Free NCLEX Practice Questions

What to Expect on NCLEX Health Promotion and Maintenance

 Around 9% of the NCLEX exam questions are Health Promotion and Maintenance. This category centers on understanding the expected growth and development principles and the prevention and early detection of health issues. It also covers strategies for achieving optimal health. Topics within this domain include the following areas:

1. Health screening: This section describes the Registered Nurse's responsibilities in health screening. Nurses must identify risk factors related to patient populations and ethnicities, utilize knowledge of specific pathophysiology, and conduct relevant health histories and risk assessments. They must also perform targeted screening assessments for various health concerns, including vision, hearing, and nutrition.
2. High-risk behaviors: This section addresses the Registered Nurse's responsibility in identifying high-risk behaviors in clients. Nurses assess clients' lifestyles to recognize behaviors that could negatively impact their health, prompt clients to identify behaviors or factors that increase their disease risk, and educate them about treatment and prevention strategies for these high-risk behaviors.
3. Lifestyle choices: This section will address lifestyle choices examined in the NCLEX exam. Registered Nurses need to assess clients' lifestyle preferences, identify clients who are socially or environmentally isolated, and evaluate the use of complementary or alternative medicine practices. Additionally, nurses should assess clients' views on sexuality, determine the need for contraception, provide education on contraceptive methods, recognize contraindications or expected outcomes for family planning, and educate clients on sexuality issues.
4. Self-care: This section will cover the Registered Nurse's role in promoting client self-care. Nurses must evaluate the client's ability to perform self-care at home and tailor care plans accordingly. They should consider the client's strengths and limitations in self-care when developing the nursing care plan, identify the need for equipment or community resources to support self-care and assist primary caregivers in helping clients achieve their personal self-care goals.
5. Techniques of physical assessment: This section will outline the physical assessment techniques that Registered Nurses should master. Nurses must apply their knowledge of nursing procedures and skills to physical assessment techniques, selecting equipment and methods suited to each client. They must be capable of conducting a comprehensive health assessment and identifying abnormal findings.
6. Aging process: This section will explore how the NCLEX exam addresses aging. Registered Nurses are expected to assess clients' responses to anticipated age-related changes and provide care across the lifespan, including for newborns, infants, toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children, adolescents, adults, and elderly clients.
7. Read More: Difference between NCLEX RN vs PN
8. Ante/intra/postpartum and newborn care: This section outlines the Registered Nurse's responsibilities in antepartum, intrapartum, postpartum, and newborn care. Nurses will evaluate clients' psychosocial responses to pregnancy, recognize cultural differences in childbearing practices, calculate expected delivery dates, monitor fetal heart rates during prenatal exams, and deliver prenatal care and education. Additionally, nurses will care for and educate antepartum and laboring patients, assess for postpartum complications, provide postpartum care and guidance, assist with newborn care education, evaluate client competency in newborn care, and offer discharge instructions to postpartum patients and their newborns.
9. Developmental stages and transitions: This section covers how Registered Nurses must thoroughly assess patients' current and anticipated developmental stages and transitions to deliver appropriate care. Nurses must identify expected physical, cognitive, and psychosocial developmental stages, consider cultural and religious influences, compare the patient's development with expected norms, and report deviations. They must also evaluate family structures and roles and understand how changes affect family dynamics. Additionally, nurses should support clients in coping with life transitions, adjust care based on developmental stages, provide education on age-related changes, growth, and development, and assess developmental milestones, including changes in body image.
10. Health promotion/disease prevention: This section covers the responsibilities of Registered Nurses in health promotion and disease prevention. Nurses must identify disease risk factors, assess clients for specific health risks, determine clients' readiness to learn, consider any obstacles and preferred learning styles, and educate them about these risks. Nurses also participate in community health education, provide clients with information on health promotion and disease prevention practices, and advise them on relevant immunization schedules. Additionally, nurses integrate complementary therapies into health promotion for healthy clients, offer guidance on health maintenance recommendations, provide follow-up resources, assess client comprehension, and engage in community-based care.