HESI A2 Critical Thinking Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
The patient: A 65 yr old male
The situation: the family brings the patient to the emergency room because he just took an entire
bottle of pills.
The question
...
HESI A2 Critical Thinking Questions and
Answers 100% Pass
The patient: A 65 yr old male
The situation: the family brings the patient to the emergency room because he just took an entire
bottle of pills.
The question: what action should the nurse take first? ✔✔determine the patients level of
consciousness
The patient: an 80 yr old male who has used continuous oxygen for the past 3 years.
The situation: while making a home visit, the wife tells the nurse that her husband was doing
well on 2 liters of oxygen per min until late last night when he developed severe shortness of
breath on the way to the bathroom.
The question: what action should the nurse take first? ✔✔assess the patients oxygen saturation
by pulse oximeter
The patient: 41 y/o male
The situation: the patient is complaining of severe stomach pain and states that he has been
"vomiting all the time".
The question: what should the nurse do first? ✔✔administer a prescribed pain medication
The patient: the wife of a wealthy owner of towns bank.
The situation: the patient and her husband arrive on the unit. While orienting the patient to the
hospital room, the nurse notices that the patient has places a large amount of cash and some
expensive earrings in the drawer of the bedside table.
The question: what is the best action for the nurse to take? ✔✔advise the patient to have her
husband take the items home when he leaves
The patient: A 45 y/o female who is 5`2`` tall, weighs 200 lbs and has smoked since age 21
The situation: the patient comes to the clinic with a complaint of "leg pain"
The question: it is most important for the nurse to obtain information about which pervious
occurrence? ✔✔a pervious blood clot in the leg
The patient: 61 y/o female
situation: the patient has a fever of unknown origin. The nurse administered a fever-reducing
medication 30 mins ago. At this time there has been no decrease in the patients fever.
The question: what action would be best for the nurse to take? ✔✔sponge the patient with cool
water
The patient: 70 y/o make who is relatively healthy
The situation: a liquid medication is prescribed for this patient
The question: prior to administering the prescribed medication, what intervention has the highest
priority? ✔✔determine if the patient is allergic to the medication
the patient: 58 y/o female
the situation: while the nurse is offering the patient her morning medication, she tells the nurse
she does not recall ever taking a pill that was pink colored.
The question: what should the nurse do in response to the patients comment? ✔✔withhold the
medication until the prescription is verified
The patients:
1. 63 y/o with burn on the left lower leg who is complaining of pain.
2. a 45 y/o with pneumonia, complaining of shortness of breath
3. 31 y/o with abdominal pain who has just vomited blood.
4. 88 y/o who has right sided paralysis and wants to be helped to the bathroom immediately
Situation: the nurse is caring for these patients
The questions: who should the nurse see 1st? ✔✔45 y/o with pneumonia, complaining of
shortness of breath
(ABCs- Airway, Breathing, Circulation)
The patients
1. a 13 y/o female with a kidney infection who reports that there is "lots of blood in her urine".
2. 18 y/o male with acute alcohol poisoning who is seeing "bugs on the walls"
3. a 21 y/o female with inflammatory bowel disease who has soaked dressing 3 hrs after surgery
4. a 25 y/o male who is sobbing in his room after being told that he has testicular cancer
Situation: the nurse is caring for these 4 patients
Question: who should the nurse see first? ✔✔the 21 y/o who is 3 hrs postoperative and has a
soaked dressing
Patients:
1. a 42 y/o with diabetes who is blind and is asking to get up and moved to a chair
2. a 88 y/o with lower body paralysis who wants to be turned in bed
3. a 17 y/o with asthma who smokes and has been in the bathroom for 30 mins
4. 55 y/o with cardiac disease who tells the nurse " get the tv fixed or i am leaving this place"
Situation: the nurse is caring for these 4 patients
The questions: which patient should the nurse see 1st? ✔✔17 y/o with asthma and smokes and
has been in the bathroom for 30 mins
Patient: an elderly female accompanied by her middle aged son.
Situation: the patient is being discharged after 15 day stay on medical unit, and the son offers a
box of candy as a gesture of thanks for caring for his mother.
Questions: what should the nurse do in response to the offer of this gift? ✔✔sincerely thank the
son, and share the candy with all staff members on the unit
Patient: 25 y/o female who has smoked since the age 12
Situation: the patient is complaint of "skipped heart beats".
The question: which instruction is most important for the nurse to provide this patient? ✔✔call
for assistance if she feels weak or dizzy when getting out of bed
Patient: a frail 88 y/o male who has recently become slightly confused.
The situation: the nurse is making a home visit and assesses the safety features of the home
environment.
The questions: which suggestion would be most important for the nurse to provide the family?
✔✔eliminate any throw rugs from the floor
The patient: 55 y/o female with a family history of hypertension
Situation: the patient is concerned about her health and states " i have have severe headaches for
the last six month. I think I might have high blood pressure" The nurse determines the woman's
bp is 138/86 (high normal).
Question: what action would be best for the nurse to take? ✔✔ask the patient about the
frequency, timing and quality of her headaches
The Patient: A 35-year-old female with a history of asthma. The Situation: The patient has been
using a steroid inhaler because she is short of breath. However, she states that her shortness of
breath is "no better." The Question: What is the most important information for the nurse to
obtain? ✔✔method of using inhaler
The Patient: An older confused male.
The Situation: At 3 a.m. 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? ✔✔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? ✔✔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? ✔✔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 morphins whenever Nurse "B" is caring
for him. Nurse "A" suspects that 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? ✔✔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? ✔✔check the patients toes
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? ✔✔ask the patient to
describe chest pain
The Patient: A 7-year-old child. The Situation: A nurse arrives with an injection containing
preoperative sedation that must be given to the child now. The child asks the nurse if the shot
will hurt.
The Question: What response should the nurse offer to this child? ✔✔"Yes, but it won't last very
long and soon you will be sleepy"
The Patient: A 35-year-old female.
The Situation: The patient is admitted with a diagnosis of abdominal pain and diarrhea. The
Question: Which action should the nurse take first? ✔✔Initiate Intravenous fluids.
The Patient: A 51-year-old male. The Situation: The patient is pale, has dark circles under his
eyes, and responds to questions with a soft, low voice. He tells the nurse that he has not slept
well for months, but denies any type of pain.
The Question: What information is most important for the nurse to obtain? ✔✔The existence of
a significant life in the last year that has caused anxiety.
The Patient: A 19-year-old male who has previously been healthy.
The Situation: The patient complains that he is losing weight despite "eating all the time."
The Question: Considering this patient's age and complaint, which diagnostic test is likely to
provide the most important information? ✔✔A fingerstick for blood sugar level.
The Patient: An adult with diabetes mellitus who was just given a morning does of insulin which
lowers the blood sugar. The Situation: The patient's breakfast tray arrives, and the nurse notices
that the pancake syrup and sugar packets have not been substituted with products containing
artificial sweeteners.
The Question: What should the nurse do first in this situation? ✔✔Remove foods containing
sugar and offer sugar substitutes.
The Patient: A terminally ill male. The Situation: Nurse "A" and an unidentified woman ride the
elevator to the fifth floor, Nurse "B" joins them on the elevator and exclaims that a code has just
been called on a male patient on the fifth floor, and he is not expected to live.
The Question: What should Nurse "A" do in this situation? ✔✔Tell Nurse B stop discussing the
client's situation in a public place.
The Patient: An elderly confused female in a semi-private room on a hospital medical unit.
The Situation: The patient is yelling loudly at 3:30a.m. and awakens her roommate, who calls the
nurse for assistance. The Question: What should the nurse do first in this situation? ✔✔Assess
the confused patient for causes of her behavior.
The Patient: A 75-year-old male. The Situation: The family brings the patient to the emergency
room because they witnessed him have a seizure. The patient is hallucinating, and loudly cries
out to the nurse, "Get those dogs out of here!" The nurse places the patient in a cubicle where he
can be seen from the nurse's station.
The Question: What action would be best for the nurse to take? ✔✔Ask the family to remain
with the patient.
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