Oral iron supplements commonly cause dark stools and constipation.
Correct Answer
True
True. Unabsorbed iron darkens the stool, which is expected, and constipation is common, so patients are encouraged to drink adequate water. Black, tarry stools with other signs of bleeding still need evaluation.
Category: Anemias
Question 2
Folate deficiency produces red blood cells that are smaller than normal.
Correct Answer
False
False. Folate is needed for DNA synthesis, and its deficiency produces abnormally large, immature red cells, a megaloblastic anemia. Small red cells are typical of iron deficiency.
Category: Anemias
Question 3
Iron from animal sources such as meat is absorbed more efficiently than iron from plant sources.
Correct Answer
True
True. The heme iron in meat, poultry and fish is absorbed more readily than the iron in plant foods. Pairing plant sources with vitamin C improves their absorption.
Category: Anemias
Question 4
Sickled red blood cells are more flexible than normal cells, so they slip easily through small vessels.
Correct Answer
False
False. Sickled cells are rigid and sticky, so they clump and block small vessels, causing tissue ischemia and the pain of a vaso-occlusive crisis.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 5
Children with sickle cell disease have an increased risk of stroke.
Correct Answer
True
True. Sickled cells can block the cerebral arteries, so children with sickle cell disease have a higher stroke risk than other children. Managing sickle cell disease is part of stroke prevention.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 6
In adults, immune thrombocytopenic purpura is usually a brief illness that resolves without ongoing management.
Correct Answer
False
False. Immune thrombocytopenic purpura tends to be acute in children but chronic in adults, who usually need ongoing management such as corticosteroids or other immune-directed therapy.
Category: Thrombocytopenia
Question 7
Polycythemia vera is a myeloproliferative disorder that originates in the bone marrow.
Correct Answer
True
True. A genetic mutation causes the marrow to make red cells regardless of the body's normal signals, which thickens the blood and raises the risk of thrombosis, stroke and myocardial infarction.
Category: Polycythemia
Question 8
In secondary polycythemia, erythropoietin levels are typically low.
Correct Answer
False
False. Secondary polycythemia results from increased erythropoietin, usually in response to chronic hypoxia, so the level is typically elevated. Erythropoietin tends to be low or normal in polycythemia vera.
Category: Polycythemia
Question 9
In heparin-induced thrombocytopenia, the main danger is new clot formation rather than bleeding.
Correct Answer
True
True. Antibodies against heparin and platelet factor 4 activate platelets, so despite a falling count the patient becomes hypercoagulable and is at risk for deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, stroke and myocardial infarction. All heparin is stopped.
Category: Thrombocytopenia
Question 10
Neutropenic precautions are meant mainly to protect other people from the patient's infection.
Correct Answer
False
False. Neutropenic, or reverse, precautions protect the patient, whose low neutrophil count leaves little defense against pathogens brought in by staff, visitors, food or the environment.
Category: Neutropenia
Question 11
Strict hand hygiene is the most important measure for preventing infection in a patient with neutropenia.
Correct Answer
True
True. Hands are the main route by which pathogens reach hospitalized patients, so thorough hand hygiene by staff, visitors and the patient is the foundation of neutropenic precautions.
Category: Neutropenia
Question 12
Sequential compression devices should be applied to a leg that has a known deep vein thrombosis.
Correct Answer
False
False. Sequential compression devices are used to prevent clots, but on a leg with an existing deep vein thrombosis the squeezing could dislodge the clot and cause a pulmonary embolism.
Category: Thrombotic Disorders
Question 13
Factor V Leiden is an inherited mutation that raises the risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
Correct Answer
True
True. The mutated factor V resists inactivation by protein C, a natural anticoagulant, so clotting is favored. It is one of the most common inherited clotting disorders.
Category: Thrombotic Disorders
Question 14
An elevated D-dimer result confirms that a patient has a pulmonary embolism.
Correct Answer
False
False. D-dimer rises whenever a clot is being broken down, including after surgery, trauma or infection, so an elevated result is not specific. Imaging such as CT pulmonary angiography confirms a pulmonary embolism.
Category: Thrombotic Disorders
Question 15
Venous access is established and confirmed to be patent before a blood product is picked up from the blood bank.
Correct Answer
True
True. A blood product must be started promptly once it leaves controlled storage, so the nurse secures a working IV line first rather than letting the unit wait at the bedside while access is obtained.
Category: Blood Products and Transfusion
Question 16
Transfusion-associated circulatory overload is caused by donor antibodies reacting with the recipient's lung tissue.
Correct Answer
False
False. Circulatory overload results from more volume than the heart can handle. Donor antibodies reacting with the recipient's cells describe transfusion-related acute lung injury.
Category: Blood Products and Transfusion
Question 17
Leg ulcers can develop in sickle cell disease because of poor blood flow to the lower limbs.
Correct Answer
True
True. Repeated blockage of small vessels reduces perfusion of the skin of the lower legs, which leads to ulcers that heal slowly.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 18
Anemia in an older adult can be assumed to be a normal part of aging.
Correct Answer
False
False. Fatigue and cold intolerance in older adults are often blamed on age but may signal anemia, which always needs a search for its cause, such as poor diet, bleeding or marrow disease.
Category: Anemias
Question 19
Genetic counseling can help a thalassemia carrier who is planning a family.
Correct Answer
True
True. Thalassemia is inherited, so counseling helps carriers understand the chance of passing the condition to their children and the testing options available.
Category: Sickle Cell and Thalassemia
Question 20
A dextrose solution is the IV fluid used to prime the tubing and flush the line during a blood transfusion.
Correct Answer
False
False. Normal saline is the solution used with blood products, because dextrose solutions can make red cells clump and break apart. The administration set is primed with normal saline, which also keeps the line open if the transfusion must be stopped.
Category: Blood Products and Transfusion