General Patient Care — practice questions
18.7% of the exam ≈28 real questions 27 free questions here
The single biggest block on the exam — 28 scored items. Medication administration, injections, wound care, sterile technique, patient positioning and in-office emergencies. Most items are scenario-based: you are given a patient situation and must choose what to do, in what order.
Where people lose points
- Injection angles: intradermal is 10-15°, subcutaneous is 45° (or 90° with a short needle), intramuscular is 90°. Candidates reliably mix up the first two.
- The ventrogluteal site is preferred over the dorsogluteal for adult IM injections — dorsogluteal risks the sciatic nerve.
- For infants and toddlers under 3, the vastus lateralis is the IM site, not the deltoid.
- Sterile technique and medical asepsis are different standards. Assisting with minor surgery needs sterile; a routine injection needs clean technique plus antiseptic.
- Know the position by procedure, not by name alone — lithotomy for pelvic exams, Sims' for rectal, Fowler's for respiratory distress, Trendelenburg for shock.
Drill: General Patient Care
27 free questions from this domain, each with an explanation and a cited source. Timed at real exam pace.
27 questions
Pass line: 78%, same as the real exam
See the answer and explanation right after each question.