OET Reading Practice Test 08 for Nurses – Free 60-Minute Online Test

October 16, 2026

English Guru Campus

OET READING · Practice Test 08

Nurses42 Questions60 Minutes

Total time60:00

Part A15:00

OET Reading practice for nurses

This original English Guru Campus practice test is designed for nurses and other healthcare professionals preparing for the OET Reading sub-test. It contains 42 questions in three parts: a rapid Part A task using four texts on one clinical topic, six short workplace extracts in Part B, and two longer healthcare articles in Part C. You have 60 minutes in total. Part A is strictly limited to 15 minutes and locks automatically when its timer expires; the remaining time is used for Parts B and C. On desktop, the reading material and questions appear in separate, independently scrollable panes. Mobile candidates receive a clear stacked layout. Your responses, flags and timer state are saved during the current browser session. After submission, you will receive raw and part-wise scores, an approximate OET scaled score and grade, plus a complete question-by-question review with answers and explanations.

Before you begin

Part A: Questions 1–20, 15 minutes. It locks automatically.

Parts B and C: Questions 21–42, using the time remaining from the 60-minute total.

This page saves progress in this browser session. The total timer starts only when you select Start Test.

Part A · Texts A–DScroll reading

Text A: Tracheostomy assessment and bedside preparation

At the beginning of every shift, confirm why the tracheostomy is present, the tube type and size, whether a cuff is used, and whether the patient has a patent upper airway. Clearly identify a patient who has undergone total laryngectomy because such a patient breathes only through the neck stoma. Record the patient's usual respiratory rate, oxygen requirement, secretion pattern, voice and ability to summon help.

Keep emergency equipment immediately available: working suction with appropriate catheters, oxygen delivery equipment, a manual resuscitation bag with suitable masks or adaptors, a spare tube of the same size and one a size smaller, and the patient's emergency algorithm. Include cuff-deflation equipment and stitch cutters where relevant to the tube and local protocol. Check equipment at every shift handover and after use.

Text B: Suctioning decision and procedure checklist

Stage	Required action
Assess	Suction only when clinically indicated by visible or audible secretions, ineffective cough, falling oxygen saturation, increased work of breathing or suspected tube obstruction. Routine suctioning at fixed intervals is not required.
Prepare	Explain the procedure, perform hand hygiene, use the required protective equipment and check the suction setting. Position the patient safely and monitor oxygen saturation. Provide additional oxygen only according to the patient's plan or emergency protocol.
Insert	Use a sterile catheter. Introduce it without applying suction and only to the measured safe depth stated in the care plan. Never force the catheter if resistance is met.
Withdraw	Apply suction while withdrawing with a gentle rotating movement. Each pass must last no longer than 10 seconds. Allow at least 30 seconds for recovery between passes and reassess before repeating.
Finish	Dispose of equipment safely, perform hand hygiene and document the indication, secretion characteristics, number of passes, patient response and any escalation.

Text C: Routine stoma, tube and humidification care

Inspect the stoma and surrounding skin at least once per shift for redness, swelling, pain, bleeding, discharge, pressure damage or surgical emphysema. Clean according to the care plan with sterile saline and dry gently. Replace a dressing that is wet, loose or visibly soiled; do not pack material underneath the flange.

Check that ties or the holder are secure but not constricting. One finger should fit comfortably beneath them. During any tie change, a second trained staff member must stabilise the tube. Clean or replace a reusable inner cannula at the frequency specified by the manufacturer and whenever secretions narrow it. A disposable inner cannula must never be cleaned for reuse.

Provide prescribed humidification because bypassing the nose and mouth reduces natural warming and moistening of inspired air. Encourage hydration when clinically appropriate. Report increasingly thick secretions, repeated tube blockage or a new oxygen requirement. Cuff pressure may be checked or altered only by staff assessed as competent, using the approved manometer.

Text D: Emergency breathing difficulty pathway

1. Recognise and call: If the patient has severe breathing difficulty, absent airflow, cyanosis, rapidly falling oxygen saturation or loss of consciousness, call the emergency team immediately. Ask for the tracheostomy emergency equipment and determine whether the patient has a tracheostomy or a total laryngectomy.

2. Apply oxygen and remove simple obstructions: Apply high-flow oxygen to the stoma. If upper-airway patency is uncertain and the patient is not known to have a total laryngectomy, also apply oxygen to the face. Remove any speaking valve, cap or heat-and-moisture exchanger. Remove and inspect the inner cannula.

3. Test patency: Attempt to pass a suction catheter without force. If it passes, suction and reassess. Failure to pass it suggests tube obstruction or displacement. Do not repeatedly force the catheter.

4. Escalate: Follow the bedside emergency algorithm. Cuff deflation, tube removal, ventilation and replacement must be performed only by appropriately trained responders in accordance with the patient's airway plan. Never blindly reinsert a tube into a newly formed tract. For a total-laryngectomy patient, ventilation must be delivered through the neck stoma because the mouth and nose are not connected to the lungs.

Questions 1–20Scroll questions

1–7: choose A–D. 8–20: use no more than three words from the texts.

Equipment that must be checked at every change of shift

Answer 1

Clinical findings that justify suctioning

Answer 2

The need for another trained worker during a particular care task

Answer 3

An action prohibited when a recently created airway tract is involved

Answer 4

The reason prescribed humidification is required

Answer 5

Information that distinguishes neck-only breathing from an ordinary tracheostomy

Answer 6

The test used to determine whether the tube may be obstructed or displaced

Answer 7

Each suction pass must last no longer than __________.

Answer 8

The patient should recover for at least __________ between suction passes.

Answer 9

A suction catheter must be introduced without applying __________.

Answer 10

During a tie change, the tube must be stabilised by a __________.

Answer 11

A dressing should be replaced when it is wet, loose or __________.

Answer 12

Approved equipment for measuring cuff pressure is a __________.

Answer 13

In an emergency, remove the speaking valve, cap or __________.

Answer 14

What replacement item must also be available one size smaller?

Answer 15

What solution is specified for routine cleaning around the stoma?

Answer 16

What must never be packed beneath the tube flange?

Answer 17

Where should oxygen always be applied during severe breathing difficulty?

Answer 18

What should staff attempt to pass when checking tube patency?

Answer 19

Through which opening must a total-laryngectomy patient be ventilated?

Answer 20

Part B · Workplace extractsScroll reading

Extract 1: Bed-rail assessment

Bed rails must not be raised automatically for every patient considered at risk of falling. Before use, assess the patient's mobility, cognition, behaviour, body size, likelihood of climbing and risk of becoming trapped between the rail, mattress and bed frame. Explain the purpose and seek the patient's agreement whenever possible. Record why rails are required and which alternatives were considered. After positioning them, confirm that the mattress and rail combination is compatible and that gaps do not create an entrapment hazard. Reassess after sedation, deterioration, transfer or any attempt to climb. Bed rails are not a substitute for observation, toileting support or an individual falls-prevention plan.

Extract 2: Expired sterile stock

Any sterile item found beyond its expiry date, with damaged packaging or with evidence of moisture must be removed from clinical stock immediately. Place it in the designated quarantine container and label it so that it cannot be selected accidentally. Do not cover an expired date, repackage the item locally or assume that an intact wrapper makes it safe. Check adjacent stock for the same batch and expiry date, then notify the department responsible for supplies. If the item has already been used, preserve its packaging, inform the nurse in charge and follow the clinical-risk and incident-reporting process. Replenish essential stock before the treatment area is returned to service.

Extract 3: Telephone medication orders

Telephone medication orders may be accepted only when delay would create a clinical risk and the authorised prescriber cannot enter the order electronically. The receiving registered nurse must write the patient's identifiers, medicine, dose, route, frequency and indication, then read the complete order back. The prescriber must confirm the read-back and provide their name and contact details. A second registered nurse must independently hear or verify the order where local policy requires it. Record the circumstances and administer only after checking allergies, interactions and the usual medication-safety requirements. The prescriber must authenticate the order within the specified period. Telephone orders must never be used merely for convenience.

Extract 4: Responding to a patient complaint

When a patient or relative raises a complaint, listen without interruption, acknowledge the concern and assess whether immediate clinical safety is involved. Urgent care needs must be addressed before the administrative complaint process. Staff should not argue, speculate about blame or promise a particular outcome. Resolve straightforward service issues within your authority, but explain how unresolved concerns can be escalated to the nurse in charge or patient-relations service. Record the facts, actions taken and people informed in the appropriate system; do not place defensive commentary in the clinical record. A complaint must not result in poorer access, delayed care or hostile treatment.

Extract 5: Patient valuables

Patients should be encouraged to send unnecessary valuables home with a trusted person. When valuables must remain in hospital, list each item accurately in the patient's presence and obtain the required signatures. Cash must be counted by two authorised staff members and placed with other valuables in a tamper-evident bag. Record the bag number and transfer it promptly to the approved secure location. Never describe jewellery as “gold” or a stone as “diamond”; use neutral physical descriptions because staff cannot verify value or authenticity. If the patient cannot participate, follow the witnessed inventory procedure. Report any discrepancy immediately and do not alter the original record.

Extract 6: Lone-worker home visits

Before an unscheduled or potentially high-risk home visit, review available risk information and tell the designated colleague where you are going, whom you are visiting and when you expect to finish. Carry the approved communication device and identification, but avoid displaying clinical documents in public. Use the agreed check-in procedure on arrival and departure. Do not enter if there is violence, an uncontrolled animal, suspected criminal activity or any situation that makes you feel unsafe; withdraw to a safe location and seek advice. If a check-in is missed, the designated colleague must start the escalation plan rather than waiting until the end of the shift. Clinical urgency does not require a worker to enter an unsafe environment alone.

Questions 21–26Scroll questions

Choose A, B or C for Questions 21–26.

What principle does the guidance emphasise?

Question 21A. Bed rails should be used for every patient with a falls risk.B. Their use requires an individual assessment and continuing review.C. A patient’s agreement removes the need to inspect equipment compatibility.

What should staff do first with an unsuitable sterile item?

Question 22A. Place it in quarantine so that it cannot be used.B. Open it to confirm that the contents remain clean.C. Return the entire treatment area’s stock to the manufacturer.

The procedure mainly ensures that telephone orders

Question 23A. replace electronic prescribing during busy periods.B. are accurately verified and limited to clinically necessary situations.C. can be accepted without the usual allergy and safety checks.

What is the first professional priority when receiving a complaint?

Question 24A. Determining whether the concern reveals an immediate safety issueB. Obtaining a written statement before discussing the problemC. Explaining which staff member was responsible for the event

Why should staff use neutral descriptions for jewellery?

Question 25A. The secure-storage team accepts only items without financial value.B. Patients are not allowed to keep precious materials in hospital.C. Staff cannot confirm an item’s composition or authenticity.

What does the policy permit a lone worker to do?

Question 26A. Enter a risky property when the patient’s condition may be urgent.B. Delay all check-ins until the visit has been completed.C. Withdraw and obtain help when the environment appears unsafe.

Part C · Text 1Scroll reading

Near Misses: Why Reporting Is Not the Same as Learning

Paragraph 1
Hospitals often describe near misses as gifts: events that could have harmed a patient but did not, offering a chance to improve without the human cost of an injury. The description is attractive, yet it risks making learning sound automatic. A wrong medicine intercepted before administration creates information only if someone records what happened, examines why the error travelled as far as it did and changes the conditions that allowed it. Survival without harm is not itself organisational learning.

Paragraph 2
Reporting systems are intended to capture such events, but the number of reports is an unreliable measure of safety. A ward with many reports may have more hazards, or it may have greater psychological safety and a stronger reporting culture. A quiet ward may be exceptionally safe, or staff may believe that reporting is pointless or dangerous. Leaders who rank units simply by incident totals can therefore punish openness and reward silence. Trends need interpretation alongside staffing, activity and the kinds of events described.

Paragraph 3
The reporting form can itself discourage participation. Long menus, uncertain categories and demands for information unavailable to the reporter turn a brief account into an administrative project. Staff working after a difficult shift may postpone it and never return. Simplifying the form helps, but only if the organisation is clear about what it needs: enough factual detail to reconstruct the process, not a polished investigation written by the person who noticed the problem. Systems should also permit later clarification without forcing the initial reporter to delay submission. The reporter's task is to signal; analysis is a shared responsibility.

Paragraph 4
Fear remains an obstacle even where policies promise a “no-blame” culture. Healthcare workers understand that accountability cannot disappear: reckless conduct and deliberate violations require a response. The difficulty is that organisations sometimes use the language of learning while searching immediately for the individual closest to the event. If staff see colleagues disciplined for system-shaped errors, assurances lose credibility. A fair culture distinguishes human error, risky shortcuts encouraged by working conditions and conscious disregard of substantial risk.

Paragraph 5
Analysis commonly stops too early. It may conclude that a nurse failed to check a label or a doctor selected the wrong option, then recommend retraining. Those statements describe the final action but not why it made sense at the time. Similar packaging, interrupted work, poorly configured software, inaccessible guidance or contradictory routines may have shaped the decision. Investigators must ask what information was visible, what competing demands existed and whether colleagues would have made the same choice. Training is appropriate when knowledge is genuinely missing; used reflexively, it becomes a way to leave the environment unchanged.

Paragraph 6
Even a strong investigation can disappear into what staff call a reporting black hole. The reporter receives an automated acknowledgement, but no account of what was found or altered. Months later, the same hazard remains. Feedback need not reveal confidential details, yet it should explain whether the issue was accepted, what action is planned and how effectiveness will be checked. Visible response shows that reporting consumes attention for a reason. Without it, appeals for more reports sound like requests for unpaid paperwork.

Paragraph 7
Learning must also travel. A local team may solve a problem with look-alike medicines while another ward encounters the same risk weeks later. Circulating every incident bulletin is not the answer; excessive alerts become background noise. Organisations need mechanisms for identifying recurring patterns, assigning ownership and integrating lessons into purchasing, digital design, induction and routine supervision. Frontline teams should help test proposed changes because a control that works on paper may create new workarounds in practice.

Paragraph 8
Near-miss programmes therefore succeed when they connect four activities: speaking up, proportionate analysis, visible action and evaluation. The aim is not to eliminate personal accountability or celebrate high reporting numbers. It is to make weak signals useful before harm supplies stronger evidence. Leaders must protect time for this work rather than treating learning as an optional addition after clinical duties. A near miss is an opportunity, not proof, of learning. The proof lies in whether the system becomes less likely to reproduce the same dangerous path.

Questions 27–34Scroll questions

Choose A, B, C or D for Questions 27–34.

What distinction does the writer make in Paragraph 1?

Question 27A. Avoiding harm is more important than recording an event.B. A harmless outcome does not automatically produce organisational learning.C. Near misses provide better evidence than incidents causing injury.D. Staff should investigate every intercepted medicine error individually.

Why are report totals described as unreliable in Paragraph 2?

Question 28A. Different reporting levels may reflect openness rather than actual hazard levels.B. Safe wards are expected to submit no incident reports.C. High-activity wards report only the most serious events.D. Managers are unable to compare staffing between units.

What does the writer imply about the reporter’s role in Paragraph 3?

Question 29A. The reporter should determine the event’s root cause before submission.B. Only staff with complete information should submit reports.C. The reporter should provide a useful signal without conducting the whole investigation.D. Complex forms are necessary to ensure factual accuracy.

According to Paragraph 4, a fair culture should

Question 30A. avoid holding any individual responsible for unsafe conduct.B. treat all deviations from policy as deliberate violations.C. discipline the staff member nearest to each incident.D. differentiate mistakes, system-influenced risk-taking and reckless behaviour.

What criticism is made of retraining in Paragraph 5?

Question 31A. It is often recommended without addressing conditions that shaped the error.B. It cannot correct gaps in clinical knowledge.C. It focuses excessively on equipment and software design.D. It encourages staff to ignore medication labels.

The phrase “reporting black hole” in Paragraph 6 conveys the idea that reports

Question 32A. are kept secret to protect staff confidentiality.B. receive no visible response or meaningful feedback.C. are investigated by people outside the organisation.D. contain insufficient information for analysis.

Why does the writer caution against circulating every incident bulletin in Paragraph 7?

Question 33A. Other wards are rarely exposed to the same risk.B. Purchasing teams should control all safety communication.C. Too many messages may reduce attention to important patterns.D. Frontline staff should not evaluate proposed controls.

Which statement best represents the writer’s conclusion?

Question 34A. High reporting numbers demonstrate that a hospital has learned effectively.B. Near misses matter only when they reveal individual misconduct.C. Removing personal accountability is essential to encouraging reports.D. Learning is demonstrated by changes that reduce recurrence of the hazardous pathway.

Part C · Text 2Scroll reading

Designing Hospital Wards for Dignity as Well as Efficiency

Paragraph 1
Hospital buildings are often judged by measurable performance: how many beds fit within a footprint, how quickly staff can reach supplies and whether patients move efficiently from admission to discharge. These concerns matter. Poorly planned distances waste clinical time, and congestion can compromise safety. Yet efficiency is not a neutral objective if it treats privacy, control and emotional security as decorative extras. The physical environment communicates what a service believes patients deserve.

Paragraph 2
Privacy is the most obvious example. Curtains around a bed provide visual separation but little protection from conversation. Diagnoses, family circumstances and bodily functions can be heard by strangers. Single rooms improve acoustic privacy, yet they can also isolate patients and make observation more difficult. The lesson is not that one layout is universally superior. Design must combine suitable rooms with places for confidential discussion, effective observation systems and opportunities for patients to choose company or retreat.

Paragraph 3
Control is easily lost during admission. Lighting, temperature, noise and visiting routines are largely determined by others. Small design choices can return some agency: reachable controls, clocks visible from the bed, storage that patients can access and clear information about how to request assistance. Adjustable features should remain usable by people with weakness, pain or limited dexterity rather than merely satisfying a technical specification. Such features may appear minor compared with medical technology, but dependence is experienced through ordinary moments. A call bell that cannot be reached transforms a simple need into helpless waiting.

Paragraph 4
Wayfinding also affects dignity. Complex corridors and inconsistent signs can make patients feel incompetent at precisely the moment they are already anxious. Staff then spend time redirecting people, so a design failure is mislabelled as a communication burden. Clear landmarks, plain language, consistent colour cues and accessible maps benefit many users, but designers should not assume that signs alone solve navigation. Cognitive impairment, visual loss, language differences and fatigue require human assistance as well.

Paragraph 5
Safety measures can conflict with dignity when applied without thought. Observation panels, locked doors and highly visible monitoring may be necessary in some settings, but they can make every patient feel watched or confined. Conversely, concealing safety equipment for aesthetic reasons can delay access. The question is not whether safety or dignity should win. It is how risk can be managed with the least intrusive effective measure, accompanied by an explanation that helps patients understand the environment rather than merely endure it.

Paragraph 6
Staff spaces deserve attention because patient experience is connected to working conditions. A ward without a quiet place for handover or decompression pushes confidential conversation and emotional strain into public areas. Medication preparation and complex decisions also require protection from avoidable interruption. However, staff-only zones can create distance if their placement makes clinicians difficult to find. Good design supports concentration and recovery while keeping routes to patients clear. It recognises that exhausted staff and invisible staff pose different but related risks.

Paragraph 7
Post-occupancy evaluation is therefore essential. Architects and executives may judge a building complete when it opens, while patients and staff discover problems only through daily use. Data on falls, noise, infection and travel distances are valuable, but interviews and observation reveal whether bathrooms are usable, relatives can find the ward and private conversations actually remain private. Findings should lead to practical modifications, not simply another evaluation report. Evaluation should include people with disability and those who use the service frequently, not just the professionals who commissioned it.

Paragraph 8
No building can guarantee compassionate care. A beautiful room does not compensate for neglect, and skilled staff can preserve dignity in imperfect surroundings. But this does not make design irrelevant. Environments repeatedly shape what is easy, visible and possible. Budget limitations are real, yet many improvements involve placement, access and consultation rather than luxurious materials. Early involvement of patients and frontline workers can prevent costly mistakes that later require reconstruction. A humane hospital is not one that adds expensive decoration after functional decisions have been made. It is one that treats efficiency, safety and dignity as connected requirements from the beginning, then remains willing to alter the building when experience exposes a poor assumption.

Questions 35–42Scroll questions

Choose A, B, C or D for Questions 35–42.

What concern does the writer raise in Paragraph 1?

Question 35A. Efficiency can become harmful when human needs are treated as optional additions.B. Hospital capacity should never influence architectural decisions.C. Most modern hospitals value decoration more than safety.D. Measuring staff travel distances provides no useful information.

What conclusion is drawn from the discussion of single rooms in Paragraph 2?

Question 36A. They should replace all shared accommodation.B. They create fewer observation difficulties than curtains.C. No single room arrangement satisfies every privacy and care requirement.D. Patients generally prefer company to acoustic privacy.

Why does the writer mention the unreachable call bell in Paragraph 3?

Question 37A. To show how a small design failure can intensify dependenceB. To argue that medical technology receives too little investmentC. To suggest patients misuse controls they cannot understandD. To demonstrate why staff should control all bedside equipment

The phrase “mislabelled as a communication burden” in Paragraph 4 suggests that

Question 38A. patients are blamed for difficulties created partly by the building.B. staff deliberately give visitors unclear directions.C. signs create more confusion than spoken instructions.D. navigation problems occur mainly because of language differences.

What approach to safety measures does the writer recommend in Paragraph 5?

Question 39A. Concealing equipment whenever it might cause anxietyB. Using the least intrusive effective measure and explaining its purposeC. Giving dignity priority when any conflict with safety occursD. Applying the same visible monitoring system to every patient

What relationship between staff and patient spaces is described in Paragraph 6?

Question 40A. Removing staff-only areas improves availability and wellbeing.B. Public handovers are acceptable when wards are busy.C. Staff recovery areas should be distant from clinical activity.D. Staff need protected space without becoming inaccessible to patients.

Why is post-occupancy evaluation important according to Paragraph 7?

Question 41A. Building performance cannot be understood before staff have worked there for years.B. Daily use may reveal problems not recognised during planning and opening.C. Patient interviews are more reliable than safety data.D. Only frequent service users can assess whether a ward functions properly.

Which statement best expresses the writer’s overall position?

Question 42A. Compassionate staff can overcome design problems, so renovation is rarely justified.B. Hospital dignity depends mainly on attractive and expensive decoration.C. Design should integrate dignity with safety and efficiency and remain open to revision.D. Functional requirements should be completed before dignity is considered.

Your result

0/42Total

0/20Part A

0/6Part B

0/16Part C

Your answer:

Correct answer:

Explanation: The conclusion integrates efficiency, safety and dignity and supports later revision.

Support: The conclusion integrates efficiency, safety and dignity and supports later revision.

OET Reading Practice Test 08 for Nurses – Free 60-Minute Online Test

OET Reading practice for nurses

Before you begin

Text A: Tracheostomy assessment and bedside preparation

Text B: Suctioning decision and procedure checklist

Text C: Routine stoma, tube and humidification care

Text D: Emergency breathing difficulty pathway

Extract 1: Bed-rail assessment

Extract 2: Expired sterile stock

Extract 3: Telephone medication orders

Extract 4: Responding to a patient complaint

Extract 5: Patient valuables

Extract 6: Lone-worker home visits

Near Misses: Why Reporting Is Not the Same as Learning

Designing Hospital Wards for Dignity as Well as Efficiency

Your result

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Question 9

Question 10

Question 11

Question 12

Question 13

Question 14

Question 15

Question 16

Question 17

Question 18

Question 19

Question 20

Question 21

Question 22

Question 23

Question 24

Question 25

Question 26

Question 27

Question 28

Question 29

Question 30

Question 31

Question 32

Question 33

Question 34

Question 35

Question 36

Question 37

Question 38

Question 39

Question 40

Question 41

Question 42

Continue practising

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