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OMSB Fundamentals of Nursing & Patient Safety Practice Questions
Fundamentals questions test the everyday safe practice every registered nurse is expected to get right: accurate assessment, safe moving and handling, preventing falls and pressure injuries, and clear documentation. Below are 5 free sample questions for the OMSB nursing exam, each with the answer and a rationale.
What this topic covers
- Vital signs and normal adult ranges
- Falls, restraints and pressure-injury prevention
- Enteral feeding and NG tube placement checks
- Blood transfusion safety
- Perioperative care and informed consent
- Pain assessment and end-of-life care
The full bank has 151 fundamentals of nursing & patient safety questions, part of 1,500 questions across 16 nursing topics.
Free OMSB fundamentals of nursing & patient safety questions
1. When cleaning the eyes of a patient, in which direction should the nurse wipe?
- A. From the outer canthus to the inner canthus
- B. In a circular motion over the eyelid
- C. From the inner canthus to the outer canthus
- D. Up and down across the eyelid
Show answer and rationale
Wiping from inner to outer canthus moves debris away from the nasolacrimal duct, and a clean part of the cloth is used for each eye. This lowers the risk of spreading infection.
Reference: Potter & Perry Fundamentals of Nursing – hygiene
2. On the Braden scale, what does a lower total score mean?
- A. Lower risk of falls
- B. Higher risk of falls
- C. Higher risk of pressure injury
- D. Lower risk of pressure injury
Show answer and rationale
The Braden scale scores sensory perception, moisture, activity, mobility, nutrition and friction/shear, and lower totals show higher pressure-injury risk. It is not a falls tool.
Reference: Potter & Perry Fundamentals of Nursing – pressure injury risk assessment
3. Which finding is a common sign that death is approaching?
- A. Warm, flushed hands and feet
- B. Increasing appetite and thirst
- C. Mottled, cool skin on the hands and feet
- D. A sudden rise in urine output
Show answer and rationale
As circulation slows near death, the extremities become cool and mottled; urine output falls, breathing patterns change and intake decreases.
Reference: Potter & Perry Fundamentals of Nursing – end-of-life care
4. A patient has just finished a hot drink when the nurse arrives to take an oral temperature. What is the nurse's best action?
- A. Take the oral temperature immediately
- B. Take the oral temperature and subtract 0.5 °C
- C. Wait 20–30 minutes before taking an oral temperature
- D. Record the previous temperature
Show answer and rationale
Hot or cold drinks, eating and smoking alter oral temperature readings, so the nurse should wait 20–30 minutes or use another site. Applying a correction factor or copying an old value is inaccurate documentation.
Reference: Potter & Perry Fundamentals of Nursing – temperature measurement
5. A nurse gives intravenous morphine to a patient for severe post-operative pain. When should the nurse reassess the patient's pain and sedation level?
- A. About 2 hours after the dose
- B. Within 15–30 minutes after the dose
- C. At the next routine set of observations
- D. Only if the patient calls for help
Show answer and rationale
Intravenous opioids act quickly, with peak effect in roughly 15–30 minutes, so pain and sedation are reassessed within this window. Waiting hours could miss both inadequate relief and respiratory depression.
Reference: Standard nursing pharmacology – opioid analgesics
Study tip
Many fundamentals questions ask for the safest first action. When two answers look right, choose the one that protects the patient from immediate harm.
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