The short answer
This guide holds 12 original practice questions on surgical nursing topics, each with a sourced rationale. The questions cover steam sterilization and its monitoring, disinfection levels and instrument cleaning, preoperative patient preparation and skin antisepsis, and basic suture and drain classification. Every question was written by our desk from published guidelines and peer-reviewed technician articles. None is a real exam item, and none is adapted from any exam, sample set or question bank. The exam owner's fetched study page confirms that the VTNE has a published content outline and 10 domain areas. It does not give the name or weight of any single domain.
Key takeaways
- The CDC guideline lists 121 C (250 F) and 132 C (270 F) as the two common steam sterilizing temperatures [4].
- Per the CDC, a Bowie-Dick test runs daily in a vacuum-type steam sterilizer before the first load to check for air leaks and poor air removal [4].
- In the Spaulding system described in Today's Veterinary Nurse, semicritical devices such as laryngoscopes should receive at least high-level disinfection [3].
- The Today's Veterinary Nurse preoperative article states that hair removal should ideally happen after induction or no more than 1 hour before surgery [2].
- The University of Minnesota suture notes classify PDS as absorbable and monofilament, and nylon as nonabsorbable and monofilament [7].
- Today's Veterinary Practice reports that a Penrose drain moves fluid along its outer surface by capillary action, not through its lumen [8].
About these questionsPractice questions written by our editorial team for study purposes. These are not real VTNE items and are not affiliated with AAVSB.
Surgical nursing in the VTNE content outline
The American Association of Veterinary State Boards (AAVSB) publishes a content outline for the VTNE and calls it one of the most important materials to review before the exam [1]. According to AAVSB, its practice tests assess performance across the exam's 10 domain areas, and species covered follow the AVMA Standards of Accreditation skills list [1]. The fetched AAVSB page does not name the individual domains or state how many items any domain holds, so this guide makes no claim about the share of the exam given to surgical nursing.
Sterilization and monitoring
The questions in this section draw mainly on the CDC's 2008 Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities, which is a human healthcare guideline. A veterinary orthopedic nursing article in Today's Veterinary Nurse notes that steam in an autoclave is the most commonly used sterilization method [9].
Question 1
Per the CDC guideline, the recognized minimum exposure time for wrapped supplies processed in a prevacuum steam sterilizer operating at 270 F (132 C) is:
- A. 30 minutes
- B. 1 minute
- C. 4 minutes
- D. 10 hours
Answer: C. The CDC guideline gives 4 minutes at 132 C (270 F) in a prevacuum sterilizer, and 30 minutes at 121 C (250 F) in a gravity displacement sterilizer [4].
Question 2
A clinic runs a vacuum-assisted steam sterilizer. The test that should be performed each day, before the first processed load, to confirm that the chamber has no leaks and is clearing air properly is:
- A. A biological indicator containing Bacillus atrophaeus spores
- B. A Bowie-Dick test
- C. A peroxidase test for residual blood
- D. An aluminum foil cavitation test
Answer: B. The CDC describes the Bowie-Dick test as the check for air leaks and inadequate air removal. It is run in an empty chamber before the first load each day the vacuum sterilizer is used [4][5]. B. atrophaeus spores monitor ethylene oxide and dry heat, while the blood and foil tests assess cleaning and ultrasonic cleaners [3][5].
Question 3
Biological indicators used to monitor steam sterilization contain spores of:
- A. Geobacillus stearothermophilus
- B. Bacillus atrophaeus
- C. Staphylococcus pseudintermedius
- D. Escherichia coli
Answer: A. Per the CDC, G. stearothermophilus spores monitor steam sterilization and are incubated at 55-60 C [5]. The CDC calls biological indicators "the only process indicators that directly monitor the lethality" of a sterilization process [5].
Question 4
A technician is loading a steam sterilizer that includes a nonperforated stainless steel basin. Under CDC loading principles, the basin should be placed:
- A. Nested inside a second basin with the lid sealed
- B. Upright and filled with water
- C. Wrapped in kitchen-type transparent plastic wrap
- D. On its edge
Answer: D. The CDC lists placing nonperforated containers such as basins on edge as a basic loading principle, so steam can circulate freely around each item [5]. The CDC also notes that perforated trays go parallel to the shelf [5].
Disinfection and instrument cleaning
The Merck Veterinary Manual describes antiseptics as agents generally applied to body tissues and disinfectants as germicidal compounds applied to facility surfaces [6]. The questions below cover how instruments and devices are cleaned and classified before reprocessing.
Question 5
Under the Spaulding classification described in Today's Veterinary Nurse, the category of a laryngoscope and the minimum reprocessing it needs are:
- A. Critical, requiring sterilization
- B. Noncritical, requiring low-level disinfection only
- C. Semicritical, requiring at least high-level disinfection
- D. Not classified, because it never contacts the patient
Answer: C. The article classes a device that touches intact mucous membranes without ordinarily entering sterile tissue as semicritical. It names laryngoscopes as an example and says such devices should receive at minimum high-level disinfection [3].
Question 6
The statement that correctly distinguishes sterilization from disinfection is:
- A. Sterilization destroys all microbial life, while disinfection may leave some organisms, such as bacterial endospores, alive
- B. Disinfection destroys all microbial life, while sterilization kills only vegetative bacteria
- C. The two terms mean the same process
- D. Sterilization applies only to living tissue
Answer: A. Today's Veterinary Nurse defines sterilization as "the destruction of all microbial life." It notes that disinfection does not necessarily eliminate all types of microorganisms, citing bacterial endospores [3].
Question 7
Surgical instruments must be cleaned before they are sterilized because:
- A. Cleaning removes the need for sterilization
- B. Detergent residue improves steam penetration
- C. Dried blood protects instruments from corrosion
- D. Organic residue and inorganic salts can act as a barrier to the sterilizing agent
Answer: D. The CDC states that cleaning lowers bioburden and removes foreign material that interferes with sterilization by acting as a barrier to the sterilant [5]. Today's Veterinary Nurse adds that soap and detergent residues can also affect some liquid chemical sterilants [3].
Patient preparation and skin antisepsis
These questions come from a peer-reviewed Today's Veterinary Nurse article by a technician specialist in surgery and a board-certified surgeon [2].
Question 8
Clipping can create tiny skin nicks where bacteria multiply over time. According to Today's Veterinary Nurse, hair removal should ideally take place:
- A. The evening before surgery
- B. After anesthetic induction, or no more than 1 hour before surgery
- C. Inside the operating room after draping
- D. At least 24 hours before admission
Answer: B. The article links hair removal on the day before surgery to surgical site infections. It states that removal should ideally occur after induction or no more than 1 hour before surgery [2]. It also says clipping should always happen outside the operating room [2].
Question 9
A dog scheduled for a procedure near the ear has a ruptured eardrum. The skin antiseptic that the cited article says should be avoided in this situation is:
- A. Isopropyl alcohol
- B. Povidone-iodine
- C. Sterile saline
- D. Chlorhexidine
Answer: D. Today's Veterinary Nurse reports that chlorhexidine can cause corneal damage, deafness and other neurotoxicities and should be avoided around the eyes or with ruptured eardrums [2]. The same article notes povidone-iodine is often used for prepping around the ears and eyes [2].
Question 10
A young dog with no detectable disease is admitted for routine castration. Using the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) status table in Today's Veterinary Nurse, the grade that fits this patient is:
- A. ASA I
- B. ASA III
- C. ASA IV
- D. ASA V
Answer: A. The article's table defines ASA I as a normal, healthy patient and lists castration among its examples [2]. It reports that in one study, dogs and cats with ASA status III or greater had a perioperative mortality rate 40 times that of ASA I or II patients. The article's reference list identifies that study as an observational cohort study of 3546 cases [2].
Suture and drains
The suture questions use open-textbook supplemental notes on large animal surgery, which refer to products by brand name [7].
Question 11
The suture material that is both absorbable and monofilament is:
- A. Nylon
- B. Vicryl
- C. PDS
- D. Chromic gut
Answer: C. The University of Minnesota notes list PDS as absorbable and monofilament [7]. According to the same source, nylon is nonabsorbable, Vicryl is braided, and chromic gut is multifilament and frays [7].
Question 12
According to Today's Veterinary Practice, cutting extra holes (fenestrations) in a Penrose drain reduces its effectiveness because:
- A. It lets air into an active suction reservoir
- B. Fluid travels along the drain's outer surface, so holes reduce the functional surface area
- C. It makes the latex radiolucent
- D. It turns the drain into a closed system
Answer: B. The authors write that fluid moves by capillary action "along the external surface of the drain, not through the lumen," and that fenestrations greatly decrease functional surface area [8]. They also note fenestrations may raise the risk of the drain tearing inside a wound [8].
