Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination · Kenya · Nursing Council of Kenya (NCK)
Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papersWhat is actually living there, and what it will do next
In the exams: AIIMS BSc (Hons) Nursing Entrance: Biology (30 marks); Japan National Nursing Examination: Human structure, function and disease (Core across both sections); NMCN Professional Examination: Community health and communicable disease (Core paper, reflecting the national disease burden); Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination: Community health and communicable disease (Core, reflecting the national disease burden)
How our questions for Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination spread across the units of Microbiology and Infection. Difficulty: 20 easy, 54 medium, 20 hard.
| End-of-manual check | 12 | |
| The Kinds Of Organism | 5 | |
| How Organisms Travel | 5 | |
| Why A Nurse Studies This | 4 | |
| Normal Flora | 4 | |
| The Chain Of Infection | 4 | |
| What The Body Does About It | 4 | |
| Recognising Infection | 4 | |
| Specimens | 4 | |
| Hand Hygiene | 4 | |
| Asepsis and Sterilisation | 4 | |
| Blood-Borne Infection | 4 | |
| Antimicrobial Resistance | 4 | |
| Outbreaks | 4 | |
| Infection In The Community | 4 | |
| Tuberculosis and Infections That Take Months | 4 | |
| Infection At A Wound | 4 | |
| Devices and the Infections They Cause | 4 | |
| Infections Carried By Insects and Water | 4 | |
| Infection In Pregnancy and the Newborn | 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.
Why is high immunisation coverage important beyond protecting each individual who is vaccinated?
A. It reduces circulation of the organism, protecting those who cannot be vaccinated
High coverage reduces how much an organism circulates, which protects infants, immunosuppressed patients and those in whom the vaccine did not work. This is why coverage is measured at population level, and why falling coverage produces outbreaks among people who were never the ones declining.
Further reading: SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
Which question most reliably reduces hospital-acquired infection on a ward round?
B. Is this device still needed today?
Most hospital-acquired infection is linked to a device or procedure breaching a natural defence — catheters, cannulae, tubes and drains. Each is justified while needed and becomes pure risk once it is not, so removing it is the most direct available intervention.
Further reading: SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
Why are hospital patients more likely than the public to become infected after the same exposure?
C. Illness, age, drugs and devices weaken their defences
Whether exposure becomes infection depends on dose, virulence and host defence. Hospital patients have weakened defences and breached barriers.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
When must hands be cleaned in relation to wearing gloves?
D. Before putting gloves on and after taking them off
Gloves become contaminated and have micro-holes; hands are contaminated when gloves are removed. Gloves are changed between patients and between dirty and clean tasks.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
Which practice contributes to antimicrobial resistance?
D. Giving antibiotics for viral infections
Unnecessary use selects resistant organisms without benefit. The other three are stewardship practices that reduce resistance.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
What is the nurse's part in antimicrobial stewardship?
D. Timely doses, prompting review, specimens first
Nurses give most doses and see the patient throughout, so timing, review prompts and specimen collection are central nursing contributions.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
In an outbreak investigation, what does a case definition do?
A. Sets clear criteria for who counts as a case
A case definition (person, place, time and clinical criteria) lets cases be counted consistently and the outbreak described.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
What is the cold chain in immunisation?
C. Keeping vaccines at the right temperature throughout
Many vaccines lose potency if too warm or frozen. Fridge temperatures are monitored and recorded.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
Which factor most raises a patient's risk of surgical site infection?
B. Poorly controlled diabetes
Hyperglycaemia impairs neutrophil function and healing. Smoking, obesity, malnutrition and immunosuppression also raise the risk.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
Why do repeated gut infections in children worsen malnutrition?
D. They impair absorption, which weakens resistance
Infection and undernutrition form a cycle; water, sanitation, hygiene and feeding support break it.
Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Microbiology and Infection
Ten here, 94 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to Nursing Council of Kenya Licensure Examination 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.
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