DHA exam nursing mnemonics to memorise: eight that earn their place

Which DHA exam nursing mnemonics to memorise are worth the time?

A mnemonic is a retrieval cue. It helps you recall a list under pressure, but it does not say which item matters most in a patient. The exam tests that second part. Learn each one with the kind of question it answers.

These eight are widely taught. Wording varies between courses and facilities, so check yours against your own notes, and read the general mnemonics guide for the wider list.

Assessment: ABCDE, AVPU and SAMPLE

These three answer the questions what do I check first and what do I ask.

• ABCDE: Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure. Use it to decide the first action on an unwell patient. Treat a problem at the earliest letter before moving on.
• AVPU: Alert, responds to Voice, responds to Pain, Unresponsive. A fast way to describe level of consciousness. The trap is mixing it up with the Glasgow Coma Scale, which uses numbers.
• SAMPLE: Signs and symptoms, Allergies, Medications, Past history, Last oral intake, Events leading up. A quick history for an acute problem. The last letter matters before a procedure or anaesthesia.

Communication and pain: SBAR and OPQRST

One structures what you say, the other what you ask.

• SBAR: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. Use it to escalate or hand over. The trap is leaving out the recommendation. Read SBAR handover explained.
• OPQRST: Onset, Provocation or palliating factors, Quality, Radiation or region, Severity, Timing. A pain assessment. Some courses write the second letter differently, so follow your own.

Process and safety: ADPIE, BE-FAST and the five rights

These three answer the questions what is the next step and what could go wrong.

• ADPIE: Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement, Evaluate. The nursing process. When a question asks what to do first, assessment usually comes before intervention unless the patient is unstable.
• BE-FAST: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arm, Speech, Time. Stroke warning signs, extending the older FAST check with balance and eyes. Some services still teach FAST only, so follow your own course. Time is the point: note the last time the patient was known to be well, and call for help.
• The five rights of medication: right patient, right drug, right dose, right route, right time. Many courses add right documentation and right reason. Use them to find the error in a drug round, and see medication safety.

Turn them into cards, three per mnemonic

A single card with the whole list is slow and hides weak spots. Write three instead: what the letters stand for, when you use it, and one item you tend to forget. Review them with spaced repetition flashcards, not in one sitting.

Keep the set small. Eight mnemonics with three cards each is 24 cards, which is manageable in ten minutes a day.

A worked example

Invented for teaching. A patient on a ward is found drowsy, with noisy breathing and a falling oxygen reading. What should the nurse do first? A candidate who has memorised ABCDE as a list might begin with circulation because blood pressure is on the chart. A candidate who knows the mnemonic answers the question of order will deal with the airway first and call for help while doing so.

The mnemonic helped only because the candidate knew it controlled the order, not just the content.

Cautions

Mnemonics hide thresholds and local policy. They do not tell you the cut-off for an early warning score or the dose of a drug. Treat each as the start of a topic, then check the topic in your syllabus. For example, AVPU tells you a patient responds only to pain, but not what to do about it or when to escalate. Do not invent new mnemonics for every list. A few reviewed often beat many that you forget.

Related guide

For clinical scoring mnemonics and how to use any mnemonic safely, see well-established mnemonics for DHA and EMREE revision.

Frequently asked questions