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NCLEX Delegation and Assignment: 3 Free Practice Questions

Try three delegation and assignment NCLEX-style questions with every option explained in English or Taglish. No account needed; complete worked answers included.

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Try three delegation and assignment questions

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Questions and explanations follow your English or Taglish setting. This shared article is in English.

Question 1 of 3

Matching routine care to the right person

An RN has assessed a stable adult who needs help washing and changing into clean clothes. A nursing assistant has validated competency in personal care, and this care is within the assistant’s routine role under local rules and unit policy. The RN is available for questions and follow-up. Which task is appropriate to assign to the assistant?

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1. Matching routine care to the right person

An RN has assessed a stable adult who needs help washing and changing into clean clothes. A nursing assistant has validated competency in personal care, and this care is within the assistant’s routine role under local rules and unit policy. The RN is available for questions and follow-up. Which task is appropriate to assign to the assistant?

Best answer: B

  • A. Determine whether new shortness of breath is caused by anxiety. This asks the assistant to interpret a new symptom. The RN must assess the breathing change.
  • B. Help with washing and clean clothes, and promptly report dizziness or breathing difficulty to the RN. This matches the stated routine personal-care role. New symptoms are reported for RN assessment rather than interpreted by the assistant.
  • C. Decide whether the patient is ready for discharge after washing. Completing personal care does not establish discharge readiness. That decision is outside the stated assistant role.
  • D. Choose a new mobility plan if the patient becomes dizzy. Dizziness changes the situation. The assistant should keep the patient safe and call the RN rather than create a new care plan.

Decisive cue: Stable patient, assessed care needs and validated routine personal-care competency.

Routine care within the stated role is an assignment. The RN still follows up; a new symptom needs reassessment.

NCSBN–ANA: National Guidelines for Nursing Delegation (2019) · 2026-10-09

2. Making delegated instructions specific

An RN plans a post-void bladder scan for a stable adult. In this setting, local law and policy permit a specially trained nursing assistant to perform the scan as a delegated task beyond the assistant’s usual role. Competency is validated. The RN will interpret the result and decide further care. Which instruction best supports safe delegation?

Best answer: C

  • A. Scan whenever you have time and document the result before the shift ends. Neither the scan time nor prompt reporting is clear. The RN could be left waiting for a result needed to decide the next step.
  • B. Scan after the next void and decide whether the reading means the patient needs catheterization. The scan is permitted here, but the assistant is being asked to make the treatment decision reserved to the RN in this case.
  • C. Scan after the next void using the unit method and report the volume to me immediately. Call me if the scan cannot be completed or the patient develops discomfort; I am available. Tell me the plan back before starting. The instruction identifies when and how to scan, what to report, when to call and who is available. Read-back checks understanding; the RN follows up and interprets the result.
  • D. Scan after the next void, but report only readings you think are abnormal. This leaves the assistant to decide which results matter. Reporting every result lets the RN interpret the measurement.

Decisive cue: Validated scan skill with a defined RN role for interpretation and further care.

Give a clear task and reporting plan, confirm understanding and follow up. Performing a measurement does not transfer the treatment decision.

NCSBN–ANA: National Guidelines for Nursing Delegation (2019) · 2026-10-09

3. Using stated LPN/VN scope and competency

A charge RN is allocating care. Local law and unit policy permit an LPN/VN to perform scheduled dressing care under an established plan for a stable adult; this nurse’s dressing-care competency is validated. The RN is available for assessment of changes. Which assignment best fits these stated limits?

Best answer: A

  • A. Perform the scheduled dressing care under the established plan and report unexpected wound findings to the RN. This assignment matches the explicitly authorized skill and plan. Unexpected findings return to the RN for assessment rather than an independent plan change.
  • B. Independently triage a new admission with unexplained chest pain before any RN assessment. This is a new, unexplained symptom requiring prompt assessment. It does not fit the stable dressing-care assignment described.
  • C. Create the initial care plan for a newly admitted patient without RN assessment or review. The stem authorizes dressing care under an existing plan. It does not authorize independently creating an initial plan for a new admission.
  • D. Independently decide to discharge the patient if the dressing looks clean. A clean dressing alone does not establish discharge readiness. The stated permission for dressing care does not authorize this decision.

Decisive cue: Authorized dressing care, a stable patient, an established plan and validated competency.

Match the actual task to local scope, demonstrated skill and patient needs. A job title alone does not establish permission.

NCSBN: Scope of Practice Decision-Making Framework · 2026-10-09

Original educational examples, not official NCLEX items or clinical care protocols. Sources were checked with automated review; credentialed clinician sign-off is not claimed.

This shared guide is in English. The practice questions and explanations above follow your selected language.

Who can safely do this task, for this patient, in this setting? Try the three original questions above, then compare every option. No account is required; choices reset on refresh.

Questions and explanations follow your English or Taglish setting. This shared article is in English. Open Read all worked answers for the complete set, including without JavaScript.

Work from the details in the question

The first case concerns personal care already included in a nursing assistant's routine role. The second adds a specially authorized scan skill. The third states the LPN/VN's permitted dressing-care task and the established plan. Those details are deliberate: the same job title does not settle every assignment.

The NCSBN–ANA delegation guidelines, pages 2–4 distinguish routine assignment from delegation beyond the usual role. They keep clinical judgment with the licensed nurse. In these examples, helping someone wash, obtaining a scan reading, and deciding what a new symptom means are different responsibilities.

Make the handoff concrete

For the scan case, compare the four instructions. One delays reporting, one passes over a treatment decision, and one filters results through the assistant's interpretation. The best option makes the requested measurement and communication clear. After receiving the result, the RN still needs to act on it.

Pages 4 and 7–8 of the delegation guidelines address instructions, availability and follow-up. The case assumes the scan is specifically permitted in that setting and competency has been validated. It does not establish a general permission for assistants to perform bladder scans.

Read the scope stated in the stem

For the LPN/VN case, use the explicit dressing-care permission. Do not extend it to an independent new-admission plan or discharge decision. The NCSBN scope framework checks activities against education, licensure, competence and jurisdiction. Local law and policy can differ; the example is not a universal LPN/VN task list.

Make a short reasoning note

After each answer, name the task, the role and competency stated, the patient's condition, and the decision that still needs nursing assessment. Then name what must be reported back.

Use the topic links below to keep practicing. The separate account bank has 30 free questions in English and Taglish and requires a free account. These examples do not estimate exam readiness or replace clinical protocols.

Sources checked 9 October 2026: NCSBN–ANA National Guidelines for Nursing Delegation (2019) and the NCSBN Scope of Practice Decision-Making Framework, linked above. Review is automated; human clinical and native-language certification are not claimed. Report a correction.