BSN Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the BSN exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 BSN Exam Format at a Glance
📚 BSN Topics to Study (33)
✍️ Sample BSN Questions & Answers
1. A child is diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot and experiences a hypercyanotic ('Tet') spell. Which position should the nurse place the child in?
The knee-chest position increases systemic vascular resistance, reduces right-to-left shunting, and improves pulmonary blood flow, thereby relieving the hypercyanotic spell.
2. Which finding indicates that a patient's nasogastric tube is correctly placed in the stomach?
Gastric aspirate with a pH of 1–4 confirms correct placement in the stomach before administering feedings.
3. Which electrolyte imbalance increases a patient's risk for digoxin toxicity?
Hypokalemia potentiates digoxin toxicity because low potassium levels increase myocardial sensitivity to the drug.
4. When using a PCA (patient-controlled analgesia) pump, which action by the patient's family member requires immediate nurse intervention?
Only the patient should activate the PCA; proxy dosing by a family member bypasses the safety mechanism and can cause respiratory depression.
5. A patient receiving epidural analgesia during labor develops sudden hypotension. What is the nurse's priority action?
Epidural-induced sympathetic blockade causes vasodilation and hypotension; IV fluid bolus and lateral positioning restore cardiac preload and maternal BP.
6. A patient at 38 weeks' gestation presents with sudden, painless, bright red vaginal bleeding. The nurse suspects which condition?
Placenta previa classically presents with painless bright red vaginal bleeding in the third trimester as the low-lying placenta separates.
🎯 Free BSN Practice Tests
📖 BSN Guides & Articles
- BSN to Medical School: Can You Go From Nursing to Medicine?
- BSN Programs Chicago IL: Complete Guide to Schools, Requirements, and Costs
- Online BSN Degree Programs: Complete Guide to Requirements, Costs, and How to Choose the Right Program
- RN to BSN Accredited Schools: Complete Guide to Choosing and Applying in 2026
- Ohio University BSN: Complete Program Guide, Requirements, and Career Outcomes
- RN to BSN Western Governors University Reviews: Complete Guide for 2026
- BSN to PhD: Complete Guide to Nursing Doctorate Programs, Requirements, and Career Outcomes
- RN Without BSN: Can You Work as a Registered Nurse Without a Bachelor's Degree?