Trauma Nurse Core Course (TNCC) Practice Exam

The purpose of a secondary assessment in trauma care is to identify all injuries following stabilization. Once the primary assessment and life-threatening conditions have been addressed, the secondary assessment allows healthcare providers to conduct a thorough examination of the patient. This step involves a detailed head-to-toe assessment, taking patient history where possible, and focusing on any signs or symptoms that may indicate injuries not immediately evident during the initial assessment.

This comprehensive evaluation is crucial because it helps to uncover potentially serious injuries that might have been overlooked, ensuring that all conditions are identified for appropriate treatment. It is important in trauma care to recognize the full scope of injuries, as some may not present with obvious symptoms initially.

The other options relate to important aspects of trauma care but serve different purposes. Stabilizing the patient is addressed during the primary assessment, while determining the mechanism of injury is critical for understanding the context of the injuries but is not the primary goal of the secondary assessment. Additionally, creating a pain management plan is a consideration in the overall treatment but is not the focus of the detailed secondary assessment process.