NMC Licensing Examination — Community Health Nurse

Sample Community Health Nursing practice questions

Try these 12 questions from different topics. Open "Show answer" to check yourself and read the explanation.

1. Question 1 · Community Assessment & Home Visiting

   At the start of a first home visit, what should the community health nurse do?

   1. A.Begin inspecting private areas without consent
   2. B.Promise services that cannot be provided
   3. C.Introduce the purpose, seek permission and assess needs with the household
   4. D.Complete the visit without speaking to household members
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   Answer: C. Introduce the purpose, seek permission and assess needs with the household

   Permission, respectful engagement and joint assessment establish trust and identify relevant needs and assets.

2. Question 2 · Health Promotion & Behaviour Change

   Which method best reflects effective community health promotion?

   1. A.Deliver the same lecture regardless of context
   2. B.Use blame when a recommendation is not followed
   3. C.Exclude community leaders and affected groups
   4. D.Work with people to identify barriers and choose feasible actions
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   Answer: D. Work with people to identify barriers and choose feasible actions

   Participatory approaches make health messages more relevant and support feasible behaviour change.

3. Question 3 · School, Adolescent & Occupational Health

   An adolescent requests confidential health advice and has decision-making capacity. What is the best approach?

   1. A.Provide private, respectful care and explain any safety-related limits to confidentiality
   2. B.Discuss the request publicly
   3. C.Refuse to listen without a parent present in every case
   4. D.Share the information with classmates
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   Answer: A. Provide private, respectful care and explain any safety-related limits to confidentiality

   Adolescent-friendly care protects privacy while making clear the limited situations where safety requires escalation.

4. Question 4 · CHPS & Primary Health Care

   Which feature best represents strong primary health care?

   1. A.Hospital care with no community link
   2. B.Accessible, people-centred first-contact care linked with referral and community participation
   3. C.Services limited to one disease only
   4. D.Care available only after complications develop
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   Answer: B. Accessible, people-centred first-contact care linked with referral and community participation

   Primary health care integrates promotive, preventive, curative and referral services close to communities.

5. Question 5 · Maternal, Newborn & Child Health

   During a home visit, a young infant is feeding poorly and has difficult breathing. What is the priority?

   1. A.Wait for the next routine growth session
   2. B.Give only water and observe for a week
   3. C.Arrange urgent assessment or referral for possible serious illness
   4. D.Reassure the family without examining the infant
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   Answer: C. Arrange urgent assessment or referral for possible serious illness

   Feeding difficulty and difficult breathing are newborn or young-infant danger signs needing urgent care.

6. Question 6 · Immunisation & Growth Monitoring

   A vaccine refrigerator has been outside its recommended temperature range. What should the health worker do first?

   1. A.Use all vaccines immediately without assessment
   2. B.Discard records of the temperature excursion
   3. C.Mix the affected vaccines with unaffected stock
   4. D.Quarantine the affected vaccines, document the excursion and seek programme guidance
   Show answer

   Answer: D. Quarantine the affected vaccines, document the excursion and seek programme guidance

   A cold-chain excursion requires segregation and assessment; vaccine viability should not be guessed.

7. Question 7 · Surveillance, Outbreaks & Infection Prevention

   A patient meets the surveillance case definition for a notifiable disease. What should happen next?

   1. A.Report through the required channel promptly and begin indicated infection-control actions
   2. B.Wait until many more cases occur
   3. C.Change the case definition locally without authorization
   4. D.Keep the information outside the surveillance system
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   Answer: A. Report through the required channel promptly and begin indicated infection-control actions

   Standard case definitions and timely reporting support early detection, investigation and control.

8. Question 8 · Malaria, Tuberculosis & HIV Care

   A patient in a malaria-endemic area presents with fever and suspected malaria. What does WHO recommend before treatment where testing is available?

   1. A.Treat every fever as malaria without testing
   2. B.Confirm malaria with microscopy or a quality-assured rapid diagnostic test
   3. C.Use an antibody test as the routine acute diagnostic method
   4. D.Delay all assessment until parasites are visible clinically
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   Answer: B. Confirm malaria with microscopy or a quality-assured rapid diagnostic test

   WHO recommends parasitological confirmation before antimalarial treatment for suspected malaria.

9. Question 9 · Hypertension, Diabetes & Lifestyle Risk

   Which approach is most appropriate for integrated primary-care management of hypertension and diabetes risk?

   1. A.Manage blood pressure without considering other risks
   2. B.Screen only after complications occur
   3. C.Assess total cardiovascular risk and provide treatment, counselling and follow-up
   4. D.Avoid lifestyle counselling because medicines exist
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   Answer: C. Assess total cardiovascular risk and provide treatment, counselling and follow-up

   WHO PEN integrates risk assessment, early detection, treatment and counselling to prevent cardiovascular and diabetes complications.

10. Question 10 · Epidemiology & Biostatistics

    Which measure counts new cases of a disease occurring in a population during a specified period?

    1. A.Prevalence
    2. B.Case-fatality ratio
    3. C.Median
    4. D.Incidence
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    Answer: D. Incidence

    Incidence describes new events over time, whereas prevalence describes all existing cases at a point or over a period.

11. Question 11 · Environmental Health & WASH

    Which household intervention most directly interrupts faecal-oral transmission?

    1. A.Safe disposal of faeces combined with handwashing using soap and safe water
    2. B.Sharing unwashed utensils
    3. C.Leaving drinking water uncovered
    4. D.Using the same cloth for toilet and food surfaces
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    Answer: A. Safe disposal of faeces combined with handwashing using soap and safe water

    Safe sanitation, hand hygiene and protected water reduce transfer of pathogens from faeces to hands, food and water.

12. Question 12 · Programme Planning, Monitoring & Referral

    A programme objective is to improve childhood immunization coverage. Which indicator best measures the intended outcome?

    1. A.The colour of clinic walls
    2. B.The proportion of eligible children who received the required vaccine doses
    3. C.The number of staff meetings alone
    4. D.The distance between two offices
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    Answer: B. The proportion of eligible children who received the required vaccine doses

    An outcome indicator should directly measure whether the target population received the intended service.