Basic Nursing Skills Patient Mobility & Positioning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The nurse is transferring a patient from bed to wheelchair. To protect their own back, the nurse should:
- Twist at the waist while lifting the patient
- Keep feet together and reach forward during the lift
- Use a wide base of support and bend at the hips and knees (Correct answer)
- Lift with arms extended and back straight but bent forward
Correct answer: Use a wide base of support and bend at the hips and knees
Safe body mechanics require a wide base of support, bending at hips and knees (not the waist), keeping the load close to the body to protect the nurse's spine.
Question 2: A patient has left-sided weakness (hemiparesis). When assisting the patient to walk, the nurse should position themselves:
- Directly behind the patient
- On the patient's right (strong) side
- On the patient's left (weak) side (Correct answer)
- Two steps ahead of the patient
Correct answer: On the patient's left (weak) side
The nurse stands on the patient's weak side to provide support and prevent falls if the weakened limb gives way.
Question 3: Range-of-motion (ROM) exercises are performed on an unconscious patient to:
- Stimulate consciousness
- Prevent contractures and maintain joint flexibility (Correct answer)
- Promote cardiac output
- Reduce the risk of infection
Correct answer: Prevent contractures and maintain joint flexibility
Passive ROM exercises on immobile or unconscious patients prevent joint stiffness, muscle atrophy, and contracture formation.
Question 4: Which bed position is used for a patient who is receiving tube feedings to reduce aspiration risk?
- Supine (flat)
- Trendelenburg
- Semi-Fowler's to High Fowler's (30–45 degrees) (Correct answer)
- Left lateral
Correct answer: Semi-Fowler's to High Fowler's (30–45 degrees)
Elevating the head of bed 30–45 degrees during and after tube feedings reduces the risk of aspiration by using gravity to keep gastric contents down.
Question 5: Logrolling a patient is used to:
- Transfer a patient from bed to wheelchair
- Move a patient with suspected spinal injury while maintaining spinal alignment (Correct answer)
- Reposition a patient up in bed
- Assist an obese patient to turn in bed
Correct answer: Move a patient with suspected spinal injury while maintaining spinal alignment
Logrolling is used for patients with suspected or confirmed spinal injuries to turn them while maintaining spinal alignment, preventing further cord injury.
Question 6: A patient using a walker for the first time. The nurse should instruct the patient to:
- Move the walker forward, then step the stronger leg first
- Move both feet forward simultaneously with the walker
- Move the walker forward, then step the weaker leg first, then the stronger (Correct answer)
- Use the walker only on stairs
Correct answer: Move the walker forward, then step the weaker leg first, then the stronger
With a walker, the patient advances the walker, then steps forward with the weaker leg first, then the stronger leg — this provides maximum support for the weaker limb.
Basic Nursing Skills Patient Mobility & Positioning 2
The nurse is transferring a patient from bed to wheelchair.
To protect their own back, the nurse should: