Chapter 17: ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH Flashcards
Which of the following statements made by a seminar participant indicates that the community health nurse (CHN) speaker needs to further clarify teaching about environmental principles?
a. “Everything is connected to everything else.”
b. “Everything has to go somewhere.”
c. “The solution to pollution is prosecution.”
d. “Today’s solution may be tomorrow’s problem.”
C
To correctly represent an environmental principle, the third statement should read, “The solution to pollution is dilution.”
In which of the following scenarios does the CHN use secondary prevention to reduce environmental health risks?
a. Collecting blood specimens from preschool children to check for lead levels
b. Meeting with local government officials to request that the city clean up a contaminated vacant lot
c. Referring a child diagnosed with toxic lead levels to a neurologist
d. Teaching the parents of a 2-year-old about the dangers of lead-based paint in older homes
A
Secondary prevention refers to such actions as surveillance and screening, which are undertaken so that problems may be detected at early stages.
In which of the following scenarios does the occupational health nurse (OHN) use primary prevention to improve health outcomes when environmental health risks are present?
a. Using radiation detectors to detect unsafe levels of radiation exposure
b. Irrigating the eyes of an employee who has had a chemical splash to the face
c. Teaching new employees who will work outdoors about the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness
d. Using spirometry to rule out obstructive or restrictive lung disease in workers before they start using mask respirators
C
Education is a primary preventive strategy.
Which of the following is an example of risk communication, a part of the CHN’s role in environmental health?
a. Interpreting and applying environmental health principles
b. Responding in scientifically sound and humanely sensitive ways to community concerns
c. Proposing, informing, and monitoring action from agencies, communities, and organization perspectives
d. Detecting potential and actual exposure pathways and outcomes for clients cared for in acute care, chronic care, and healthy communities
A
Risk communication is interpreting principles and applying them in practice. CHNs may serve as skilled risk communicators within agencies, working for industries, or as independent practitioners.
A chemical company executive asks a new public health department employee about obtaining a permit to build a new factory. Which of the following employee statements, overheard by the CHN, would be the biggest cause for concern?
a. “If your operation employs fewer than 20 employees, you will be exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit.”
b. “Granting permits is a mechanism for controlling pollution by regulating the operations and procedures of a facility.”
c. “This process may take a long time because your plans will need to be studied by engineers and other specialists.”
d. “You will need to submit an application detailing how your factory will operate.”
A
The number of employees or the size of an operation does not enter into decisions regarding the granting of permits. It is imperative that CHNs know and support the zoning and permit laws that regulate the effects of industry and land use on the community, plus any environmental laws applying to the community.
The CHN is examining blood lead levels in school-aged children one year after a community-wide education intervention. Which of the following terms identifies this phase of the nursing process?
a. Assessment
b. Diagnosis
c. Intervention
d. Evaluation
D
In this instance, the CHN is evaluating the results of the intervention to determine if goals have been reached. If your answer was “assessment,” you need to understand that this would have been done earlier in the process, to determine the existence of the problem and the need for interventions.
In order to increase the proportion of noninstitutionalized adults who are vaccinated annually against influenza, a nurse practitioner has established a mobile clinic. Which part of the nursing process is fulfilled by delivering immunization services?
a. Goal setting
b. Planning
c. Intervention
d. Evaluation
C
Providing immunization services is an intervention that will increase the number of people who will be vaccinated.
A community member reports to a CHN in the public health department that the city’s water has had an unusual taste for the past few months. What is the best action on the part of the CHN?
a. Advocate with or lobbying decision makers.
b. Consult the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health & Environment (CPCHE).
c. Check the most recent report on water quality in the community.
d. Place a call to the poison control centre.
C
The quality of drinking water is a serious concern. CHNs need to monitor reports on water quality to ensure the safety of drinking water in their community.
Local inspections of restaurants are conducted by which level of government?
a. Local and regional boards of health
b. Environment Canada
c. Provincial/territorial Ministry of Labour
d. Health Canada
A
Local and regional boards of health are responsible for enforcing local bylaws, conducting complaint investigations and risk assessments, and inspecting premises to ensure compliance with pertinent legislation. They ensure safe restaurant food and water quality and oversee septic systems and sewage and waste disposal.
A farm worker reports an onset of wheezing, abdominal cramping, and fatigue. Assuming that the cause is environmental, which one of the following will the CHN consider to be the most likely cause?
a. Carbon monoxide poisoning
b. Lead poisoning
c. Organophosphate toxicity
d. Sulphur dioxide exposure
C
The CHN would need to take into account the client’s occupation when taking an environmental health history. Organophosphates are a type of agricultural pesticide. The other toxic items have no likely tie to the client’s occupation.
When a concerned citizen asks the CHN about environmental health, the CHN wants to provide comprehensive information. Which of the following definitions of environmental health does the CHN provide?
a. Environmental health is the causative factors invading a susceptible host through an environment favourable to producing disease, such as a biological or chemical agent.
b. Environmental health is the systematic and ongoing observation and collection of data concerning disease occurrence to describe phenomena and detect changes in frequency or distribution.
c. Environmental health is the study of the effect of physical, chemical, and biological factors in the external environment on human health.
d. Environmental health is the achievement of health and wellness and the prevention of illness and injury from exposure to physical or psychosocial environmental hazards.
D
Environmental health is defined as the achievement of health and wellness and the prevention of illness and injury from the exposure to physical or psychosocial environmental hazards.
A CHN desires greater understanding of the physiological effects of selected chemicals on humans. Which specialist would the CHN most likely find is the best repository of information about this subject?
a. A chemist
b. An epidemiologist
c. A pharmacologist
d. A toxicologist
D
Toxicology is the basic science that studies the health effects associated with chemical exposures. The other specialists would probably be able to provide some information, but a toxicologist would likely be able to provide the most information related to physiological processes.
Which of the following is the first step to understanding the potential environmental health risks in a community in order to conduct an environmental health assessment?
a. Conduct a health risk assessment of randomly selected individuals.
b. Perform a windshield survey.
c. Review facility permits and consumer confidence reports.
d. Survey community members.
B
Conducting a windshield survey is the first step to understanding potential environmental health risks. This step provides first-hand information about the community and areas of concern that will need to be investigated.
