RN Nursing · Musculoskeletal and Neurologic Systems · Practice question
How does a nurse assess the eversion and inversion of a patient's ankle?
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For eversion, ask the patient to walk on his toes and, for inversion, to walk on his heels.
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For eversion, ask the patient to turn the sole of the inward toward the midline and for inversion turn the sole of the foot away from the body
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For eversion, ask the patient to point the toes forward and, for inversion, to point the toes backward.
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✓
For eversion, ask the patient to turn the sole of the foot away from the body and for inversion turn the sole of the foot toward the midline.
Answer & explanation
Correct: For eversion, ask the patient to turn the sole of the foot away from the body and for inversion turn the sole of the foot toward the midline.
Eversion and inversion are movements of the ankle and subtalar joint that describe rotation of the foot around the longitudinal axis. Eversion means turning the sole of the foot outward, away from the body's midline, so the plantar surface faces laterally. Inversion means turning the sole of the foot inward, toward the midline, so the plantar surface faces medially. The correct option accurately captures this: eversion turns the sole away from the body and inversion turns the sole toward the midline. The distractors contain reversed or incorrect definitions. One option reverses the definitions entirely, associating eversion with inward rotation and inversion with outward rotation — this is the opposite of the correct anatomical definitions. Another option incorrectly describes walking on toes and heels, which tests plantar flexion and dorsiflexion, not eversion and inversion. A third option describes pointing toes forward and backward, which again corresponds to flexion/extension movements rather than rotational ankle movements. Remembering the mnemonic that eversion = exit (away from center) and inversion = into the midline helps students distinguish the two.
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