A nurse prepares to insert a Foley catheter. The procedure manual calls for the patient to lie
in the dorsal recumbent position. The patient complains of having back pain when lying on her
back. Despite this, the nurse positions the patient supine with knees flexed as the manual
recommends and begins to insert the catheter. This is an example of:
1. Accuracy.
2. Reflection.
3. Risk taking.
, Page 2 of 34
4. Basic critical thinking. - ANSWER-4. Basic critical thinking.
4. A nurse is preparing medications for a patient. The nurse checks the name of the medication
on the label with the name of the medication on the doctor's order. At the bedside the nurse
checks the patient's name against the medication order as well. The nurse is following which
critical thinking attitude:
1. Responsible
2. Complete
3. Accurate
4. Broad - ANSWER-1. Responsible
5. A nurse on a busy medicine unit is assigned to four patients. It is 10 AM. Two patients have
medications due and one of those has a specimen of urine to be collected. One patient is having
complications from surgery and is being prepared to return to the operating room. The fourth
patient requires instructions about activity restrictions before going home this afternoon. Which
of the following should the nurse use in making clinical decisions appropriate for the patient
group? (Select all that apply.)
1. Consider availability of assistive personnel to obtain the specimen
2. Combine activities to resolve more than one patient problem
3. Analyze the diagnoses/problems and decide which are most urgent based on patients' needs
4. Plan a family conference for tomorrow to make decisions about resources the patient will
need to go home
5. Identify the nursing diagnoses for the patient going home - ANSWER-1,2,3
6. By using known criteria in conducting an assessment such as reviewing with a patient the
typical characteristics of pain, a nurse is demonstrating which critical thinking attitude?
1. Curiosity
2. Adequacy
3. Discipline
, Page 3 of 34
4. Thinking independently - ANSWER-3. Discipline
7. A nurse just started working at a well-baby clinic. One of her recent experiences was to help a
mother learn the steps of breastfeeding. During the first clinic visit the mother had difficulty
positioning the baby during feeding. After the visit the nurse considers what affected the
inability of the mother to breastfeed, including the mother's obesity and inexperience. The
nurse's review of the situation is called:
1. Reflection.
2. Perseverance.
3. Intuition.
4. Problem solving. - ANSWER-1. Reflection.
8. Place the steps of the scientific method in their correct order with number 1 being the first
step of the process.
1. Formulate a question or hypothesis.
2. Evaluate results of the study.
3. Collect data.
4. Identify the problem.
5. Test the question or hypothesis. - ANSWER-4,3,1,5,2
9. A nurse changed a patient's surgical wound dressing the day before and now prepares for
another dressing change. The nurse had difficulty removing the gauze from the wound bed
yesterday, causing the patient discomfort. Today he gives the patient an analgesic 30 minutes
before the dressing change. Then he adds some sterile saline to loosen the gauze for a few
minutes before removing it. The patient reports that the procedure was much more
comfortable. Which of the following describes the nurse's approach to the dressing change?
(Select all that apply.)
1. Clinical inference
2. Basic critical thinking
, Page 4 of 34
3. Complex critical thinking
4. Experience
5. Reflection - ANSWER-3,4
10. Which of the following describes a nurse's application of a specific knowledge base during
critical thinking? (Select all that apply.)
1. Initiative in reading current evidence from the literature
2. Application of nursing theory
3. Reviewing policy and procedure manual
4. Considering holistic view of patient needs
5. Previous time caring for a specific group of patients - ANSWER-1,2,4
11. Fill in the Blank. When a nurse tries to understand a patient's and family caregiver's
perspective of why a patient is falling at home, the nurse applies the intellectual standard of
_________________________ to understand all viewpoints. - ANSWER-broad
12. An aspect of clinical decision making is knowing the patient. Which of the following is the
most critical aspect of developing the ability to know the patient?
1. Working in multiple health care settings
2. Learning good communication skills
3. Spending time establishing relationships with patients
4. Relying on evidence in practice - ANSWER-3. Spending time establishing relationships with
patients
13. In which of the following examples is a nurse applying critical thinking skills in practice?
(Select all that apply.)
1. The nurse thinks back about a personal experience before administering a medication
subcutaneously.
