Practice Question
The nurse is caring for a group of clients with the help of a practical nurse (PN). Which nursing action(s) should the nurse assign to the PN? (Select all that apply.)
Answer Choices:
Correct Answer:
Obtain postoperative vital signs for a client one day following unilateral knee arthroplasty
Rationale:
Obtain postoperative vital signs for a client one day following unilateral knee
✅ Monitoring vital signs is a routine task that falls well within the scope of a practical nurse (PN).
✅ On postoperative day one, the client is generally stable, and this assessment requires basic clinical judgment but no complex decision-making.
✅ This task is critical for identifying trends in post-op recovery and ensures ongoing surveillance for complications.
✅ Delegating this task to the PN allows the RN to focus on more acute or complex care activities.
Perform daily surgical dressing change for a client who had an abdominal hysterectomy
✅ Surgical dressing changes are appropriate for a PN when the wound is stable and instructions are clear.
✅ The PN can perform sterile procedures like dressing changes as long as assessments requiring RN judgment are not needed.
✅ Routine wound care helps prevent surgical site infections, and timely care supports proper healing.
✅ Delegating this task to the PN helps maintain continuity of care and proper wound surveillance.
Administer a dose of insulin per sliding scale for a client with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM)
✅ Administering subcutaneous insulin based on a sliding scale is a medication administration task within PN scope.
✅ PNs are trained to recognize blood glucose values and administer medications accordingly using pre-established guidelines.
✅ This task does not involve adjusting the insulin regimen independently, which would require RN-level clinical decision-making.
✅ It ensures timely glucose management, an essential part of diabetes care in the hospital setting.
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This question is from RN HESI Exit~2025 Exam 2 which contains 108 questions.
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Question Details
- Category: RN Nursing Exam(s)
- Subcategory: HESI-Exit Exam(s)
- Domain: HESI Exit Exam(s)~2025
- Answer Choices: 5