Fundamentals of Nursing
Fundamentals of nursing covers the foundational principles and skills that underpin all areas of nursing practice. This includes the nursing process (assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation, evaluation), vital sign measurement, hygiene and comfort measures, documentation, and basic patient care procedures. NCLEX questions in this area test your understanding of core nursing concepts that apply across all patient populations.
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Study Tips
- ✓Master the nursing process steps (Assessment, Diagnosis, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation) and practice identifying which step a question is testing.
- ✓Memorize normal adult vital sign ranges and understand what deviations indicate clinically.
- ✓Practice sterile technique questions, particularly regarding sterile field maintenance and when contamination has occurred.
- ✓Review positioning for common procedures: Trendelenburg, Fowler's, Sims, lithotomy, and their indications.
- ✓Study the principles of wound healing and stage classification of pressure injuries using the NPUAP system.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Students often skip the assessment step and jump directly to interventions, but the NCLEX typically expects you to assess before acting unless the patient is in immediate danger. Breaking sterile technique is another common testing point where students fail to recognize that reaching over a sterile field or turning their back to it constitutes contamination. Many students also confuse clean and sterile technique indications. Remember that urinary catheterization requires sterile technique while wound irrigation of a chronic wound may use clean technique.
Fundamentals of Nursing FAQs
Common questions about fundamentals of nursing
The nursing process follows five steps remembered by the acronym ADPIE: Assessment (collecting subjective and objective data), Diagnosis (identifying nursing problems using NANDA terminology), Planning (setting measurable goals and outcomes), Implementation (carrying out nursing interventions), and Evaluation (determining whether goals were met). On the NCLEX, identify which step the question is testing. Assessment questions ask what you would do first, while implementation questions ask what intervention is appropriate.
Key sterile technique principles include: the outer 1-inch border of a sterile field is considered contaminated, items below waist level are not sterile, never turn your back on a sterile field, wet fields are considered contaminated (strike-through contamination), and sterile items must contact only other sterile items. If any principle is violated, the entire field must be discarded and set up again. Common NCLEX scenarios involve urinary catheterization, surgical wound care, and IV insertion site preparation.
Assessment is the first step of the nursing process and involves systematic data collection to establish a baseline: vital signs, health history, physical examination, lab values, and patient interview. Evaluation is the final step and involves comparing the patient's current status to the expected outcomes established during the planning phase. Both involve collecting data, but assessment answers the question 'What is happening with this patient?' while evaluation answers 'Did the interventions work?' If evaluation reveals goals were not met, the nurse cycles back to reassessment and revises the care plan. On the NCLEX, questions about initial encounters usually test assessment, while questions about follow-up care test evaluation.