Chapter 17: Environmental Health Flashcards
Which statement made by a seminar participant indicates that the 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.”
ANS: C
To correctly represent an environmental principle, the third statement should read, “The
solution to pollution is dilution.”
Which scenario exemplifies the CHN’s practice of 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
ANS: A
Secondary prevention refers to such actions as surveillance and screening, which are
undertaken so that problems may be detected at early stages.
Which scenario exemplifies the occupational health nurse’s (OHN’s) practice of primary
prevention to improve health outcomes from environmental health risks?
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
ANS: C
Education is a primary preventive strategy.
What is an example of risk communication?
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
ANS: 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 employee statement 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.”
ANS: 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. What term identifies this phase of the nursing process?
a. Assessment
b. Diagnosis
c. Intervention
d. Evaluation
ANS: 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. What part of the nursing
process is fulfilled by delivering immunization services?
a. Goal setting
b. Planning
c. Intervention
d. Evaluation
ANS: 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 CHN action?
a. Advocate with or lobby 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.
ANS: 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
ANS: 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, what will the CHN consider to be the most likely cause?
a. Carbon monoxide poisoning
b. Lead poisoning
c. Organophosphate toxicity
d. Sulphur dioxide exposure
ANS: 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, what definition 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.
ANS: 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 provide the best source of information about this subject?
a. A chemist
b. An epidemiologist
c. A pharmacologist
d. A toxicologist
ANS: 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.
What 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.
ANS: 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.
