Family Nurse Practitioner Practice Exam

Nausea and vomiting in a suspected pregnant woman are classified as presumptive signs of pregnancy because they are symptoms that a woman may experience due to pregnancy but are not definitive proof of it. Presumptive signs are subjective and can be attributed to other conditions, such as gastrointestinal disorders or stress, making them less reliable for confirming pregnancy.

Positive signs of pregnancy refer to definitive indications of a fetus, such as fetal heartbeat detected by a Doppler, visualization of the fetus via ultrasound, or movement felt by the examiner. Probable signs of pregnancy are objective findings that healthcare providers can observe, such as changes in uterine size or a positive pregnancy test. While nausea and vomiting can indicate pregnancy, they do not provide a certainty in diagnosis since they can occur for various reasons. Therefore, the classification of these symptoms as presumptive aligns with their subjective nature and non-specificity.