NCLEX-PN-style practice questions for LPN/LVN students
Practice questions on the content of the NCLEX-PN, the licensing exam for licensed practical and vocational nurses (LPN/LVN) in the United States, in a single-best-answer style with an explanation for every option. The course covers fundamentals of care, safety and infection control, prioritization and working within the care team, pharmacology, lab values, adult medical-surgical nursing, maternity, pediatric and mental health nursing, and medication math with IV rates, intake and output and assessment scores.
Cram pack (PDF)Formula sheets, method steps and practice problems with full solutions, ready to print.
This is independent practice material. ExamProblems is not affiliated with or endorsed by the organisation that runs this exam, and the exam name is used only to describe the content.
About the exam and how to practise
The NCLEX-PN asks about the same patient needs as the RN exam, but from the practical nurse’s role: coordinating care within the team rather than managing it, collecting data and recognising changes that must be reported, reinforcing teaching, and giving care and medications to patients whose condition is stable or predictable. Broadly it covers a safe care environment (coordinated care, safety and infection control), health promotion across the lifespan, mental and emotional health, and physical care: comfort and daily care, medications, preventing complications and responding to change.
This course is narrower than the RN course on purpose. It leaves out work that belongs mainly to registered or critical-care nurses: the critical-care dosing topic (heparin and insulin infusions and titrated drips), arterial blood gas interpretation with compensation, and ECG rhythm interpretation. Weight-based doses are still practised in the dosage calculations topic, and practical nurses still have to recognise abnormal values and report them, which the lab values topic covers. If your program or state includes these skills, practise them in the RN course.
Like the RN exam, the NCLEX-PN is computer adaptive and its length varies, and it uses select-all-that-apply, ordering and case-study formats besides multiple choice. This course practises single-best-answer questions and calculations with explanations; it does not copy the exam interface or its scoring. Work from easy to hard in each topic, read every explanation, then use mixed sets and timed mock exams before your test date, and check the candidate information of the exam organisation for the current rules.
Exam tips for NCLEX-PN-style practice questions (LPN/LVN)
Know the scope: when a question asks what the practical nurse should do, the answer is often to collect more data and report to the RN or provider, not to change the plan of care.
Routine tasks for stable patients, such as hygiene, feeding, ambulation and vital signs, can go to assistive personnel; new, unstable or unpredictable patients stay with the nurse.
Use two patient identifiers and check the rights of medication administration before every dose.
In dosage questions, convert to the same unit first and round only the final answer.
Worked examples
Nursing fundamentalsEasy
What does "polyuria" mean?
APassing urine painfully or with a burning feeling
BPassing large amounts of urine
CPassing urine at night
DPassing no urine at all
Show hints
"Poly" means many or much.
Two wrong answers are now crossed out. One of the remaining two is right.
Show the answer and explanation
Why this is the answer
Polyuria is an abnormally large urine volume, seen for example in uncontrolled diabetes. Dysuria is painful urination, nocturia is passing urine at night and anuria is no urine.
Answer
B · Passing large amounts of urine
Infection control & patient safetyMedium
Before a blood transfusion is started, which check is required?
AThe patient signs the blood bag label to confirm their name before it is hung
BOne nurse checks the blood product against the order at the nurses’ station
CThe nurse checks only that the bag number matches the order
DThe patient’s identity is checked against the blood product and its paperwork at the bedside
Show hints
Most serious reactions come from giving blood to the wrong person.
Two wrong answers are now crossed out. One of the remaining two is right.
Show the answer and explanation
Why this is the answer
Wrong-patient transfusion can cause a fatal ABO reaction, so the final check is always done at the bedside, with positive patient identification against the product label, compatibility tag and order. Many US hospitals require two qualified people for this check, while UK guidance allows one trained person if positive identification is used. Local policy decides who checks.
Answer
D · The patient’s identity is checked against the blood product and its paperwork at the bedside
How practising works
“Practise this course” mixes problems from all its topics, like a real exam.
Every problem has new values, so you learn the method instead of an answer.
Stuck? Open a small hint first, and the full explanation only when you need it.
Mock exams are timed and have no hints, and you get your score and a full review at the end.