Clinical Patient Care
Safety first, then skill
This is the largest domain, and its questions cluster around "what do you do first." Nearly every one is answered by a sequence: hand hygiene → standard precautions/PPE → identify the patient with two identifiers → perform the skill → document.
Concepts to master: vital sign technique and normal ranges; order of draw for venipuncture; capillary puncture sites; labeling specimens at the bedside, in front of the patient; medical asepsis vs. surgical asepsis; the rights of medication administration (right patient, drug, dose, route, time, documentation, reason, to refuse); routes of administration; EKG lead placement and artifact recognition; assisting with physical exams and procedures; wound care and dressing changes.
Traps. Order of draw is heavily tested: blood cultures → light blue (citrate) → red/gold (serum) → green (heparin) → lavender (EDTA) → gray (oxalate/fluoride). Another trap is technique error: deflating a BP cuff too quickly or holding the arm above heart level falsely lowers the reading; an arm below heart level falsely raises it. Questions also test that you do not label tubes later at the desk and do not recap a contaminated needle.
Rule of thumb. When two answers both look correct, choose the one that protects the patient from harm before the one that completes the task faster. Speed never outranks identification and asepsis.