Inpatient Obstetric Nurse Exam Prep 2020-2021: A New Study Guide for Certification Including 300 Test Questions and Answers with Full Explanations (RNC-OB)

By Obstetric Nurse Test Prep Team

The examination discussed in this book leads to certification as an Inpatient Obstetrics Nurse, otherwise referred to as RNC-OB. The certifying body in the US is the National Certification Corporation or NCC, and those certified are prepared to take care of patients in the area of obstetrics.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Pluto King Publishing
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781989711101

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Inpatient Obstetric Nurse Exam Prep 2020-2021

A New Study Guide for Certification Including 300 Test Questions and Answers with Full Explanations (RNC-OB)

Copyright 2019 by Obstetric Nurse Test Prep Team - All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

Chapter 1: The Obstetric Nurse Exam

Chapter 2: Disease and Risks to Pregnancy

Chapter 3: How a Woman’s Lifestyle Affects Pregnancy

Chapter 4: Development of the Prenatal Stage of Pregnancy

Chapter 5: Genetic Inheritance and Early Infancy

Chapter 6: Childhood Development in General

Chapter 7: Fetal Monitoring

Chapter 8: Details of the Labor Process

Chapter 9: How to Deal with Abnormal Labor

Chapter 10: Obstetric Procedures

Chapter 11: Obstetric Challenges

Chapter 12: A Glimpse at the Postpartum Period

Chapter 13: Critical Postpartum Care

Chapter 14: How to Assess a Newborn Baby

Chapter 15: Professionalism Within Obstetrics and Gynecology

300 Questions for the Inpatient Obstetric Nurse Exam

Answers and Explanations to 300 Practice Questions for the Inpatient Obstetric Nurse Exam

Chapter 1: The Obstetric Nurse Exam

The examination discussed in this book leads to certification as an Inpatient Obstetrics Nurse, otherwise referred to as RNC-OB. The certifying body in the US is the National Certification Corporation or NCC, and those certified are prepared to take care of patients in the area of obstetrics. Obstetrics is that medical branch that deals with matters of child delivery, the months leading to delivery as well as the months that follow. Obstetricians take care of the expectant mother, the nursing mother, and her infant.

Certification recognizes not only the candidates’ competency in the theory of obstetrics but also their applied knowledge in this area. The NCC has the role of conferring certification once a candidate has passed the relevant exam. This certification makes the nurses more marketable, putting them in a better position to secure jobs in hospitals and clinics. The average annual salary was found to be around $61,000 as of the last quarter of 2013.

Eligibility and Registration

In order to obtain NCC credentials for inpatient obstetric nursing, registration is done online at the corporation’s website. You can register as an individual candidate or as a registering group of candidates. The guidance pertaining to testing via the website, [e-mail], is simple and straightforward.

Who is Eligible to Take the Obstetric Nurse Exam?

To be eligible to take the obstetric nurse exam regulated by the NCC, you need to be a licensed registered nurse or RN, either within the US or Canada. You will have to give your license number and the state in which you have been licensed, the date your license is due to expire, and any other relevant information.

You will also be required to produce proof of working experience showing that you have been practicing in the field of obstetrics within the most recent twenty-four (24) months. You will also be required to show evidence of having 2,000 hours of working experience in this specialty of obstetrics since you started working.

With regards to practical experience, you are not restricted to the ward where you work directly with patients. In addition, the NCC regards relevant your work experience within the education sector, research or administration if it is in either the US or Canada. It is important to note that although you may have had experience in obstetrics exceeding 2,000 hours, this does not exempt you from the requirement of having worked in the field within the most recent 24 months. In short, both the conditions of work stipulated and minimum hours worked are mandatory, and your history of employment must be on record to be acceptable.

How to Take the Obstetric Nurse Exam

There is the option for candidates to take the obstetric nurse exam via computer or by using paper and pencil. Candidates are expected to sit their exams in designated education centers unless they are on a program of institutional certification. The latter is where individual institutions have their candidates sit the exam together. In the former case of professional education centers, there are courses offered in the field of obstetrics that prepare the students and guide them towards their candidacy.

Anyone wishing to sit the obstetric nurse exam should explore the said options before registering for the exam, so as to see if their policies and procedures are convenient for them. Only when you have identified the environment that suits you should you proceed with registration as a candidate.

The similarity of Digital and Paper Tests in RNC-OB

The obstetric examination to test candidates is the same whether you take the exam online or choose a paper test. Unlike other digital exams, this one allows you to skip a question if you are not sure of the answer, and to come back to it later. This means you have the same advantage other candidates who write the paper exam.  

Another important similarity is the time allowed for the exam. Whether working on paper or on computer, the exam time limit is three hours (3hr). The only feature that is different is the computerized exam has random questions. Different candidates taking the exam online will have questions in different sequences.

Cost of the RNC-OB Exam Online

The fees for the RNC-OB exam via a computer are a little more than $300 U.S. and less than a sixth of that comprises the cost of submitting your application which is not refundable.

It is important to note there is a fee charged for reprocessing any application found to be incomplete in the first round, but it is less than the initial cost of submitting your application. If you want to cancel the exam after you have paid for it, you are free to do so free of charge within 6 hours of submitting your application. All you need to do is log onto your account and click ‘Cancel Application’. However, once the first 6 hours have lapsed, you need to submit an application to withdraw and you would be charged some fee.

What You Need to Know About Online Testing

1)  You may submit your application any time of the year as there are no set deadlines.

2)  Approval of an application may take as many as 14 days or as few as a day. This is after your application has been processed and reviewed by the relevant authority.

3)  If your application is successful, you may be required to sit the exam within the following 90 days. Your letter of eligibility is sent to you either by email or it is posted online to your account, and once you are deemed eligible for the exam, you are entered for the exam in the next window scheduled.

After this, it is up to you to make arrangements for your exam date with an AMP, and you can schedule this over the phone or by communicating online.

4)  The exam is accessed by means of computers through the more than a hundred established AMP Assessment Centers spread across the US. To sit the exam at any of those centers you must make an appointment for that day. Candidates are able to access the exam according to the order in which they arrive at the center. Exam times are from Monday to Saturday, 9am to 1.30pm.

5)  AMP exam centers are spread across the US, and sites may be changed from time to time. These changes are always posted on the web, and you can log onto www.goamp.com to find out the exact location that is suitable for you.

6)  You have an opportunity to practice the test online and is provided before you embark on the real exam.

7)  If you have paid for the exam but then fail to turn up, no refund will be given. However, you can apply your exam fees to an exam at a later date. As long as the date you choose is within the current testing window you will not be charged any extra fees. You may also sit the exam using a different mode. That free change of date is allowed just once and you must make the necessary arrangements with the AMP.

You also can change your exam category even after you have booked your exam, but this again needs to be done through your AMP. At the same time, approval must be sought from the NCC. Although you can change your exam date, your exam category, and even your mode of taking the exam, you are not allowed to make two changes at once. This means if you want a change of date you cannot effect changes on your exam category or change the mode of taking the exam.

8)  You can expect to receive your preliminary exam results soon after completing your online exam, but the official score report is mailed to you by the NCC within a period covering 21 business days. As you receive your official results via mail, you will also be notified of your date of certification through your account.

How to Remain Certified as an RNC-OB

For you to remain certified as RNC-OB, you need to re-establish certification after a period of 3 years. You can do by taking another NCC exam or taking education on a continuing basis, which covers a span of 45 hours. Such education for  a continuing basis is provided by the NCC, certain universities, and organizations purposely established to accept that role.

If relying on the prescribed continuous education, it is important to ensure you are using an organization that is duly accredited by the relevant bodies, which are the nursing boards at the state level, colleges, and organizations dealing with health care, such as the American Medical Association.

When you decide to recertify with the NCC, you should anticipate a test set mainly to assess your level of knowledge, and that leads to some education plan. You then receive some course work from the NCC. There are other ways that can keep you certified besides the NCC exam or continuing education; these include writing articles or books relevant to the area of obstetrics, teaching relevant courses, or reviewing education modules designed by the NCC.

Preparing to be a Candidate

All guidelines provided here and elsewhere in the book are as per the requirements of the NCC. Remember it is important that you know what the exam governing body expects of you as a candidate including medical competencies. Some of the requirements have already been explained earlier in this chapter.

For RNC-OB preparation, it is a good idea to consider an exam schedule, the exam site that best suits you, any restrictions or even security issues you may face, how to receive your results, and the steps to take if you are unable to take the exam after you have completed booking. There is updated information on the NCC website, and you can access it without the need to register or receive approval.

Currently, the fee for the RNC-OB exam is $325 US, and you can submit your application as an individual or as one among other candidates whose application is being submitted as a group by their institution. This figure includes application fees.

It is important to keep in mind that, once paid, application fees cannot be refunded, and in most cases, the exam fees are considered non-refundable. Instead, candidates are encouraged to either reschedule their exam dates or change their exam categories.

The modes of payment accepted by the NCC for application and exam fees are Visa, MasterCard, and American Express. You are also allowed to make your payments by check. Funds are to be in US dollars.

If payment is made by someone other than the candidate, reimbursements will also be made to the paying third party and not to the exam applicant.

Note: It is not acceptable to have payment split, meaning two modes of payment being used to settle one account. For instance, you cannot choose to pay your exam fees partly by credit card and partly by check. It has to be by one or the other and as full payment. Payments can be made online, and details can be found on the NCC website.

What happens if an application is incomplete?

If the application you submit to sit the RNC-OB exam is incomplete, you will be contacted to complete it as per requirements. Since that will be a second attempt for the NCC to process your application, you will be charged $30. Just like the initial $50 application fees, the additional fee is non-refundable. If you are found to be ineligible after you paid the exam fee, you will be refunded the amount representing the exam fee.

What happens if your check is returned?

If you make payment to the NCC by check and it is returned, you will be required to pay $30 for that err9r irrespective of the reason. Subsequently, any payment you make will be in the form demanded by the NCC.

What happens if your credit card fails?

In the event, you use your credit card to make payment to the NCC for your exam and that transaction is rejected, you will be liable for a fee of $30 irrespective of the reason your payment was disputed. In addition, any subsequent fees payments or application fees you intend to make to the NCC can only be as per the corporation’s requirements.

Can you change your exam date?

If for some reason, you cannot sit the exam you have already paid for on the date you scheduled, you can always apply for an adjustment for a fee of $125. You can also apply to sit the exam on a different date even after your set date has passed as long as you pay the fee of $125.

As for withdrawing your candidacy entirely, you will only be refunded $160.

Can you re-take the exam?

NCC allows candidates who have not passed their exam in their first attempt to re-take the exam, but they are expected to pay another application fee in full. In addition, such candidates must wait for a minimum of 90 days from the date of their last exam before they can re-submit an application for a re-test.

Conditions for which refunds are not considered

If you pay for an exam and fail to qualify for certification, you should not anticipate a refund from the NCC. If you had booked to sit the exam online and you fail to do so, and you also fail to reschedule the testing for a future date after the 90-day window required by the NCC, you should not expect to be refunded any portion of your exam fees.

What needs to be included in an exam application

As you apply to be allowed to take the RNC-OB exam, the NCC requires you to include some other information. This information pertains to your personal details, licensure, as well as details of employment. Once you have submitted your application, confirmation of receipt is sent to you via email as the review process begins.

Ordinarily, this process takes 2 weeks to 4 weeks. If your application is approved, you will be sent a letter via email. As well as informing you that your application has been successful, this letter also contains instructions to set a date to take the exam. As a matter of routine, NCC sends out such letters on the 15th  and month-end.

What transpires on exam day?

Be prepared to present your identification to be allowed to enter the exam center, and this identification can be in different forms with your name, signature, and your photograph.

You are not allowed to enter the exam center with items other than a jacket or a sweater; you are expected to leave everything else in a locker allocated to you. You are particularly expected to never enter the exam room with notes or reference materials and an electronic device.

How Many Questions are on the RNC-OB Exam?

The RNC-OB exam has 175 multiple choice questions, but only 150 of those questions are to test you as the candidate. The other 25 questions are meant to help you get orientated to the style of online questions and answers. They are actually considered pre-test questions. From the time the exam formally starts, you have exactly 3 hours to complete it.

Chapter 2: Disease and Risks to Pregnancy

Research has shown that a woman’s pregnancy is directly affected by her general wellbeing. In fact, a study conducted in 2013 reported in Canada’s ‘Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology’ revealed that women who are obese face a higher risk of becoming hypertensive and to develop additional health problems, also faced a higher risk of delivering babies whose birth weight is low and with problems of metabolism in comparison to women whose body weight was average.

Fortunately, in the US, the CDC or Center for Disease Control carries out research related to pregnancies, with the aim of understanding related challenges and making recommendations on how to make pregnancy healthy for the mother. In addition to seeking ways of alleviating complications, the center also seeks to identify ways of managing existing complications or those that crop up in the course of pregnancy, and more so to avoid fatalities.

As at 2018, the US was found to have around six million documented pregnancies every year, and as far as CDC is concerned, little advances made in alleviating complications associated with pregnancies can go a long way in enhancing the quality of expectant mothers’ lives. However, to make these advances, it is important to have credible data related to maternal health. The research CDC does is very helpful in improving the experience of the pregnant woman in the US, and a lot of it can be of great use in the field of obstetrics.

Pregnancy according to CDC

Pregnancy-related Complications

The complications that arise when the woman is pregnant sometimes involve the health of the mother, the health of the unborn baby, and sometimes both. While there are women who face health challenges in the course of the pregnancy, some others already have health issues before conceiving and these problems lead to further health issues during pregnancy. As such, it is a good idea, as much as possible, to seek support from healthcare providers before considering becoming pregnant so as to pre-empt any potential complications.

Pre-pregnancy Care

It is important for a woman to consult a doctor about issues of health that she is experiencing or any health issues she has had some time in her life because some of them might have an impact on pregnancy. When already undergoing medical treatment for one problem or another, the doctor may wish to alter the manner in which such problems are being managed for the overall health of the baby and the mother.

For example, there are medications known to be unfavorable in times of pregnancy, and these would require changing. Even if the pregnant woman knows the impact of such medications, she would still need to consult a doctor because it may be just as harmful to terminate them without considering another way of managing the health condition. In some instances, the danger posed to the pregnancy by the medication is much lower than the one posed to the woman if she were to stop taking the medication.

It is also important that the woman informs the doctor of any medical complications experienced in a past pregnancy because then the doctor can put measures in place to ensure such complications do not occur in the current pregnancy. With the requisite prenatal care and ordinary health problems in check, the woman can always enjoy her pregnancy and deliver a healthy baby.

Complications Experienced during Pregnancy

Symptoms of complications during pregnancy vary, and they could range from mild or discomforting symptoms to others that are severe and could be a threat to life. A pregnant woman cannot always tell when symptoms are mild and normal and when they are serious and require medical attention, and so it is a good idea for a pregnant woman to consult a medical practitioner whenever she experiences symptoms she does not comprehend.

In the course of pregnancy, some medical problems the woman is experiencing may have an effect on the unborn baby even when it is the mother who is unwell. In fact, there is a tendency for some health issues affecting a woman to become more serious due to pregnancy. There are some medical issues affecting a woman that may remain mild during pregnancy. However, if they escalate, they are often a risk to the baby as well. A pregnant woman should make a point of seeking prenatal care and continue to follow medical advice throughout the pregnancy so that these issues can be managed and mother and baby can remain healthy.

Medical Conditions Common during Pregnancy

There are some health issues that are more prevalent. It is, therefore, important that pregnant women be monitored to ensure they have not developed these conditions, and they have to have medical practitioners attend to them. The major conditions are explained below.

Anemia during Pregnancy

Anemia is a medical condition where a person has a lower count of red blood cells. The best way to address this condition is to treat the cause itself. Once the underlying anemia is corrected, the body will restore the correct count of red blood cells and this brings the condition of anemia to an end.

Normally when a pregnant woman has anemia, she feels tired and weak. One of the commonly used means of alleviating anemia is to take supplements rich in iron as well as folic acid. For the women adhering to seeking medical attention during their pregnancy, the medical providers will keep checking to ascertain that their iron level is appropriate at all times. 

UTIs during Pregnancy

UTI stands for Urinary Tract Infection, an infection caused by bacteria that attacks the urinary tract. Women can have UTI when pregnant and there are different ways you can suspect you have such an infection.

One symptom is a burning sensation or even pain when urinating and sometimes having the urge to urinate often. Other symptoms include fever, feeling tired, feeling nauseated, back pain, or even experiencing shakiness. With a UTI, you may feel some pressure on the lower part of your belly, or release urine with a cloudy appearance or reddish, and with a foul smell.  

It is important to visit a medical practitioner if ever you suspect a UTI, so you can be tested using a urine sample. UTIs are easily treatable, as all you need are antibiotics. In fact, antibiotics are known to eliminate the symptoms within a day or two although you need to complete the full prescription. Often your doctor will test you for UTI using a urine sample early in your pregnancy if you begin consulting early, and if there is any indication of infection you will be duly treated.

Mental Issues during Pregnancy

There are women who become mentally overwhelmed as a result of pregnancy, sometimes experiencing depression in the course of the pregnancy or even after childbirth. It is important to know how to identify depression so that the condition can be treated as earliest as possible.

Often women experiencing depression appear to be sad most of the time. They see no need to engage in activities associated with having fun. Their normal appetite also changes, as well as their energy levels and sleep patterns.

Women experiencing depression during pregnancy also have problems to think through things and particularly find it difficult to concentrate. This makes them poor at decision-making. They also have a sense of declining worth, shame, and guilt. In some serious cases, they even feel like it is not meaningful to continue living.

If a woman experiences symptoms of