HESI A2 — All Questions

Read the passage: 'Turn the patient every two hours. Skin that stays under pressure loses its blood supply, and tissue that loses its blood supply begins to die within hours.' Why must the patient be turned?

• a.To make the patient more comfortable
• b.To keep the bedding from wrinkling
• c.To restore blood flow to compressed skin✓
• d.To check whether the patient is awake

The passage traces a chain from pressure to lost blood supply to dying tissue, so turning relieves the pressure. Comfort, bedding and level of consciousness are never given as reasons.

Read the passage: 'The ferry runs hourly from June through August. In the off season it sails only on Saturdays, weather permitting.' A traveller wants to cross on a Tuesday in October. What can be concluded?

• a.No ferry will be running that day✓
• b.The ferry will run but only in the morning
• c.The ferry will run if the weather is good
• d.The ferry runs hourly all year round

October is outside the June to August season, so service is Saturdays only, and Tuesday is not a Saturday. The weather condition applies only to Saturday sailings, and the hourly schedule is limited to the summer months.

Read the passage: 'The lecture hall seats four hundred, but only a dozen students came to the optional review session. Those twelve later scored, on average, a full letter grade above their classmates.' What can you infer about the review session?

• a.It was useful but poorly attended✓
• b.It was required for all students
• c.It was cancelled for lack of interest
• d.It made no difference to the final grades

Twelve out of four hundred is sparse attendance, and the higher scores show it was worth attending. The passage calls the session optional, it clearly took place, and the grade difference contradicts any claim that it did not help.

Read the passage: 'Smoke rises from a fire because hot air is less dense than the cooler air around it. The same principle keeps a hot-air balloon aloft.' What is the relationship between the two sentences?

• a.The second contradicts the first
• b.The second defines a term used in the first
• c.The second gives another example of the first✓
• d.The second describes what happened next

The balloon illustrates the same principle of density already stated. Nothing is contradicted, no term is defined, and the sentences are not events in a sequence.

Read the passage: 'She said the shift was fine. She said it twice, without looking up from the chart, while her hands shook enough to rattle the pen against the desk.' What does the passage suggest?

• a.She was cold from the air conditioning
• b.The shift was not fine at all✓
• c.She had already forgotten the shift
• d.She was angry with the person asking

The trembling hands and avoided eye contact undercut the words, which is the point of the description. Cold is never mentioned, she plainly remembers the shift, and the passage shows distress rather than anger.

Read the passage: 'Both aspirin and acetaminophen reduce fever. Only aspirin also thins the blood, and aspirin is avoided in children with a viral illness because of the risk of Reye syndrome.' Which statement is supported?

• a.Acetaminophen thins the blood as well
• b.Neither drug is safe for children
• c.Aspirin is the stronger fever reducer
• d.Aspirin and acetaminophen do not have identical effects✓

The passage names one effect aspirin has that acetaminophen does not, so the two drugs differ. It does not attribute blood thinning to acetaminophen, restricts only aspirin in children, and never compares the strength of the two against fever.

Read the passage: 'In 1854 John Snow removed the handle from a London water pump. Cholera deaths in the surrounding streets fell sharply, and the idea that the disease travelled through water gained ground.' What was the significance of removing the handle?

• a.It supported the theory that water carried cholera✓
• b.It proved that cholera spreads through the air
• c.It was the first public health law ever passed
• d.It cured the patients already ill with cholera

Deaths fell once the water source was cut off, which is evidence for waterborne spread. The passage argues against an airborne route, describes an action rather than a law, and says nothing about curing the already sick.

Read the passage: 'Reading aloud to a child for twenty minutes a day exposes them to roughly two million words a year. Children read to daily arrive at school with far larger vocabularies than those who are not.' What is the main idea?

• a.Daily reading aloud builds a child's vocabulary✓
• b.Twenty minutes is the ideal length for a story
• c.School vocabulary tests are unfair to some children
• d.Most parents do not read to their children

Both sentences connect the daily habit to vocabulary size, which is the main idea. The twenty minutes is an example rather than an ideal, no test is called unfair, and how many parents read aloud is never stated.

Read the passage: 'The committee's report was voluminous, running to nine hundred pages with appendices.' In this passage, 'voluminous' most nearly means:

• a.carelessly written
• b.kept secret
• c.very lengthy✓
• d.highly persuasive

The page count immediately after the word shows it refers to size. Nothing in the sentence comments on the writing quality, its availability, or how convincing it is.

Read the passage: 'Wear gloves when handling the specimen. Dispose of them in the red container, never in the regular waste basket.' What is implied about the specimen?

• a.It is potentially infectious✓
• b.It is extremely fragile
• c.It is expensive to replace
• d.It belongs to more than one patient

Gloves plus separate biohazard disposal are precautions against infection. Fragility would call for careful handling rather than special waste rules, and neither cost nor ownership is mentioned.

Read the passage: 'First the power failed. Then the backup generator started, but it powered only the east wing. By midnight, staff were carrying supplies from the dark side of the building by flashlight.' How is the passage organized?

• a.As a comparison of two buildings
• b.As a list of solutions to a problem
• c.As an argument with supporting reasons
• d.As a sequence of events✓

First, then and by midnight mark a chain of events in time. The two wings are part of one building rather than a comparison, no solutions are listed, and no position is argued.

Read the passage: 'The bus leaves at 6:10, not 6:15 as the old timetable showed. Passengers arriving at the former time have been left behind twice this month.' What is the author's purpose?

• a.To complain about the bus company
• b.To explain how timetables are made
• c.To persuade readers to drive instead
• d.To warn readers of a schedule change✓

The passage corrects a time and shows the consequence of not knowing, which is a warning. There is no complaint about the company, no explanation of timetable design, and no suggestion of another way to travel.

Read the passage: 'No two fingerprints have ever been found to match, even among identical twins, whose DNA is the same.' What does the mention of twins add?

• a.It shows fingerprints are not determined by genes alone✓
• b.It proves that identical twins are not truly identical in DNA
• c.It suggests fingerprints change over a lifetime
• d.It explains how fingerprints are collected

Twins share DNA yet differ in prints, so something beyond genetics shapes the pattern. The passage states their DNA is the same, says nothing about prints changing, and never describes collection methods.

Read the passage: 'The chef insisted the kitchen close at ten. The owner wanted to serve until midnight. In the end the kitchen closed at eleven and neither of them was satisfied.' What kind of resolution is described?

• a.A complete victory for the chef
• b.A compromise✓
• c.A complete victory for the owner
• d.A refusal to decide anything

Eleven o'clock sits between the two positions and leaves both parties unhappy, which is what a compromise looks like. Neither side got the hour it asked for, and a decision clearly was made.

Read the passage: 'The label warns that the tablets may cause drowsiness and advises against driving. It says nothing about taking them with food.' What should a reader conclude about food?

• a.The tablets must be taken with food
• b.The tablets must be taken on an empty stomach
• c.Food makes the drowsiness worse
• d.The label does not address it✓

The passage states only that food is not mentioned, so no instruction about it can be drawn from the label. Requiring food, forbidding it, or linking it to drowsiness all read in information the label does not contain.

Read the passage: 'Volunteers planted six hundred saplings along the creek. Within three years the bank had stopped washing away during spring floods.' What relationship do the two sentences show?

• a.Comparison and contrast
• b.Problem without solution
• c.A list in order of importance
• d.Cause and effect✓

The planting came first and the stabilised bank followed, which is a cause producing an effect. Nothing is compared, the problem is in fact solved, and no ranking is offered.

The nurse checked for any contraindication before giving the drug. A contraindication is:

• a.a reason the drug should not be given✓
• b.a second drug given with the first
• c.the expected benefit of the drug
• d.the correct dose for the patient

The prefix contra means against, so a contraindication is a condition that makes a treatment unsafe or unwise. A drug given alongside another is a combination, the expected benefit is the indication rather than its opposite, and dosing is a separate matter entirely.

An ultrasound showed that the artery was occluded. The word 'occluded' means:

• a.enlarged
• b.inflamed
• c.displaced
• d.blocked✓

To occlude is to close or obstruct a passage, so an occluded artery is one blood cannot pass through. An enlarged vessel is dilated, an inflamed one is irritated and swollen, and a displaced one has moved out of position.

The child had a paroxysm of coughing that lasted nearly a minute. A paroxysm is:

• a.a mild and steady discomfort
• b.a slow return to normal breathing
• c.a habit repeated out of nervousness
• d.a sudden violent attack✓

A paroxysm is an abrupt, intense episode of a symptom that comes on without warning. Something mild and steady is the opposite of paroxysmal, a gradual recovery is not an attack at all, and a nervous habit is voluntary behaviour.

Place the patient in the supine position for the examination. Supine means lying:

• a.flat on the stomach, face down
• b.on the left side with knees bent
• c.flat on the back, face up✓
• d.upright with the legs extended

Supine describes a patient on their back with the face upward. Lying face down is prone, lying on one side is the lateral position, and sitting upright with the legs out is the Fowler or long-sitting position.

The chart described the patient's blood pressure as labile. This means it:

• a.stays within the normal range
• b.is dangerously low at all times
• c.changes often and unpredictably✓
• d.has not been measured recently

Labile means unstable or liable to shift, so a labile pressure swings from reading to reading. A steady reading would be stable, a persistently low one would be described as hypotensive, and an unmeasured value would simply be missing.

The patient's abdomen was firm and distended. Distended means:

• a.swollen or stretched outward✓
• b.sunken and hollow
• c.warm to the touch
• d.tender only on pressure

A distended abdomen has been stretched by gas, fluid or swelling from within. A sunken abdomen is the opposite, warmth describes temperature, and tenderness describes the response to touch rather than the shape.

After the stroke his left arm was flaccid. Flaccid means:

• a.limp and without tone✓
• b.rigid and stiff
• c.swollen and painful
• d.trembling steadily

Flaccid muscle has lost its normal tension and hangs loosely. Rigidity is the opposite condition, swelling describes size rather than tone, and a steady tremor is involuntary movement, not lack of tone.

The patient was turned to a prone position. Prone means lying:

• a.face up
• b.on the right side
• c.with the head lowered
• d.face down✓

Prone places the patient on the stomach with the face turned to one side. Face up is supine, lying on one side is lateral, and tilting the head below the feet is the Trendelenburg position.

The physician asked whether the patient could ambulate without help. To ambulate is to:

• a.eat
• b.dress
• c.speak
• d.walk✓

Ambulate comes from the Latin for walking, so an ambulatory patient can get about on foot. Feeding, dressing and speech are separate activities of daily living, each with its own term.

The nurse recorded that the patient was able to void. To void means to:

• a.swallow without difficulty
• b.empty the bladder✓
• c.sit up unassisted
• d.take a deep breath

Void is the clinical word for passing urine. Swallowing, sitting up and breathing deeply are all assessed separately and none of them involves the bladder.

Patients at risk of aspiration should be sitting upright when they eat. Aspiration in this sentence means:

• a.losing the appetite for solid food
• b.having difficulty chewing tough food
• c.refusing a meal that has been offered
• d.drawing food or liquid into the airway✓

Aspiration is the entry of material into the lungs instead of the esophagus, which is why upright positioning matters. Loss of appetite is anorexia, chewing trouble relates to the teeth and jaw, and refusing food is a choice rather than an event in the airway.

The nurse noted cyanosis around the patient's lips. Cyanosis is:

• a.a bluish colour of the skin✓
• b.a yellowing of the skin
• c.an unusual pallor of the skin
• d.a raised red rash on the skin

Cyanosis is the blue-grey tint that appears when blood carries too little oxygen. Yellowing is jaundice, abnormal paleness is pallor, and a raised red rash describes a different finding altogether.

A lesion was noted on the patient's forearm. A lesion is:

• a.a permanent surgical scar
• b.a bruise caused by a fall
• c.an area of damaged tissue✓
• d.an allergy to a medication

Lesion is the general term for any wound, sore or area of abnormal tissue, whatever the cause. A scar is one healed result, a bruise is one specific kind of injury, and an allergy is a reaction rather than a visible area of tissue.

The patient was febrile on admission. Febrile means:

• a.having a fever✓
• b.having chest pain
• c.being unable to sleep
• d.having low blood sugar

Febrile comes from the Latin for fever and simply means the temperature is raised. Chest pain, insomnia and low blood sugar each have their own vocabulary and none is implied by this word.

For two weeks before the diagnosis she complained only of malaise. Malaise is:

• a.a sharp pain in one location
• b.a vague feeling of being unwell✓
• c.a sudden loss of consciousness
• d.an inability to move one side

Malaise is a general, hard-to-pin-down sense of discomfort and low energy that often precedes a clearer illness. A localised sharp pain, fainting and one-sided weakness are all specific findings rather than vague ones.

The speech therapist assessed the patient for dysphagia. Dysphagia is difficulty with:

• a.speaking
• b.breathing
• c.hearing
• d.swallowing✓

The root phag refers to eating or swallowing, and dys means difficult, so dysphagia is trouble swallowing. Difficulty speaking is dysphasia, laboured breathing is dyspnea, and hearing loss carries another term again.

The dressing was removed and the skin underneath was intact. Intact means:

• a.red and irritated
• b.moist and draining
• c.bruised and discoloured
• d.unbroken and undamaged✓

Intact skin has no break in its surface, which is exactly what a nurse hopes to find beneath a dressing. Redness, drainage and bruising all describe skin that is not intact.

Which word best completes the sentence? 'The infection left his hearing permanently ___ , so he now reads lips.'

• a.impaired✓
• b.enhanced
• c.restored
• d.irrelevant

Impaired means weakened or reduced in function, which fits a man who must now read lips. Enhanced and restored both mean improved, and irrelevant describes importance rather than function.

Warm compresses were applied for their therapeutic effect. Therapeutic means:

• a.temporary and unreliable
• b.experimental and unproven
• c.uncomfortable but necessary
• d.healing or beneficial✓

A therapeutic measure is one intended to treat or relieve a condition. Nothing in the word implies that the effect is short-lived, untested, or unpleasant, though a particular treatment might happen to be any of those.

The instructions say to dilute the concentrate before use. To dilute means to:

• a.warm gently before use
• b.shake until fully mixed
• c.make weaker by adding liquid✓
• d.measure out an exact dose

Diluting adds water or another liquid so the solution becomes less concentrated. Warming, shaking and measuring are all separate preparation steps that do not change the strength.

The record noted emesis twice during the night. Emesis is:

• a.coughing
• b.vomiting✓
• c.sweating
• d.shivering

Emesis is the clinical term for vomiting, which is why a drug that prevents it is an antiemetic. Coughing, sweating and shivering are all charted with their own words.

The oncologist reported that the disease was in remission. Remission means the disease:

• a.has returned after treatment
• b.has lessened or disappeared for now✓
• c.has spread to other organs
• d.no longer responds to treatment

Remission is a period in which signs and symptoms fade, though the illness may return later. A return of disease is a relapse, spread is metastasis, and a disease that stops responding is called resistant or refractory.

Staff must follow the protocol for a suspected exposure. A protocol is:

• a.a written record of an event
• b.a warning posted for visitors
• c.an agreement between two staff
• d.an established set of steps✓

A protocol lays out in advance the procedure everyone is to follow in a given situation. A record documents what happened afterward, a posted warning conveys a hazard, and an informal agreement binds no one else.

The assessment measured the patient's cognitive function. Cognitive refers to:

• a.movement and balance
• b.thinking and memory✓
• c.digestion and appetite
• d.mood and emotion

Cognitive function covers reasoning, attention, memory and judgement. Movement and balance are motor functions, digestion is a physical process, and mood belongs to the affective rather than cognitive domain.

The child was admitted with a calcium deficit. A deficit is:

• a.an excess
• b.a shortage✓
• c.a balance
• d.a reaction

A deficit is an amount that falls short of what is needed. An excess is too much, a balance means the amount is correct, and a reaction describes a response rather than a quantity.

The drug was stopped because of an adverse reaction. Adverse means:

• a.expected and harmless
• b.delayed by several hours
• c.harmful or unfavourable✓
• d.unusual but beneficial

An adverse effect works against the patient, which is why it prompts stopping the drug. A harmless expected effect is a side effect that can often be tolerated, timing is a separate question, and anything beneficial would not be called adverse.

Which word best completes the sentence? 'Oxygen is ___ to life; without it cells die within minutes.'

• a.optional
• b.incidental
• c.vital✓
• d.excessive

Vital means necessary for life, which matches a substance cells cannot survive without. Optional and incidental both suggest it could be dispensed with, and excessive would mean there is too much of it.

Patients who adhere to the treatment plan recover faster. To adhere to a plan is to:

• a.question it openly
• b.design it yourself
• c.abandon it early
• d.follow it closely✓

Adhering means sticking to something, whether a surface or a set of instructions. Questioning, designing and abandoning a plan all describe something other than following it.

The surgeon closed the wound with sutures. A suture is:

• a.a stitch✓
• b.a dressing
• c.a drain
• d.a clamp

Sutures are the stitches that hold the edges of a wound together while it heals. A dressing covers a wound from outside, a drain carries fluid away from it, and a clamp temporarily compresses tissue during surgery.

The instructor asked for the rationale behind the decision. A rationale is:

• a.the reasoning behind it✓
• b.the outcome that followed
• c.the person who made it
• d.the time it was made

A rationale explains why a course of action was chosen. The outcome is what resulted, and neither the decision maker nor the timing explains the thinking involved.

The supply of gloves was adequate for the week. Adequate means:

• a.excessive
• b.scarce
• c.expensive
• d.enough✓

Adequate means sufficient for the purpose, no more and no less. Excessive means more than needed, scarce means too little, and cost is a different matter from quantity.

The clinic performed a comprehensive examination. Comprehensive means:

• a.completed very quickly
• b.limited to one complaint
• c.covering all aspects✓
• d.repeated every year

A comprehensive examination is thorough and leaves nothing out. Speed is unrelated to scope, an examination limited to one complaint is a focused assessment, and how often it is repeated says nothing about how complete it is.

Which word best completes the sentence? 'A ___ student reviews her notes every evening rather than the night before the exam.'

• a.reluctant
• b.erratic
• c.indifferent
• d.diligent✓

Diligent describes steady, conscientious effort, which is what nightly review shows. Reluctant means unwilling, erratic means irregular, and indifferent means not caring about the result.

There was a discrepancy between the two counts of the narcotics. A discrepancy is:

• a.a delay in completing a task
• b.an agreement between two records
• c.a rule that staff must follow
• d.a difference that should not be there✓

A discrepancy is an inconsistency between things that ought to match, which is exactly why a narcotic count is done twice. An agreement is the opposite finding, and neither a delay nor a rule involves two figures failing to match.