Library

ExamDragon is independent exam preparation. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or reviewed by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) or Pearson VUE. NCLEX, NCLEX-PN and NCSBN are registered trademarks of NCSBN, used only to name the examination. Every item and guide here is our own, written from NCSBN's published 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan. We never accept, use or discuss items from a real NCLEX: NCSBN's candidate rules forbid sharing them.

National Council Licensure Examination for Practical Nurses (NCLEX-PN)

What this covers

Every Client Needs category and activity statement of NCSBN's 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan, the study guide that teaches it, and a free study sheet per category.

• Safe and Effective Care Environment18 to 24% of the exam

  Coordinated Care

  Activities

  31

  Practice

  63

  Mock pool

  46

  The 31 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Base clinical decisions on information from a range of trustworthy sources
  2. 2Help write and revise the client's care plan
  3. 3Give client care or tasks to suitable staff, such as aides or other practical nurses
  4. 4Plan and rank care by what each client needs
  5. 5Notice conflict among staff and report it
  6. 6Speak up for what clients need and are entitled to
  7. 7Help clients speak up for themselves
  8. 8Take part in quality improvement, for example by gathering data or joining a committee
  9. 9Include the client in decisions about their care
  10. 10Check in with clients once they have gone home
  11. 11Take part in staff learning, such as in-service sessions and keeping skills current
  12. 12Know the limits of your own skills and ask for help with tasks or assignments
  13. 13Step in or report when another worker's practice is unsafe
  14. 14Help with discharging or transferring clients
  15. 15Help with the process of referring a client
  16. 16Report issues as rules and policy require, such as abuse, neglect, gunshot wounds or infectious disease
  17. 17Take part in getting the client's consent
  18. 18Keep client information confidential
  19. 19Protect the client's privacy
  20. 20Give clients information on advance directives
  21. 21Help gather data about the client
  22. 22Use health information technology in giving care
  23. 23Base the care you give on evidence
  24. 24Work as part of a team drawn from different disciplines
  25. 25Keep watch on the work of aides and other assistive staff
  26. 26Help deliver care that is high quality and cost effective
  27. 27Give and take report
  28. 28Act in line with the nursing code of ethics
  29. 29Stay within the legal limits of practical nursing
  30. 30Check orders from prescribers and handle them correctly
  31. 31Give fair care with equal access for every client, whatever their ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression

  Study guide: Coordinated CareStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Safe and Effective Care Environment10 to 16% of the exam

  Safety and Infection Prevention and Control

  Activities

  14

  Practice

  39

  Mock pool

  29

  The 14 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Make sure care equipment is on hand and working safely
  2. 2Check that a prescriber's order suits the client
  3. 3Confirm who the client is before giving care
  4. 4Move and handle clients safely, using good body mechanics
  5. 5Find out the client's allergies and act on them
  6. 6Get ready for and help respond to disasters inside or outside the facility, such as fires or severe weather
  7. 7Spot unsafe conditions in care settings and homes and deal with them
  8. 8Use the least restrictive form of restraint or seclusion
  9. 9Carry out scheduled client checks, such as safety rounds, by protocol
  10. 10Help teach the client how to stay safe, or reinforce that teaching
  11. 11Raise and respond to security alerts, such as a missing infant or a client at risk of leaving
  12. 12Own up to and record mistakes and near misses, for example in an incident report
  13. 13Use devices that help move clients, such as gait belts, slide boards and lifts
  14. 14Prevent infection with protective equipment, standard precautions, isolation and aseptic technique

  Study guide: Safety and Infection Prevention and ControlStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Health Promotion and Maintenance6 to 12% of the exam

  Health Promotion and Maintenance

  Activities

  17

  Practice

  27

  Mock pool

  20

  The 17 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Help look after clients during pregnancy
  2. 2Point clients to resources in their community
  3. 3Help monitor a client who is in labor
  4. 4Watch over the recovery of a stable client after birth
  5. 5Measure the client's development against expected milestones
  6. 6Help clients through normal life changes, such as bonding with a baby, becoming a parent or retiring
  7. 7Take part in health screening and health promotion programs
  8. 8Give information that helps prevent risky behaviors, such as substance use, unsafe sex or smoking
  9. 9Gather the client's health history, including personal and family medical history
  10. 10Gather baseline physical data such as skin condition, height and weight
  11. 11Find clients who need required or optional immunizations
  12. 12Meet the care needs of newborns, infants and toddlers from birth through age 2
  13. 13Meet the care needs of children and teens aged 3 to 17
  14. 14Meet the care needs of adults aged 18 to 64
  15. 15Meet the care needs of adults aged 65 and older
  16. 16Spot what gets in the way of communication
  17. 17Spot what gets in the way of learning

  Study guide: Health Promotion and MaintenanceStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Psychosocial Integrity9 to 15% of the exam

  Psychosocial Integrity

  Activities

  20

  Practice

  36

  Mock pool

  26

  The 20 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Offer the client emotional support
  2. 2Gather data on how the client is functioning psychosocially
  3. 3Notice which coping strategies help the client and which do not
  4. 4Help the client build healthy self-esteem
  5. 5Gather data on the client's risk of harming self or others
  6. 6Recognize signs of substance misuse or a substance use disorder, and of withdrawal or overdose
  7. 7Reinforce teaching for families and caregivers on handling a client's behavioral disorder
  8. 8Find out why a client is not following the treatment plan
  9. 9Take part in group sessions with clients
  10. 10Plan care that respects the client's spiritual and cultural beliefs and gender identity
  11. 11Help care for a client who is angry or agitated, for example by de-escalating
  12. 12Take part in reminiscence, validation or reality orientation therapy
  13. 13Help care for a client with cognitive impairment
  14. 14Help the client adjust to and cope with stressful events and changing health
  15. 15Communicate therapeutically with the client
  16. 16Help care for a client with sensory or perceptual changes
  17. 17Foster a therapeutic setting
  18. 18Build behavior management methods into client care
  19. 19Notice stressors that get in the way of care and reduce them
  20. 20Give care and teaching to clients at the end of life

  Study guide: Psychosocial IntegrityStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Physiological Integrity7 to 13% of the exam

  Basic Care and Comfort

  Activities

  16

  Practice

  30

  Mock pool

  22

  The 16 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Care for the insertion site of a client's feeding tube
  2. 2Support complementary therapies, such as music or pet therapy, in client care
  3. 3Meet mobility needs, such as walking, range of motion, transfers, repositioning and adaptive equipment
  4. 4Give tube feedings through a client's enteral tube
  5. 5Monitor and meet the client's nutrition needs
  6. 6Relieve pain without drugs, for example with imagery, massage or repositioning
  7. 7Help clients with daily self-care activities
  8. 8Follow bowel or bladder management protocols in client care
  9. 9Rate pain with standard scales
  10. 10Help the client sleep and rest
  11. 11Protect and improve the client's skin and tissue
  12. 12Care for the body after death
  13. 13Irrigate catheters, the bladder, wounds, ears, nose or eyes
  14. 14Help care for and comfort a client with vision or hearing loss
  15. 15Monitor the client's intake and output
  16. 16Give an immobilized client care that fits their needs

  Study guide: Basic Care and ComfortStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Physiological Integrity10 to 16% of the exam

  Pharmacological Therapies

  Activities

  16

  Practice

  39

  Mock pool

  29

  The 16 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Apply the medication rights each time you give a drug
  2. 2Keep the medication list or record accurate and reconciled, including prescriptions, herbals and over-the-counter products
  3. 3Monitor a blood product transfusion
  4. 4Work out and watch the IV flow rate
  5. 5Give medications by mouth
  6. 6Give medications through gastrointestinal tubes
  7. 7Give injections by the intramuscular, subcutaneous or intradermal route
  8. 8Give medications into the ear, eye or nose, by inhalation, rectally, vaginally or on the skin
  9. 9Do controlled substance counts and report any mismatch
  10. 10Look after pain management devices such as epidurals, PCA pumps and nerve block catheters
  11. 11Give secondary (piggyback) IV medications
  12. 12Gather the data needed before giving a medication, such as contraindications and other drugs taken
  13. 13Judge how a client responds to a drug, including adverse reactions, interactions, intended effects and critical lab values
  14. 14Reinforce medication teaching with the client
  15. 15Keep medications safe through proper storage, expiry checks and compatibility checks
  16. 16Do the math needed to give medications

  Study guide: Pharmacological TherapiesStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Physiological Integrity9 to 15% of the exam

  Reduction of Risk Potential

  Activities

  22

  Practice

  36

  Mock pool

  26

  The 22 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Spot client risks and act to reduce them
  2. 2Look for urine retention using a bladder scan, ultrasound or palpation
  3. 3Collect blood, urine, stool or sputum samples for testing
  4. 4Monitor nasogastric suction, whether continuous or intermittent
  5. 5Monitor results of diagnostic and lab tests
  6. 6Recognize signs of possible complications in pregnancy
  7. 7Do bedside tests such as pregnancy tests, troponin and urine dipsticks
  8. 8Check and interpret vital signs such as oxygen saturation and blood pressure
  9. 9Take steps to prevent harm or complications linked to a procedure or condition
  10. 10Do an ECG
  11. 11Help with diagnostic or invasive procedures
  12. 12Draw blood by venipuncture
  13. 13Apply compression stockings or SCDs and check they are used correctly
  14. 14Help care for clients before and after surgery
  15. 15Insert, look after and remove urinary catheters
  16. 16Insert, look after and remove nasogastric tubes
  17. 17Check blood glucose
  18. 18Look after central venous catheters
  19. 19Look after and remove peripheral IV lines
  20. 20Do focused data collection suited to the client's condition, such as neuro or circulation checks
  21. 21Monitor how the client reacts to treatments and procedures
  22. 22Reinforce teaching on procedures, treatments and equipment

  Study guide: Reduction of Risk PotentialStudy sheet (free PDF)
• Physiological Integrity7 to 13% of the exam

  Physiological Adaptation

  Activities

  17

  Practice

  30

  Mock pool

  22

  The 17 activity statements, in our words

  1. 1Reinforce teaching about the client's care and condition
  2. 2Look after drainage devices such as wound drains and chest tubes
  3. 3Help remove a client's wound drain
  4. 4Use cooling or warming measures to bring body temperature back to normal
  5. 5Care for wounds and change dressings
  6. 6Act fast in a life-threatening emergency, for example by starting CPR
  7. 7Act to improve breathing, for example with breathing treatments, suctioning or repositioning
  8. 8Look after a client who has a tracheostomy
  9. 9Take out sutures or staples
  10. 10Look after a client on a ventilator
  11. 11Help care for clients who have a pacemaker or other pacing device
  12. 12Spot and report basic abnormal findings on a cardiac rhythm strip
  13. 13Look after a client with a colostomy, ileostomy, urostomy or other ostomy
  14. 14Recognize signs of illness, whether sudden or long term
  15. 15Notice and report changes in the client's condition
  16. 16Look after clients whose fluid or electrolyte balance is off
  17. 17Look after a client having hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis

  Study guide: Physiological AdaptationStudy sheet (free PDF)

Source: NCSBN, 2026 NCLEX-PN Test Plan and NCLEX FAQs. The categories, ranges, topics and steps are NCSBN's; the activity statements and step definitions are shown in our own words (read NCSBN's wording in the Test Plan); the guides and items are ours. Every source this path is built on.