Diabetes Quiz for Nurses
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. A conscious patient has a glucose reading of 58 mg/dL (3.2 mmol/L), can swallow safely, and has symptoms consistent with hypoglycemia. What is the usual initial response?
Give a high-fat snack and recheck in one hour
Give a full meal without repeating the glucose check
Give about 15 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate and recheck in about 15 minutes
Administer long-acting insulin to prevent rebound hyperglycemia
2. What period does an HbA1c result broadly reflect?
Glucose status at the exact moment the sample is collected
Only fasting glucose during the previous week
Lifetime exposure to elevated glucose
Average glycemia over roughly the preceding two to three months
3. A patient using insulin plans to begin longer exercise sessions. Which teaching point is most appropriate?
Exercise eliminates the possibility of hypoglycemia
Avoid carrying a source of fast-acting carbohydrate
Plan glucose checks, carbohydrate access, and medication adjustments with the care team because activity can lower glucose during or after exercise
Take an extra rapid-acting insulin dose before every session regardless of glucose level
4. Why should insulin injection sites be rotated within an appropriate anatomical region?
To reduce lipohypertrophy and unpredictable insulin absorption
To prevent insulin from entering the bloodstream
To make every insulin dose act at exactly the same speed
To eliminate the need to inspect injection sites
5. A continuous glucose monitor displays a low value, but the patient's symptoms do not match the reading. What is the best next step when feasible?
Ignore the reading because symptoms always take priority
Confirm with a capillary glucose check while assessing the patient and following the device guidance
Administer additional insulin based only on the sensor value
Calibrate the device repeatedly without checking blood glucose
6. A patient with diabetes reports persistent vomiting, cannot keep fluids down, and has positive ketones during an illness. What is the most appropriate advice?
Stop all monitoring until normal meals resume
Wait several days because ketones are expected during any illness
Double every diabetes medication without checking instructions
Seek prompt clinical assessment while following the prescribed sick-day plan
7. A patient received rapid-acting mealtime insulin, but the meal tray will be substantially delayed. What requires the nurse's most immediate attention?
The risk of near-term hypoglycemia and the need for prompt carbohydrate or protocol-based action
The patient's next scheduled HbA1c test
Whether the injection site should be changed tomorrow
The possibility of gradual weight gain over several weeks
8. Which foot-care instruction is most appropriate for a patient with reduced protective sensation?
Soak the feet in hot water each day to improve sensation
Inspect the feet daily, protect them with suitable footwear, and report wounds or color changes promptly
Walk barefoot indoors so pressure areas can be felt sooner
Cut corns and calluses at home with a sharp blade
9. Which process most directly causes type 1 diabetes?
Immune-mediated destruction of pancreatic beta cells
Progressive resistance to insulin with compensatory hyperinsulinemia
Excess glucagon caused primarily by an adrenal disorder
Reduced intestinal absorption of glucose
10. What is a principal glucose-lowering action of metformin?
Stimulating a rapid release of stored insulin from beta cells
Reducing hepatic glucose production and improving insulin sensitivity
Replacing endogenous insulin molecule for molecule
Blocking all carbohydrate absorption in the intestine
11. Which combination is most characteristic of diabetic ketoacidosis?
Hypoglycemia, respiratory alkalosis, and absent ketones
Hyperglycemia, isolated hypertension, and metabolic alkalosis
Hyperglycemia, ketone production, and metabolic acidosis
Normal glucose, hypercalcemia, and respiratory acidosis
12. A patient with suspected severe hypoglycemia is unconscious and has no IV access. After activating emergency assistance, which prescribed treatment is appropriate?
Oral glucose gel placed in the mouth
Glucagon by an approved route
Rapid-acting subcutaneous insulin
A metformin tablet
13. Which feature generally distinguishes hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state from classic diabetic ketoacidosis?
A lower glucose level with prominent ketosis in every case
Severe hypoglycemia accompanied by metabolic alkalosis
Normal osmolality with rapid correction without fluid replacement
Marked hyperglycemia and hyperosmolality with little or no significant ketoacidosis
14. A patient with type 1 diabetes is temporarily NPO for a procedure. Which principle is most appropriate?
All insulin should automatically be withheld whenever food is restricted
Basal insulin should be replaced with an oral diabetes medicine
Glucose monitoring is unnecessary until eating resumes
Basal insulin is generally still required, with dosing and monitoring guided by clinical orders and protocol
15. Which test is commonly used to detect increased urinary albumin associated with early diabetic kidney damage?
Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio
Serum amylase level
Urine specific gravity alone
Fecal occult blood test
16. After administering insulin with a single-use needle, what is the appropriate disposal method?
Recap it using both hands and place it in ordinary waste
Break the needle before placing it in a plastic bag
Place it promptly in an approved sharps container according to local policy
Leave it on the medication cart for later disposal