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OMSB Cardiovascular Nursing Practice Questions
Cardiovascular questions focus on recognising deterioration and acting quickly: chest pain, heart failure, dangerous rhythms and anticoagulation safety. Below are 5 free sample questions for the OMSB nursing exam, each with the answer and a rationale.
What this topic covers
- Acute coronary syndrome and MI priorities
- Left vs right heart failure
- Rhythm recognition (AF, VT, VF, asystole)
- DVT, PE and anticoagulation
- Hypertension and antihypertensives
- Cardiac catheterisation care
The full bank has 110 cardiovascular nursing questions, part of 1,500 questions across 16 nursing topics.
Free OMSB cardiovascular nursing questions
1. For a patient with ST-elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), what is the recommended maximum time from first medical contact to balloon inflation?
- A. 30 minutes
- B. 12 hours
- C. 6 hours
- D. 90 minutes
Show answer and rationale
The recommended goal is 90 minutes or less from first medical contact to device (balloon) for primary PCI. A door-to-needle time of 30 minutes applies to fibrinolytic therapy.
Reference: AHA ACLS 2020 – acute coronary syndromes
2. Rheumatic heart disease most commonly damages which heart valve?
- A. Tricuspid valve
- B. Mitral valve
- C. Pulmonary valve
- D. Aortic valve
Show answer and rationale
Rheumatic heart disease follows untreated group A streptococcal throat infection and most often damages the mitral valve, followed by the aortic valve. The tricuspid and pulmonary valves are affected much less often.
Reference: Lewis Medical-Surgical Nursing – rheumatic heart disease
3. Which description best matches stable angina?
- A. Sharp chest pain that worsens with deep breathing and lying flat
- B. Chest pain that is only relieved by morphine
- C. Chest pain brought on by exertion and relieved by rest or nitroglycerin
- D. Chest pain at rest that lasts more than 30 minutes
Show answer and rationale
Stable angina is predictable, triggered by increased myocardial oxygen demand, and relieved by rest or nitrates. Prolonged pain at rest suggests acute coronary syndrome; positional pleuritic pain suggests pericarditis.
Reference: Lewis Medical-Surgical Nursing – coronary artery disease
4. A patient is switched from warfarin to apixaban. Which statement shows correct understanding?
- A. "I can stop it whenever I feel well."
- B. "I will not need regular INR blood tests with this medicine."
- C. "Vitamin K will fully reverse this drug."
- D. "I must keep my INR between 2 and 3."
Show answer and rationale
Direct oral anticoagulants such as apixaban do not need routine INR monitoring. They should not be stopped without advice, and vitamin K does not reverse them.
Reference: Standard nursing pharmacology – direct oral anticoagulants
5. A patient with chest pain that began 1 hour ago has a normal first troponin result. The family asks why more blood tests are needed. What is the best explanation?
- A. "The first result was probably a laboratory error."
- B. "A normal troponin means a heart attack is ruled out completely."
- C. "Troponin may take several hours to rise, so repeat samples are needed."
- D. "Troponin is only accurate after the chest pain has gone."
Show answer and rationale
Troponin levels may not rise until a few hours after the onset of myocardial injury, so serial measurements are used. One early normal result does not exclude myocardial infarction.
Reference: Lewis Medical-Surgical Nursing – acute coronary syndrome
Study tip
For chest pain scenarios, think ABCs and time: what must happen in the first few minutes, and what can wait.
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