CNA Basic Nursing Skills Practice Questions
Basic Nursing Skills makes up 19 of every 50 questions on a Tigertest CNA practice test. Here are 10 of the 76 questions on it, each with the answer and the reason.
Updated by the Tigertest team. Weighted to the NNAAP written exam content outline. Your state may use Prometric or Headmaster with a similar outline.
1. A nurse aide performs hand hygiene before and after caring for each resident. Which link in the chain of infection does this mainly break?
- A.Susceptible host
- B.Mode of transmission
- C.Reservoir where germs live
- D.Infectious agent
Answer: B. Hand hygiene stops germs from being carried from one person or surface to another, which is the mode of transmission. It does not remove the reservoir or make the host less susceptible.
2. Standard precautions should be used when caring for which residents?
- A.Only residents with a known infection
- B.Only residents on isolation precautions
- C.Only residents who have open wounds
- D.All residents at all times
Answer: D. Standard precautions treat all blood, body fluids, nonintact skin, and mucous membranes as potentially infectious, because many infections are not yet diagnosed. Limiting them to known infections leaves staff and residents unprotected.
3. When washing hands with soap and water, the nurse aide should rub all surfaces with friction for at least:
- A.20 seconds
- B.5 seconds
- C.10 seconds
- D.Two full minutes
Answer: A. CDC guidance is to scrub with soap and friction for at least 20 seconds, including between the fingers and under the nails. Ten seconds is too short to remove germs effectively.
4. A nurse aide finishes caring for a resident with C. difficile diarrhea. How should the aide clean her hands?
- A.Rinse under running water without soap
- B.Use alcohol-based hand rub only
- C.Wash with soap and water
- D.Wipe hands with a disinfectant cloth
Answer: C. Alcohol does not kill C. difficile spores, so hands must be washed with soap and water to remove them. Soap and water is also required whenever hands are visibly soiled.
5. A nurse aide wearing gloves finishes perineal care and must now help the resident put on a clean gown. The aide should first:
- A.Keep the same gloves since it is one resident
- B.Rinse the gloved hands under warm water
- C.Change gloves and perform hand hygiene
- D.Wipe the gloves with an alcohol pad
Answer: C. Gloves must be changed when moving from a dirty task or body area to a clean one, with hand hygiene after removing them. Rinsing or wiping gloves does not make them clean.
6. A nurse aide is putting on personal protective equipment before entering an isolation room. The correct order is:
- A.Gown, mask, goggles, gloves
- B.Gloves, gown, mask, goggles
- C.Mask, goggles, gloves, gown
- D.Goggles, gloves, mask, gown
Answer: A. PPE goes on gown first, then mask, then goggles or face shield, and gloves last so they can be pulled over the gown cuffs. Putting gloves on first would leave the cuffs uncovered.
7. A nurse aide is ready to leave an isolation room. In what order should the PPE be removed?
- A.Mask, gown, goggles, gloves
- B.Gown, gloves, mask, goggles
- C.Goggles, mask, gloves, gown
- D.Gloves, goggles, gown, mask
Answer: D. Gloves are the most contaminated and come off first, then goggles, then gown, and the mask last, touching only the ties or ear loops. Removing the mask first would bring contaminated gloved hands to the face.
8. A resident has a wound infected with MRSA. Which type of transmission-based precautions will the nurse aide most likely follow?
- A.Droplet precautions
- B.Contact precautions
- C.Protective reverse isolation
- D.Airborne precautions
Answer: B. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) resists many antibiotics and spreads by direct contact with the resident or contaminated surfaces, so contact precautions with gown and gloves are used. It is not spread through the air like tuberculosis.
9. A resident with influenza is on droplet precautions. When working within close range of the resident, the nurse aide must wear:
- A.Only gloves on both hands
- B.A surgical mask
- C.No PPE unless touching the resident
- D.Sterile gloves and a sterile gown
Answer: B. Droplets from coughing, sneezing, and talking travel only a short distance, so a surgical mask is worn when working close to the resident. Sterile gear is not needed, and gloves alone do not protect the nose and mouth.
10. A resident with suspected tuberculosis is placed in a negative-pressure room on airborne precautions. Before entering, the nurse aide must put on:
- A.A standard surgical mask
- B.A cloth face covering
- C.A face shield without a mask
- D.A fitted N95 respirator
Answer: D. Tuberculosis germs stay suspended in the air, so airborne precautions require a negative-pressure room with the door closed and a fit-tested N95 respirator. A surgical mask does not filter these tiny particles.
Practice all 76 basic nursing skills questions, and the rest of the 200-question bank, in the free CNA training sets. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
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