NORCET · India · All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersHow the body holds itself steady, and what it looks like when it stops
In the exams: AIIMS BSc (Hons) Nursing Entrance: Biology (30 marks); NORCET: Prelims — nursing syllabus (80 of 100 questions); Japan National Nursing Examination: Human structure, function and disease (Core across both sections)
How our questions for NORCET spread across the units of Human Physiology. Difficulty: 22 easy, 57 medium, 19 hard.
| End-of-manual check | 12 | |
| Cells and Transport | 5 | |
| Body Fluids | 5 | |
| Blood | 5 | |
| The Heart At Work | 5 | |
| Blood Pressure | 5 | |
| Breathing | 5 | |
| Oxygen Carriage | 5 | |
| Temperature | 5 | |
| The Deteriorating Patient | 5 | |
| Pain | 5 | |
| What Physiology Is For | 4 | |
| Homeostasis | 4 | |
| Digestion | 4 | |
| The Kidney | 4 | |
| Acid and Base | 4 | |
| Nerves and Muscles | 4 | |
| Hormones | 4 | |
| Defence and Immunity | 4 | |
| Being Examined On This | 4 |
Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.
How does negative feedback work?
D. A change triggers a response that opposes it
Most control works this way: a rise in temperature triggers sweating to bring it down.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
Which set of bedside observations assesses fluid status without a laboratory?
D. Fluid balance, daily weight, mucous membranes and pulse
Intake and output, a change in weight, moistness of mucous membranes, pulse rate and capillary refill each reflect circulating and total body water. The other sets assess other systems.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
Why do losses from vomiting, diarrhoea and sweating each upset the body differently?
A. Each fluid carries a different mix of water and electrolytes
Gastric fluid is rich in acid and chloride, diarrhoea in bicarbonate and potassium, sweat in sodium. Replacing the loss means knowing what was lost, not just how much.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
A raised white cell count most commonly points to which of these?
B. Infection or inflammation
White cells multiply in response to infection, inflammation and tissue injury. Dehydration concentrates the blood a little but does not by itself raise the count much; anaemia and low platelets concern other cell lines.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
Why does a high work of breathing matter even when oxygen saturation is normal?
B. The breathing muscles tire and then carbon dioxide rises
A patient can hold a normal saturation by working very hard. When the respiratory muscles fatigue, carbon dioxide rises and saturation falls quickly. Effort is an early warning; saturation is a late one.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
Which change in the blood accompanies acute kidney failure?
C. A rising potassium
Failing kidneys cannot excrete potassium, acid, urea or creatinine. Potassium rises, the blood becomes more acidic (pH falls), and urea and creatinine climb.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
A patient with a rising fever is shivering and asking for blankets. Why?
B. The hypothalamic set point has been raised, so they feel cold
Pyrogens reset the thermostat upwards. Until the body reaches the new set point it generates heat by shivering and conserves it by vasoconstriction, so the patient feels cold.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
How is the sensation of pain produced?
D. Nociceptors signal damage and the brain interprets the signal
Pain needs both the signal (nociceptors and spinal pathways) and its interpretation by the brain, which is why mood, fear and attention change how much it hurts.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
Why can rubbing an injured area ease the pain?
B. Touch signals compete with pain signals in the cord
Large touch fibres activate spinal interneurons that inhibit transmission from pain fibres: the gate control theory, also the basis of TENS.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
How does physiology apply at the bedside?
C. Every set of observations shows how the body is coping
Pulse, pressure, breathing, temperature and consciousness are all readouts of physiology. Reading them as mechanisms is what turns recording into assessment.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Human Physiology
Ten here, 98 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to NORCET in this subject, marked as you go, with timed papers, a jump-to-unanswered list and a certificate when you pass at 70 per cent.
Free for ten days, then one subscription of US$10 a month. We would rather say so here than have you find it later.
An AI operating system for agriculture: free guides, manuals and tools written for every country.