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NCLEX-RN Nutrition and Dietetics: practice questions

NCLEX-RN · United States / Canada / Australia · National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN), delivered at Pearson VUE centres

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers
10worked here, free
92written to this exam in this subject
21syllabus units

What this subject covers

The treatment nobody prescribes and everybody needs

In the exams: AIIMS BSc (Hons) Nursing Entrance: Chemistry (30 marks); NCLEX-RN: Health Promotion and Maintenance (6–12%); Japan National Nursing Examination: Human structure, function and disease (Core across both sections); Saudi Nursing Licensure Examination: Health promotion and community (Core)

Where the 92 questions fall

How our questions for NCLEX-RN spread across the units of Nutrition and Dietetics. Difficulty: 20 easy, 52 medium, 20 hard.

End-of-manual check12
Why This Is Nursing Work4
What Food Is Made Of4
Vitamins and Minerals4
Assessing Nutritional State4
Children and Growth4
Pregnancy and Feeding4
Older Patients4
Swallowing4
When The Gut Cannot Be Used Normally4
Diet and Long-Term Illness4
Food Safety4
Culture, Religion and Money4
Undernutrition In The Community4
Overweight and Its Handling4
Recording and Handover4
Vegetarian and Vegan Diets4
Energy, Illness and Metabolism4
Nutrition Near The End Of Life4
Deficiencies That Are Prevented At Population Scale4
Being Examined On This4

10 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Why This Is Nursing Work · easy

Why does nutrition so often fall between professions in hospital?

  1. Patients prefer to manage their own meals
  2. No one orders eating, so no one is accountable
  3. Dietitians are responsible for each meal
  4. Eating is the doctor's responsibility by law
Answer and working

B. No one orders eating, so no one is accountable

The nurse is the professional present at mealtimes and best placed to notice the tray that comes back full.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

2 · Assessing Nutritional State · medium

A patient's weight has fallen from 80 kg to 72 kg in three months without trying. What percentage is this?

  1. 72%
  2. 8%
  3. 10%
  4. 11%
Answer and working

C. 10%

(80 - 72) / 80 x 100 = 10%. Dividing by the new weight gives 11%; 8% is the kilograms lost. Unintentional loss of 10% in 3-6 months is significant.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

3 · Children and Growth · easy

How is nutritional state in children mainly assessed?

  1. By looking at their clothes size and their appetite
  2. By asking what they like to eat
  3. By a single blood test
  4. By measuring growth over time on a chart
Answer and working

D. By measuring growth over time on a chart

A child who is not growing has insufficient intake for their needs; plotting serial measurements shows faltering early.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

4 · Pregnancy and Feeding · easy

Which nutrient needs rise most in pregnancy?

  1. Caffeine and sugar
  2. Iron and folate
  3. Sodium and chloride
  4. Vitamin K and fibre
Answer and working

B. Iron and folate

Energy needs rise modestly, but iron and folate needs increase substantially; supplements are commonly advised.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

5 · Pregnancy and Feeding · medium

Why is anaemia in pregnancy a concern?

  1. It raises risks for both mother and baby
  2. It improves the baby's growth
  3. It has no effect on pregnancy
  4. It protects the mother from bleeding at delivery
Answer and working

A. It raises risks for both mother and baby

Anaemia increases maternal fatigue, infection and haemorrhage risk and is linked with low birth weight and preterm birth.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

6 · Older Patients · easy

Why does intake fall with age?

  1. Appetite, taste and smell decline
  2. Digestion stops working after seventy
  3. Food tastes much stronger with age
  4. Older people need more food than they can physically eat
Answer and working

A. Appetite, taste and smell decline

Medicines, dry mouth, loneliness, low mood and difficulty shopping or cooking add to it.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

7 · Swallowing · hard

Who should decide the texture of food and fluids for a patient with an unsafe swallow?

  1. A trained assessor, after formal assessment
  2. The patient's family, from their experience
  3. The catering team, from what is available
  4. The nurse, from what the patient seems to manage at each meal
Answer and working

A. A trained assessor, after formal assessment

Nurses recognise signs, keep the patient safe and refer; texture modification follows formal assessment and standard descriptors.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

8 · Diet and Long-Term Illness · medium

What is the nurse's main contribution to diet in diabetes?

  1. Practical help timing meals around medicines
  2. Calculating a new insulin regimen alone
  3. Prescribing weight-loss drugs
  4. Banning sugar from the patient's diet and drinks for good
Answer and working

A. Practical help timing meals around medicines

Practical advice about meals, sick days and hypoglycaemia matters more than lists of forbidden foods.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

9 · Diet and Long-Term Illness · hard

A patient on chemotherapy has a sore mouth and taste changes. Which advice helps intake most?

  1. Three large meals at fixed times
  2. Spicy and acidic foods to stimulate the lost sense of taste
  3. Soft, moist, mild foods in small frequent amounts
  4. Avoiding fluids to reduce nausea
Answer and working

C. Soft, moist, mild foods in small frequent amounts

Mucositis and taste change reduce intake; texture, temperature and mouth care make eating possible.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

10 · Culture, Religion and Money · medium

Why can advice to 'eat more fruit and protein' do harm?

  1. It always causes weight gain
  2. Patients dislike all advice
  3. If unaffordable, it adds failure without help
  4. Fruit and protein are unhealthy
Answer and working

C. If unaffordable, it adds failure without help

Advice that fits the patient's budget and food access works; unachievable advice discourages.

Further reading: Laisha original question, written to the SUNYRA nursing manual: Nutrition and Dietetics

Ten here, 92 in the app. The Laisha app has every practice question we have written to NCLEX-RN 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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Read the subject

Nutrition and DieteticsThe full study manual, free NCLEX-RNFormat, sections and how it has changed

More NCLEX-RN practice

Clinical Skills and ProceduresPathophysiologyPharmacologyInfection Prevention and ControlMedication Administration and Safety

Nutrition and Dietetics for other exams

Japan National Nursing Examination · JapanSaudi Nursing Licensure Examination · Saudi Arabia

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