PCT Certification Exam Study Guide: Questions and Answers, Exams of Nursing

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__________ helps to increase the flow of ________, thus counteracting the effect of aging. Correct Answer exercise; oxygen ________ pain is pain that is not new in onset, and has been going on for at least 6 months. Correct Answer chronic What treatment can the PCT assist with in order to provide patient comfort? Correct Answer giving the patient a backrub What is one way the PCT can assist the patient with getting a good night's rest? Correct Answer closing the curtains on the window and turning down the lights What is the purpose of placing a patient on contact precautions? Correct Answer to prevent transmission of infectious microorganisms Droplet transimssion Correct Answer spreads up to 3 feet

Where should the PCT place sterile objects? Correct Answer above waist level The PCT is preparing to open the outer sterile wrap of an indwelling catheter tray. Which flap of the wrap should be opened first? Correct Answer the flap that opens away from the PCT A type C fire extinguisher is required for which type of fire? Correct Answer electrical A patient with a stroke has slid to the foot of the bed. The PCT maintains a wide base of support and faces the patient in the direction of movement. What do these actions allow the PCT to do? Correct Answer exert less physical effort On the adult surgical unit, the code is announced for an external disaster emergency. Which event best represents this type of situation? Correct Answer a school bus accident Which factor places a child at greatest risk for specific types of injuries? Correct Answer developmental level Which position best allows for insertion of the catheter? Correct Answer lithotomy Orthopneic Position Correct Answer sitting up and leaning over a table to breathe

When using a lift sheet to assist in moving a patient up in bed, what should the PCT ask the patient to do? Correct Answer maintain a straight body position What is the primary goal of the rapid response team? Correct Answer improve the patient outcomes by responding to a decline in his or her condition in a quick manner What guidelines are true with use of an automated external defibrillator(AED)? Correct Answer excessive chest hair may need to be removed How often should the examination room be checked for proper stocking of supplies? Correct Answer each shift and every time the room is used How often should the examination room be cleaned? Correct Answer each time it is used Which patient should you report first, a patient with high blood pressure or a patient with low blood pressure? Correct Answer a patient with high blood pressure Rectal temperatures are 1 degree _________ than an oral temperature. Correct Answer higher Axillary temperatures are 1 degree ________ than an oral temperature. Correct Answer lower

A patient's rectal temperature reading is 101.6 degrees F. What is the expected oral temperature reading? Correct Answer 100.6 degrees F Embolism Correct Answer a traveling blood clot Thrombosis Correct Answer blood clot Which method of measuring temperature reveals core temperature? Correct Answer rectal A sustained elevation over what blood pressure reading must occur at two separate visits in order for a hypertensive diagnosis? Correct Answer 140/ Which wave is the first wave seen on an EKG strip? Correct Answer P wave How should the patient be positioned for an EKG? Correct Answer supine How many extremities are used for lead placement when obtaining a 12-lead EKG? Correct Answer 4: right arm, right leg, left arm, left leg Who is responsible for deciding whether the patient can be discharged from the hospital? Correct Answer physician The optimal position for providing oral hygiene an unconscious patient is _________ to prevent choking. Correct Answer side-lying with head facing to the side

What is the correct technique for cleansing dentures? Correct Answer brush dentures with a soft toothbrush What is the purpose of a bath blanket? Correct Answer to prevent chilling How often should a patient's hair be brushed? Correct Answer daily A patient had diabetes and complains of decreased feeling in the feet. What should you do? Correct Answer Verify with the nurse whether you should wash the feet Normal daily water intake and output is approximately how many millileters? Correct Answer 150 0 mL How many mL of urine per hour must the kidneys secrete in order to eliminate waste products from the body? Correct Answer 30 mL How many mL of urine per day must the kidneys secrete in order to eliminate waste products from the body? Correct Answer 720 mL Should IV fluids be included on a patient's intake? Correct Answer Yes To insert a Foley catheter, the PCT should use which kind of technique? Correct Answer sterile technique

Surgical Asepsis Correct Answer sterile technique Medical Asepsis Correct Answer clean technique Before administering an enema, which position should the PCT place the patient in? Correct Answer left sim's position The larger the gauge number, the _________ the needle diameter. Correct Answer smaller Which position should the postoperative patient assume before coughing and deep breathing? Correct Answer semi-fowlers Who is responsible for ordering the rate of oxygen for the patient? Correct Answer physician Tourniquets should be placed ______ inches above the venipuncture site. Correct Answer 2 - 3 The presence of greenish yellow foam in a patient's urine may indicate that the patient has...? Correct Answer Hepatitis What is the minimum amount of urine required for a routine analysis? Correct Answer 7 - 10 mL What should you check before applying compression socks? Correct Answer the popliteal artery

How long should a cold compress be applied? Correct Answer 20 minutes An aquathermia pad is used for what type of application? Correct Answer moist heat What describes serous drainage? Correct Answer clear, watery plasma What describes sanguinous drainage? Correct Answer bloody Which wound drain is classified as providing gravity- assisted drainage? Correct Answer penrose The average pregnancy lasts how long? Correct Answer 280 days Damage to the cervical spine or the neck that involves weakness or paralysis in all four extremities is known as what? Correct Answer Quadriplegia Paraplegia Correct Answer paralysis from the waist down Hemiplegia Correct Answer paralysis of one side of the body Paresis Correct Answer weakness/slight paralysis What is the leading cause of death and disability in children in the US? Correct Answer unintentional injuries

Alzheimer's disease is known as what type of disease with regard to how it appears? Correct Answer progressive and mild loss of function What is a predisposing risk factor for breast cancer in women? Correct Answer obesity What are clinical signs of death? Correct Answer absence of apical pulse, cessation of respirations, cessation of bowel sounds, flat encephalogram Cessation Correct Answer stopping Contraindicated Correct Answer not recommended During a stress test, a PCT notices that the patient appears to be hyperventilating. Which of the following actions should the PCT take? Correct Answer Check the patient's respiratory rate A PCT is assisting a patient to take self-administered medications. The PCT should recognize that which of the following medications should not be crushed? Correct Answer enteric-coated When a PCT is distributing lab results to the ordering physician, which results have priority? Correct Answer basal metabolic panel

A PCT is changing a patient's bedding and is accidentally stuck with a needle. Which of the following actions should the PCT take first? Correct Answer milk the affected site A PCT should recognize that a chain of custody is used for which of the following reasons? Correct Answer to guarantee the identification and integrity of samples Which of the following tubes should be collected first for dermal samples? Correct Answer lavender top When should the code on glucose cuvettes be compared to the code on the glucometer? Correct Answer when a patient is being tested A PCT is assisting with the care of a patient who is receiving a blood transfusion. Which of the following vital signs should the PCT report first? Correct Answer an elevated temperature A PCT is caring for a new patient. Which of the following statements made by the patient indicated a need for further teaching, regarding HIPAA? Correct Answer If necessary, my doctor can release my test results at his own discretion A patient who receives tube feedings should be placed in which position? Correct Answer semi-fowlers

What should the PCT use to cleanse the site of venipunture when drawing a blood culture? Correct Answer chlorhexidine gluconate Edema Correct Answer swelling The PCT is monitoring a patient who has severe hypertension. Which of the following findings related to the patient's condition should the PCT report to the nurse immediately? Correct Answer The patient's lower limbs show pitting edema A PCT informs the nurse concerning swelling at the peripheral IV site. The PCT should recognize that which of the following is most likely the cause of this? Correct Answer catheter infiltration A PCT is drawing blood from a patient and observes red spots. Which of the following is an appropriate action to take? Correct Answer apply more pressure to the site Which of the following is a consequence of mislabeling a blood bank specimen? Correct Answer a transfusion reaction What can cause an pulse oximetry reading to be inaccurate or absent? Correct Answer cold hands and fingers A PCT is caring for a patient who is non ambulatory. Before manually lifting the patient which of the following

factors should the PCT consider first? Correct Answer the patient's ability to exist A patient presents alert and oriented, but the PCT finds that all the waveforms are negative in Lead I. The technician should check the cable connection for which of the following electrodes? Correct Answer right arm and left arm A PCT is planning care for a patient with contact precautions. When entering the patient's room the PCT should apply which of the following? Correct Answer gown The normal pulse rate for a child is ___________ than the normal pulse rate for adults. Correct Answer higher A PCT is caring for a number of patients following a shift change. Which of the following patient's should the PCT assess first? Correct Answer a patient who is disoriented A PCT is caring for several adult patients. Which of the following should the PCT report to the nurse first? Correct Answer Temperature 38.5 C (100.5 F) While working with the automated laboratory information system, correct input of data is most critical because incorrect data may... Correct Answer be reported to a health care provider The PCT is to determine the pulse rate of a patient who has atrial fibrillation. Which of the following methods

should be used? Correct Answer manually, using apical area A PCT is measuring a patient's blood pressure. The PCT should recognize that which of the following situations could result in an inaccurate reading? Correct Answer arm is lower than the heart heatlhy Correct Answer to be without disease Patient Care Technician Correct Answer nursing assistant with advanced skills Health Promotion Correct Answer strategies that try to prevent illness from occuring Who delegates tasks to a PCT? Correct Answer physician ombudsman Correct Answer someone who seeks to ensure that resident rights are maintained in the long-term setting What is the purpose of HIPAA? Correct Answer to protect person's rights to privacy of protected information Encouraging mammogram screening is an example of what? Correct Answer secondary prevention strategy Are increasing poverty rates a negative or positive impact on healthcare for the underserved? Correct Answer negative

A benefit of the Affordable Care Act is...? Correct Answer members are no longer denied coverage if they have a preexisting condition When a person can work in multiple areas and in multiple roles they are considered ________. Correct Answer cross-trained True or False: A PCT can share pictures/info of a patient on social media. Correct Answer False At which point can the PCT give test results to the patient's family members? Correct Answer if the patient has signed a release indicating which family members are allowed to receive patient information To say that something that is obviously harmful to someone is said to be _______. Correct Answer detrimental Documentation on a patient's record must be...? Correct Answer neat and able to be read To be professional, the PCT should act in what way? Correct Answer courteous True or False: the skills performed by the nursing assistant are the same skills performed as a PCT? Correct Answer False

To be able to take the PCT certification test, one must have...? Correct Answer a high school diploma How many hours of continuing education is required before one can renew the PCT certification? Correct Answer 10 If one does not pass the second PCT certification exam, how soon can the candidate schedule the third exam? Correct Answer 30 days Who is responsible for paying for the PCT certification exam? Correct Answer the candidate taking the exam True or False: If the PCT uses jargon to describe what the specimen looks like to a patient, the patient should know what that means. Correct Answer False Jargon Correct Answer special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group and are difficult for others to understand The card system that is used to consolidate patient orders and is often kept in one central location is known as the...? Correct Answer Kardex True or False: closed posture is generally accepted to mean that one is more accepting, warm, and interested. Correct Answer False

True or False: If the PCT completes a task but forgets to document it, his or her verbal statement saying he or she performed the task will hold up in court if there were a lawsuit. Correct Answer false A teacher giving a lecture to a large classroom is known as what type of communication? Correct Answer one-way communication A Muslim patient becomes upset and refuses to do so when she is told she must remove her clothes and put on an examination gown. Why is this? Correct Answer As a Muslim, the patient must keep as much of her body covered as possible The PCT does not understand why a Chinese American family is not grieving for their dying father. What behaviors are being demonstrated by the student? Correct Answer Ethnocentric Ethnocentric Correct Answer believing in the superiority of one's own ethnic and cultural group, and having a corresponding disdain for all other groups Stereotyping Correct Answer creating an oversimplified image of a particular group of people, usually by assuming that all members of the group are alike A female Muslim should only be cared for by a _______? Correct Answer female

True or False: It is appropriate to use a family member such as a patient's child as an interpreter in the hospital setting. Correct Answer False Culturally Competent Correct Answer describes a person who is aware of their own cultural beliefs, the beliefs and practices of other cultures, and has the ability to interact effectively with people from other cultures The PCT knows that one of the best defenses against a lawsuit is for a nurse to ....? Correct Answer promise a positive relationship with the patient The PCT believes that all patients should be treated as individuals. The ethnic principle that this belief reflects is...? Correct Answer autonomy Autonomy Correct Answer all patients should be treated as individuals Beneficence Correct Answer Doing good or causing good to be done; kindly action Nonmaleficence Correct Answer duty to do no harm What is the purpose of an advanced directive? Correct Answer help every person exercise the right to die with dignity Advanced Directive Correct Answer a legal document prepared by a living, competent adult instructing what to

do if the individual should become unable to make decisions regarding his or her medical care The PCT knows that all patients have the right to nursing interventions regardless of their race, religion, or gender. The ethical principle that best describes this concept is ________? Correct Answer justice If a PCT loses a document with specific info about patients, he has violated...? Correct Answer HIPAA The PCT is assigned to a patient who needs catheterization, but has not performed the procedure before. What should the PCT do? Correct Answer review the agency procedure for catheterization in the unit's resource area and ask another experienced nurse to demonstrate the procedure first Informed consent may be obtained by who? Correct Answer physician Informed Consent Correct Answer an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate The trachea, the heart, the blood vessels, and the lungs are located in which body cavity? Correct Answer ventral Homeostasis Correct Answer when a person's body is maintaining a balanced state within its internal environment

A patient inhaling oxygen and it passing through the lungs and into the bloodstream is what process? (area of high concentration to area of low concentration) Correct Answer diffusion Phagocytosis Correct Answer when a cell engulfs another cell Osmosis Correct Answer Diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane What type of tissue is composed of cells that contract in response to a message from the brain or spinal cord? Correct Answer muscle Does the statement "Mucous membranes line many organs, open to the outside environment, and are part of the body's defense mechanism against invasion of microorganisms" demonstrate knowledge of basic human anatomy and physiology? Correct Answer Yes Organ Correct Answer A group of several different kinds of tissues arrange to perform a special function Cell Correct Answer Basic unit of life System Correct Answer group of organs that work together to perform complex body functions (ex: digestive system)

Diaphragm Correct Answer Large, flat muscle at the bottom of the chest cavity that helps with breathing What structure divides the thoracic cavity from the abdominal cavity? Correct Answer Diaphragm The first socializing agent for a child is...? Correct Answer family What statement most accurately describes growth during the school-age period? Correct Answer growth is slow and consistent Erikson's tasks Correct Answer trust vs. mistrust, autonomy vs. shame/doubt, initiative vs. guilt, industry vs. inferiority, identity vs. role confusion, intimacy vs. isolation, generativity vs. stagnation, and integrity vs. despair. A child's need for praise and encouragement for her work efforts demonstrate her development of which of Erikson's tasks? Correct Answer industry Initiative Correct Answer the ability to assess and initiate things independently Peak physical strength occurs during which period of life? Correct Answer Early adulthood Cephalocaudal Correct Answer growth begins at the head and moves toward the lower extremities

What statement, regarding preparation of a peripheral blood smear, indicated the need for further teaching? Correct Answer "I will press down on the spreader slide to fix the cells on the lower side." Ambulatory monitors observe...? Correct Answer a patient's heart rate over a longer period of time If you notice that a patient has red-tinged sputum, you should...? Correct Answer ask the patient what they had to eat/drink last The PCT is assisting in the care of a patient who had a wound left to heal by way of granulation. How often should the wound be dressed? Correct Answer every 24 hours Granulation Correct Answer a way of wound drainage where the wound is allowed to heal openly (ex: scabbing) True or False: A PCT cannot give information to a patient's family about their roommate. Correct Answer True A PCT is collecting a patient's sputum specimen. Which of the following actions by the PCT is contraindicated? Correct Answer Having the patient use an alcohol based mouthwash Polyuria and a high blood sugar reading are symptoms of what? Correct Answer Diabetes

A PCT is drawing 5 tubes of blood. When should the tourniquet be released? Correct Answer after 1-2 minutes A PCT is manually transferring a patient who has a right- side weakness from the bed to the wheelchair. Which of the following methods should the PCT used to promote the proper body mechanics? Correct Answer grasp back of the transfer belt, have patient stand using stronger side while lifting legs and keeping back straight A PCT should recognize that which of the following scenarios requires an aseptic dressing change? Correct Answer changing the dressing of a patient who has a superficial decubitis A PCT may not apply restraints to a patient without the authorization from...? Correct Answer the nurse U waves on an EKG indicate what? Correct Answer decreased potassium levels A PCT detects a U wave and a patient reports chest pain and discomfort. Which of the following is an appropriate action for the technician to take? Correct Answer notify the patient's physician A PCT receives and order to draw an infant screening card, o2 levels, bilirubin, and DNA. Which of the following should be drawn first? Correct Answer o2 levels

Care for patient with feeding tubes Correct Answer Elevate the head 45 degree while feeding Monitoring bowel movement Correct Answer You are responsible for notifying the nurse (patient must have a movement every 3 days) amount, color, consistency When a patient get discharged Correct Answer PCT must obtain vital signs Restorative care Correct Answer Is care given to patient to help them become as independent as possible, following a health or medical event In restorative care Correct Answer Allow patients to do as many ADLs as possible. Contracture Correct Answer Are abnormal flexion of joints Bladder exercises Correct Answer Nurses are responsible for educate patiens about these exercises, PCT remind them. Removing an IV Correct Answer Need a gauze, tape and gloves Sterile dressing Correct Answer Are to be removed by nurses or physician, PCT does not remove them without specific directions

To apply sterile dressing Correct Answer Wash hand 3 times Drainage saturation Correct Answer Drainage: Amount, color, odor, Dry: is soaked, securely taped to the skin Lifting devices Correct Answer Used for heavy patients: Hydrolic ,sling, metal frame To apply bandages Correct Answer Apply from distal to proximal Compression boots Correct Answer Promote blood flow in the leg and prevent blood clot formation Holes in anti-embolism are Correct Answer To asses blood circulation (TED HOSE) prevent fluid build up Incentive spirometry Correct Answer Is used to improve blood circulation to the lungs, minimize the risk of pneumonia , move air into lungs Edema Correct Answer Excessive accumulation of fluid in body tissue Apical pulse Correct Answer Is felt in the 5th intercostal space, and the midclavicular line (pulse over 60 b/m)

Measuring oxygen saturation in hemoglobin Correct Answer Normal range 94 to 100 can be measured in the finger, toe, or earlobe False findings can be caused by Correct Answer Nail polish, cold fingers, toxic exposure Drawing requirement Correct Answer - Requisition form

• full name
• DOB/medical record
• Who ordered test
• when sample was obtained Implied of informed consent Correct Answer A PCT must always obtain consent and explain procedures Antecubital fossa Correct Answer Preferred site for venipuncture (several veins close to the surface and easy to seen. Back of the hand (metacarpal is also another good site) If cannot contact provider Correct Answer Document that patient did not fast Never use family members when Correct Answer Patient speak a different language During an EKG Correct Answer Instruct the patient to remove all electronic devices remain as still as possible at least for 10 seconds, lie flat with head slightly elevated.

Stress test Correct Answer Is used to test the heart function under increased workload (instruct not to smoke or eat 3 hours before test) 5 lead configuration Lithotomy position Correct Answer Is used for rectal and genital exams, a position lying on your back with knees bent and thighs apart Heart rate of an infant Correct Answer Is 80 to 160 b/m Oximetry reading Correct Answer Low BP and cold fingers can indicate poor circulation, which can cause problems in an oxymetry readout. Vertical projections (R waves) pacemaker spikes Correct Answer Are common in individual with pacemakers V5, V6 I and AVL Correct Answer Observe the lateral wall of the heart atrial fibrillation Correct Answer occurs when the normal rhythmic contractions of the atria are replaced by rapid irregular twitching of the muscular heart wall. (in this case apical pulse to asses heart rate)300/600 b/m is an irregular irregularly rhythm In atrial tachicardia Correct Answer P waves are not present