RN-BC Informatics Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: C

The laptop was password-protected with the manager's network login: A login password alone does not make PHI 'secured'; HHS guidance requires encryption or destruction.

Fewer than 1,500 patients' records were stored on the laptop: The number of records changes who is notified (media and HHS at 500 or more), not whether a breach occurred.

The laptop's drive was encrypted to the standard in HHS guidance: Correct. PHI encrypted consistent with HHS guidance is 'secured', so its loss falls under the safe harbor and is not a reportable breach.

The manager reported the theft to the police within 24 hours: Police reporting is appropriate but does not remove the duty to notify affected individuals.

Breach notification applies to unsecured PHI; encryption meeting HHS guidance creates a safe harbor. For 500 or more residents of a state, notify individuals, HHS and the media within 60 days.

Answer: B

A stored value of 168/98 with no patient, time or unit attached: A raw value without context is data, the lowest level of the framework.

A reading of 168/98 flagged as high against the patient's 120/78 baseline: Correct. Data become information when organized and interpreted in context, here compared with the patient's own baseline.

Recognizing that rising pressures with weight gain suggest fluid overload: Linking patterns of information to clinical meaning is knowledge.

Choosing to hold a dose and call the provider after weighing the whole picture: Applying knowledge with judgment to decide what to do in context is wisdom.

Data are raw facts; information is data in context; knowledge links information into patterns; wisdom applies knowledge to decide and act.

Answer: D

Make the alert impossible to override so it cannot be ignored: Hard stops on low-value alerts increase frustration and workarounds without improving relevance.

Add a second alert that reminds nurses to read the first one: More interruptions worsen alert fatigue and do not fix the targeting problem.

Change the color of the alert so that it stands out more on screen: Format changes alone do not fix the wrong timing or the wrong patients.

Target high-risk patients and show it within the fall assessment: Correct. The right information to the right person, in the right format and channel, at the right time in the workflow reduces noise and improves response.

CDS Five Rights: right information, right person, right format, right channel, right time in workflow. High override rates signal poor targeting.

Answer: D

It is delayed by 2 days, since every task delay moves the end date: Only delays on the critical path, or delays larger than a task's float, move the end date.

It is delayed by 1 day, since C shares the delay with Task B: Float is not shared this way; C's delay is absorbed entirely by its slack.

It is delayed by 4 days, since C must restart once it is late: There is no basis for restarting the task; this exaggerates the effect.

It does not change, since Task C has 3 days of float: Correct. The critical path is A-B-D = 10 days. Path A-C-D = 7 days, so C has 3 days of float and a 2-day delay does not affect completion.

The critical path is the longest path and has zero float; delays on non-critical tasks matter only when they exceed the available float.

Answer: B

Wrong drug library selected: S 9, O 2, D 3: RPN = 9 × 2 × 3 = 54.

Order rate not sent to the pump: S 6, O 5, D 4: Correct. RPN = 6 × 5 × 4 = 120, the highest of the four.

Pump linked to the wrong patient: S 8, O 3, D 4: RPN = 8 × 3 × 4 = 96.

Infusion status not shown in EHR: S 4, O 6, D 2: RPN = 4 × 6 × 2 = 48.

FMEA is proactive; RPN = severity × occurrence × detectability. Teams also review any failure with very high severity even when its RPN is lower.

Answer: B

DICOM, which defines how medical images are stored and sent: DICOM is the standard for medical imaging, not allergy data.

HL7 FHIR, which exposes data as resources through RESTful APIs: Correct. FHIR defines resources such as AllergyIntolerance that apps can query over standard web (RESTful) APIs.

HL7 version 2, which sends pipe-delimited event messages: HL7 v2 is a messaging standard for system-to-system events such as ADT, not a web API for apps.

NCPDP SCRIPT, which transmits e-prescriptions to pharmacies: NCPDP SCRIPT covers electronic prescribing, not allergy retrieval by apps.

FHIR = modern RESTful, resource-based API standard (basis of patient-access APIs); HL7 v2 = legacy event messaging; DICOM = imaging.