NCSN Online Study Group – Week 3: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Fall 2026 Exam Information
Fall Testing Window: October 22 - November 22, 2026
Exam applications will not be visible/available until the registration window opens.
Updated Exam Content Outline – Summer 2025 and Beyond
As a result of the 2023 Job Task Analysis (JTA), the NBCSN streamlined and reorganized the Exam Content Outline (ECO) beginning with the Summer 2025 exam. The exam still covers the same essential content, just better organized into four updated domains:
New Exam Content Domains & Number of Questions
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New Domain
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# of Questions
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Health Appraisal & Nursing Practice
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52
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Health Promotion/Disease Prevention
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41
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School Health Practice Considerations
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32
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Professional Responsibility
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50
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Content Overview – Week 3
This week emphasizes the school nurse’s role in promoting student wellness and preventing illness before problems become more serious. You will examine strategies that support healthy school communities, including education, prevention planning, risk reduction, and population-based approaches that help improve health outcomes for all students.
Reading – Week 3
School Nursing Certification Review Book – Selekman & Knox, 2025
School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text – Shannon & Yonkaitis, Fourth Edition, 2025
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Chapter 2, 4, 10, 12-15, 29, 33
School Nursing: A Comprehensive Text (Selekman, Shannon, & Yonkaitis), Third Edition
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Chapter 19: Students with Acute Illness and Injury
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Chapter 21: Students with Chronic Conditions
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Chapter 22: Students with Allergies
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Chapter 23: Students with Chronic Respiratory Illnesses
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Chapter 24: Students with ADHD and Specific Learning Disorders
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Chapter 25: Students with Diabetes
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Chapter 26: Students with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
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Chapter 27: Students Who Are Overweight
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Chapter 28: Students with Seizures and Epilepsy
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Chapter 29: Students with Other Chronic Conditions
Weekly Assignments
Reflection Prompt
In what ways can the school nurse move beyond treating illness and instead promote prevention, wellness, and a healthier school environment for all students?
Challenge Questions
Question 1: While attending a student IEP meeting the parents make the claim that the student’s behavior issues and absences are due to the school nurse not administering the morning ADHD medication on time and on a consistent basis. Which of the following methods will ensure accuracy and safety of medication administration?
A. The nurse only verifies medication count when she suspects a discrepancy.
B. When medication is presented to the nurse by a parent, the nurse counts and records the number of pills after the parent leaves the clinic.
C. The nurse empowers the student to actively participate in their healthcare by being responsible for coming in for medication.
D. The nurse administers the medication according to policy, at scheduled time and includes documentation of the administration after giving medication.
Question 2: A parent of one of your students is inquiring about the need for the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine. They begin with whether their child really needs this vaccine since it is not required for school and since they are a boy, age 12 and not sexually active. Your best answer would be:
A. Explain the vaccine should be given at age 9.
B.This vaccine is only about preventing cancer in those sexually active.
C. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that kids get the HPV vaccine to prevent six cancers at a younger age when they have a stronger immune response.
D. There are only a few cancers which can be prevented in boys, that is why it is not required for school.
Please share your responses to the reflection prompt and challenge questions on this week's discussion thread! Answers and rationale will be shared on Monday.
Even MORE Test Taking Tips:
As promised, here are a few nursing test-taking strategies for multiple-choice questions, adapted from 11 Test-Taking Tips & Strategies for Nurses from Nurseslabs.
4. Eliminate clearly wrong answers
One of the best test-taking strategies is to cross out answers that are obviously incorrect, inappropriate, or unrelated to what the question is asking. This helps you narrow your choices and improve your odds of selecting the best answer.
Example:
The four levels of cognitive ability are:
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Assessing, analyzing, applying, evaluating
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Knowledge, analysis, assessing, comprehension
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Knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis
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Medical-surgical nursing, obstetric nursing, psychiatric nursing
Here is how you can eliminate distractors:
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Option 1 includes nursing behaviors, not just levels of cognitive ability.
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Option 4 lists clinical specialties, so it is clearly incorrect.
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Option 2 includes assessing, which is a nursing behavior rather than a cognitive level.
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Option 3 is the correct answer.
By eliminating implausible answers first, you reduce confusion and can focus on the strongest remaining option.
5. Identify Similar Options
When a question includes two or more answer choices that are very similar in meaning, that is an important clue. In many cases, the correct answer will either:
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Include the similar ideas more completely, or
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Be braoder or a more accurate than the narrower, overlapping options
If several choices seem almost the same, look for the one that best captures the larger concept.
Example:
When teaching newly diagnosed diabetic clients about their condition, it is important for the nurse to focus on:
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Dietary modification
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Use of sugar substitutes
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Their present understanding of diabetes
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Use of diabetic nutritional exchange lists
In this question, options 1, 2, and 4 are all closely related because they focus only on diet. Since they are all somewhat similar and limited, none of them is the best overall choice.
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Option 1 focuses only on diet changes.
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Option 2 focuses only on sugar substitutes.
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Option 4 focuses only on exchange lists.
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Option 3 is the best answer because it is broader and more complete. Before teaching, the nurse needs to understand what the client already knows.
6. Identify Answer (Option) Components
Some answer choices include two parts. When that happens, you can often rule out an option if even one part is incorrect.
This strategy is helpful because you do not always have to know the entire answer right away. If one part of the option is wrong, the whole choice is wrong.
Example:
After a cholecystectomy the postoperative diet is usually:
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High fat, low calorie
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High fat, low protein
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Low fat, high calorie
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Low fat, high protein
To work through this question:
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If you know the diet after a cholecystectomy is usually low or moderate in fat, you can eliminate options 1 and 2 because both say high fat.
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Then compare options 3 and 4.
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If you also know that promoting healing and recovery requires adequate protein, option 4 is the best answer.
Let's Collaborate
Have a question about the content? Post it in the discussion! Refer to questions by chapter, number, and letter (e.g., Chapter 2, Question 4, Answer C).
Please do not copy questions or answers verbatim due to copyright.
Final Thoughts
These test-taking strategies are meant to give you another layer of support as you prepare for the exam. Even when you know the content, the way a question is written can sometimes make you second-guess yourself. Using a step-by-step approach—looking for key details, eliminating incorrect options, noticing similar answers, and evaluating each part of an option—can help you answer more confidently. Keep practicing these strategies as you study so they feel natural by the time you test.
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Alana Parker MSN-Ed, BSN, RN, NCSN
Mesa, AZ United States
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