Fundamentals of Nursing Exam 1 Flashcards
You are participating in a clinical care coordination conference for a patient with terminal cancer. You talk with your colleagues about using the nursing code of ethics for professional registered nurses to guide care decisions. A non-nursing colleague asks about this code. Which of the following statements best describes this code?
a. improves self- health care
b. protects the patient’s confidentiality
c. ensures identical care to all patients
d. defines the principles of right and wrong to provide patient care.
D. defines the principles of right and wrong to provide patient care.
An 18 year old woman is in the emergency department with fever and cough. The nurse obtains her vital signs, auscultates her lung sounds, listens to her heart sounds, determines her level of comfort, and collect blood and sputum samples for analysis. Which standard of practice is performed?
a. diagnosis
b. evaluation
c. assessment
d. implementation
C. assessment
A patient in the emergency department has developed wheezing and shortness of breath. The nurse gives the ordered medicated nebulizer treatment now and in 4 hours. Which standard of practice is performed?
a. planning
b. evaluation
c. assessment
d. implementation
D. implementation
A nurse is caring for a patient with end-stage lung disease. The patient wants to go home on oxygen and be comfortable. The family wants the patient to have a new surgical procedure. The nurse explains the risk and benefits of the surgery to the family and discusses the patient’s wishes with the family. The nurse is acting as the patient’s
a. educator
b. advocate
c. caregiver
d. case manager
B. advocate
Evidence-based practice is defined as:
a. nursing care based on tradition
b. scholarly inquiry of nursing and biochemical research literature
c. a problem-solving approach that integrates best current evidence with clinical experience
d. quality nursing care provided in an efficient and economically sound manner
C. a problem solving approach that integrates best current evidence with clinical experience
The examination for registered nurse licensure is exactly the same in every state in the United States. This examination
a. guarantees safe nursing care for all patients
b. ensures standard nursing care for all patients
c. ensures that honest and ethical care is provided
d. provides a minimal standard of knowledge for a registered nurse in practice
D. provides a minimal standard of knowledge for a registered nurse in practice
Contemporary nursing requires that the nurse has knowledge and skills for a variety of professional roles and responsibilities. Which of the following are examples (select all that apply)
a. caregiver
b. autonomy and accountability
c. patient advocate
d. health promotion
e. lobbyist
A. caregiver
B. autonomy and accountability
C. Patient advocate
D. Health promotion
Advanced practice registered nurses generally:
a. function independently
b. function as unit directors
c. work in acute care settings
d. work in the university setting
A. function independently
Health care reform will bring changes in the emphasis on care. Which of the following models is expected from health care reform?
a. moving from an acute illness to a health promotion illness prevention model
b. moving from illness prevention to a health promotion model
c. moving from an acute illness to a disease management model
d. moving from a chronic care to an illness prevention model
A. moving from an acute illness to a health promotion illness prevention model
Which of the following nursing roles may have prescriptive authority in their practice
B. nurse practitioner
C. certified clinical nurse specialist
A critical care nurse is using a computerized decision support system to correctly position her ventilated patients to reduce pneumonia caused by accumulated respiratory secretions. This is an example of which Quality and Safety in the Education of Nurses competency?
a. patient-centered care
b. safety
c. teamwork and collaboration
d. informatics
D. informatics
A nurse is caring for an older-adult couple in a community-based assisted living facility. During the family assessment he notes that the couple has many expired medications and multiple medications for their respective chronic illnesses. The nurse begins to work with the couple to determine what they know about their medications and helps them decide on one care provider rather than two. This is an example of which QSEN competency?
a. patient-centered care
b. safety
c. teamwork and collaboration
d. informatics
B. safety
A nurse is working with a young childbearing family who has one child with a congenital heart disease. The parents are trying to determine the risks of a second child being born with congenital heart disease. Describe why genomics information is important in assisting the parents in this decision.
Genomics describes the study of all genes in a person and the interactions of these genes with one another and with that person’s environment. Genomic information allows health care providers to determine how genomic changes contribute to patient conditions and influence treatment decisions.
The nurses on an acute care medical floor notice an increase in pressure ulcer formation in their patients. A nurse consultant decides to compare two types of treatment. The first is the procedure currently used to assess for pressure ulcer risk The second uses a new assessment instrument to identify at-risk patients. Given this information, the nurse consultant exemplifies which career?
Nurse researcher
Nurses at a community hospital are in an education program to learn how to use a new pressure-relieving device for patients at risk for pressure ulcers? This is which type of education?
in-service education
A nurse researcher interviews parents of children who have diabetes and asks them to describe how they deal with their child’s illness. The analysis of the interviews yields common themes and stories describing the parents’ coping strategies. This is an example of what type of study?
The data in this study were collected during interviews; information from the interviews was used to describe common themes and experiences of the parents. These are characteristics of qualitative research.
A nurse who works in a newborn nursery asks, “I wonder if the moms who breastfeed their babies would be able to breastfeed more successfully if we played peaceful music while they were breastfeeding.” In this example of a PICOT question, the I is?
the Intervention in this PICOT question is playing peaceful music
A nurse researcher conducts a study that randomly assigns 100 patient who smoke and attend a wellness clinic into two groups. One group receives the standard smoking cessation handouts; the other group takes part in a new educational program that includes a smoking cessation support group. The nurse plans to compare the effectiveness of the standard treatment with the educational program. What type of a research study is this?
this is a randomized controlled trial because patients are randomly assigned into the control or treatment group
A group of nurses have implemented an evidence-based practice (EBP) change and have evaluated the effectiveness of the change. Their next step is to:
a. conduct a literature review
b. share the findings with others
c. conduct a statistical analysis
d. create a well-defined PICOT question
B. After completing an EBP project and evaluating its effectiveness, it is important to communicate the results with others.
Arrange the following steps of evidence-based practice in the appropriate order:
a. integrate the evidence
b. ask the burning clinical question
c. evaluate the practice decision or change
d. share the results with others
e. critically appraise the evidence you gather
f. collect the most relevant and best evidence
Implementing EBP follows the logical progression of steps:
ask the burning clinical question
collect the most relevant and best evidence
critically appraise the evidence you gather
integrate the evidence
evaluate the practice decision or change
share the results with others
When recruiting subject to participate in a study about the effects of an exercise program on balance, the researcher provides full and complete information about the purpose of the study and gives the subject the choice to participate or not participate in the study. This is an example of
Informal consent- the process of informed consent includes providing research subjects full disclosure about the study and provides the subject the opportunity to participate or not to participate in the study.
Nurses on a pediatric nursing unit are discussing ways to improve patient care. One nurse asks a colleague, “I wonder how best to measure pain in a child who has sickle cell disease?”. This question is an example of a/an
a. hypothesis
b. PICOT question
c. problem-focused trigger
d. knowledge-focused trigger
knowledge-focused triggers are questions about information available on a specific topic.
The nurses on a medical unit have seen an increase in the number of pressure ulcers that develop in their patients. They decide to initiate a quality-improvement project using the PDSA model. Which would be the “do” from that model?
a. implement the new skin care protocol on all medicine units
b. review the data collected on patients cared for using the protocol
c. review the QI reports on the six patients who developed ulcers over the last three months
d. based on findings from patients who developed ulcers, implement an evidence-based skin care protocol
A. in the “do” step, the nurse selects an intervention and implements it
A nurse researcher decides to complete a study to evaluate how Florence Nightingale improved patient outcomes in the Crimean War. This is an example of what type of research?
Historical studies establish facts concerning past events.
A group of nurses on the research council of a local hospital are measuring nursing-sensitive outcomes. Which of the following is a nursing-sensitive outcome that the nurses need to consider measuring?
a. incidence of asthma among children of smokers
b. frequency of low blood sugar episodes in children at a local school
c. number of patients who fall and experience subsequent injury on the evening shift
d. number of sexually active adolescent girls who attend the community-based clinic for birth control
C. number of patients who fall and experience subsequent injury on the evening shift
nursing-sensitive outcomes are outcomes that are sensitive to nursing care
A group of staff nurses notice an increased incidence of medication errors on their unit. After further investigation it is determined that the nurses are not consistently identifying the patient correctly. A change is needed quickly. What type of quality improvement method would be most appropriate?
Rapid improvement events are appropriate to use when a serious problem that affects patient outcomes exists and needs to be resolved quickly
A nurse is providing care to a patient who is experiencing major abdominal trauma following a car accident. The patient is losing blood quickly and needs a blood transfusion. The nurse finds out that the patient is a Jehovah’s Witness and cannot have blood transfusions because of religious beliefs. He or she notifies the patient’s healthcare provider and receives an order to give the patient an alternative to blood products. This is an example of?
considering the patient’s preferences and values while providing care
Providing evidence-based practice requires that you take the patient’s values and beliefs into consideration while providing care.
A group of staff educators are reading a research study together at a journal club meeting. While reviewing the study, one of the nurses states that it evaluates if newly graduated nurses progress through orientation more effectively when they participate in patient simulation exercises. Which part of the research process is reflected in this nurse’s statement?
Purpose Statement
The purpose statement includes research questions or hypotheses- predictions made about the relationship or difference between study variables
A research study is investigating the following research question: What is the effect of the diagnosis of breast cancer on the roles of the family? In this study “the diagnosis of breast cancer” and “family roles” are examples of:
Variables- concepts, characteristics, or trait that vary within or among subjects.
A nurse researcher is developing a research proposal and is in the process of selecting an instrument to measure anxiety. In which part of the research process is this nurse?
Designing the study- during study design the researcher selects instruments to measure variables.
A nurse hears a colleague tell a nursing student that she never touches a patient unless she is preforming a procedure or doing an assessment. The nurse tells the student that from a caring perspective:
a. she does not touch the patient either
b. touch is a type of verbal communication
c. there is never a problem with using touch
d. touch forms a connection between patient and nurse
D. touch forms a connection between patient and nurse
Touch is relational and leads to a connection between nurse and patient. It involves contact and noncontact touch. Contact touch involves skin-to-skin contact, whereas noncontact touch refers to eye contact.
Of the five caring processes described by Swanson, which describes “knowing the patient”
a. anticipating the patient’s cultural preferences
b. determining the patient’s physician preferences
c. establishing an understanding of a specific patient
d. gathering task-oriented information during an assessment
C. Establishing an understanding of a specific patient
knowing the context of a patient’s illness helps you choose and individualize interventions that will actually help him or her.
A Muslim woman enters the clinic to have a woman’s health examination for the first time. Which nursing behavior applies Swanson’s caring process of “knowing the patient”?
a. sharing feelings about the importance of having regular woman’s health examinations
b. gaining an understanding of what a woman’s health examination means to the patient
c. recognizing that the patient is modest, obtaining gender congruent caregiver
d. explaining the risk factors for cervical cancer
B. gaining an understanding of what a woman’s health examination means to the patient
You should strive to understand an event as it is has meaning in the life of the other. Knowing the patient is essential when providing patient-centered care.
Helping a new mother through the birthing experience demonstrates which of Swanson’s five caring processes?
a. knowing
b. enabling
c. doing for
d. being with
B. Enabling
The caring behavior of enabling facilitates the other’s passage through life transitions and unfamiliar events. When a nurse practice enabling, the patient and nurse work together to identify alternatives and resources
A patient is fearful of upcoming surgery and a possible cancer. He discusses his love for the Bible with his nurse, who recommends a favorite Bible verse. Another nurse tells the patient’s nurse that there is no place in nursing for spiritual caring. The patient’s nurse replies:
a. spiritual care should be left to a professional
b. You are correct, religion is a personal decision
c. Nurses should not force their religious beliefs on others
d. Spiritual, mind, and body connections can affect health
D. Spiritual, mind, and body connections can affect health
Spirituality offers a sense of connectedness, intrapersonally, interpersonally, and transpersonally. In a caring relationship the patient and nurse come to know one another so both move toward a healing relationship.
Which of the following is a strategy for creating work environments that enable nurses to demonstrate more caring behaviors?
a. increasing the work hours of the staff
b. increasing salary benefits of the staff
c. creating a setting that allows flexibility and autonomy for staff
d. encouraging increased input concerning nursing functions from physicians.
C. Creating a setting that allows flexibility These factors all affect nursing satisfaction.
When nurses’ job satisfaction is high, they have a greater connectedness with their patients and believe that caring practices are part of the nursing culture.
When a nurse helps a patient find the meaning of cancer by supporting beliefs about life, this is an example of
a. instilling hope and faith
b. forming a human-altruistic value system
c. cultural caring
d. being with
A. instilling and faith helps to increase an individual’s capacity to get through an event or transition and face the future with meaning
An example of a nurse caring behavior that families of acutely ill patients perceive as important to patient’s well-being is
a. making health care decisions for patients
b. having family members provide a patient’s total personal hygiene
c. injecting the nurse’s perceptions about the level of care provided.
d. asking permission before performing a procedure on a patient.
D. Asking permission before performing a procedure on a patient.
Caring for the family takes into consideration the context of the patient’s illness and the stress it imposes on all members
Listening is not only “taking in” what a patient says; it also includes
a. incorporating the views of the physician
b. correcting any errors in the patient’s understanding
c. injecting the nurse’s personal views and statements
d. interpreting and understanding what the patient means
D. Listening is powerful. It conveys the nurse’s full attention and interest. A true caring presence involves listening. Listen to what is important to another person and the meaning of a situation to that person.
A nurse demonstrates caring by helping family members:
a. become active participants in care
b. provide activities of daily living
c. remove themselves from personal care
d. make health care decisions for the patient
A. Become active participants in care
Caring for the family takes into consideration the context of the patient’s illness and the stress it imposes on all members.
A nurse is caring for an older adult who needs to enter an assisted-living facility following discharge from the hospital. Which of the following is an example of listening that displays caring?
a. the nurse encourages the patient to talk about his concerns while reviewing the computer screen in the room
b. the nurse sits at the patient’s bedside, listens as he relays his fear of never seeing his home again, and then asks if he wants anything to eat.
c. the nurse listens to the patient’s story while sitting on the side of the bed and then summarizes the story.
d. the nurse listens to the patient talk about his fears of not returning home and then tells him to think positively.
C. the nurse listens to the patient’s story while sitting on the side of the bed and then summarizes the story.
Attentive listening lets the nurse hear the patient’s story and then correctly summarize it. It does not occur when the nurse is distracted by equipment or other personnel. The importance of listening is not to distract the patient or solve the problem, but rather to hear what the patient has to say and understand what the situation means to him.
Presence involves a person-to-person encounter that
a. enables patients to take care for self
b. provides personal care to a patient
c. conveys a closeness and a sense of caring
d. describes being in close contact with a patient
C. Providing presence is a person-to-person encounter conveying closeness and a sense of caring. It involves “being there” and “being with”. Presence is an interpersonal process that is characterized by sensitivity, holism, intimacy, vulnerability, and adaptation to unique circumstances.
A nurse enters a patient’s room, arranges the supplies for a Foley catheter insertion, and explains the procedure to the patient. She tells the patient to relax and that, once the catheter is in place, she will not feel the bladder pressure. The nurse then proceeds to insert the Foley catheter. This is an example of what type of touch?
Task Oriented Touch
Nurses use task-oriented touch when performing a task or procedure. An expert nurse learns that any procedure is more effective when administered carefully and in consideration of any patient concern.
A hospice nurse sits at the bedside of a male patient in the final stages of cancer. He and his parents made the decision that he would move home and they would help him in the final stages of the disease. The family participates in his care, but lately the nurse has increased the amount of time she spends with the family. Whenever she enters the room or approaches the patient for care, she touches his shoulder and tells him that she is present. This is an example of what type of touch?
Caring touch
Caring touch is a form of nonverbal communication. You express this in the way you hold a patient’s hand, give a back massage, gently position a patient, or participate in a conversation. When using a caring touch, you connect with the patient physically and emotionally.
The nurse is participating at a health fair at the local mall giving influenza vaccines to senior citizens. What level of prevention is the nurse practicing?
primary prevention
A patient experienced a myocardial infarction 4 weeks ago and is currently participating in the daily cardiac rehabilitation sessions at the local fitness center. In what level of prevention is the patient participating?
tertiary prevention
Based on the trans-theoretical model of change, what is the most appropriate response to a patient who states:”Me, exercise? I haven’t done that since Jr High and I hated it then!”
a. that’s fine. exercise is bad for you anyway
b. OK, I want you to walk 3 miles 4 times a week, and I’ll see you in a month
c. I understand. Can you think of one reason why being more active would be helpful for you?
d. I’d like you to ride your bike 3 times this week and eat at least four fruits and vegetables a day.
C. I understand. Can you think of one reason why being more active would be helpful for you?
A patient comes to the local health clinic and states: “I’ve noticed how many people are out walking in my neighborhood. Is walking good for you?” What is the best response to help the patient through the stages of change for exercise?
a. Walking is OK, I really think running is better.
b. Yes, walking is great exercise. Do you think you could go for a 5 minute walk next week?
c. Yes, I want you to begin walking every day. Walk for 30 minutes every day and start to eat more fruits and vegetables.
d. They probably aren’t walking fast enough or far enough. You need to spend at least 45 minutes if you are going to do any good.
B. Yes, walking is great exercise. Do you think you could go for a 5 minute walk next week.
A male patient has been laid off from his construction job and has many unpaid bills. He is going through a divorce from his marriage of 15 years and has been seeing his pastor to help him through this difficult time. He does not have a primary health care provider because he has never really been sick and his parents never took him to the physician when he was a child. Which external variables influence the patient’s health practice?
Difficulty paying his bills
family practice of not routinely seeing a health care provider
stress from the divorce and the loss of a job
The nurse is conducting a home visit with an older adult couple. She assesses that the lighting in the home is poor and there are throw rugs throughout the home and a low footstool in the living room. She discusses removing the rugs and stool and improving the lighting for the couple. The nurse is addressing which level of need according to Maslow?
Safety and security
When taking care of patients, the nurse routinely asks them if they take any vitamins or herbal medications, encourages family members to bring in music that the patient likes to help the patient relax, and frequently prays with her patients if that is important to them. The nurse is practicing which model?
Holistic
When illness occurs, different attitudes about it cause people to react in different ways. What do medical sociologists call this reaction to illness?
illness behavior
A patient at the community clinic asks the nurse about health promotion activities that she can do because she is concerned about getting diabetes mellitus since her grandfather and father both have the disease. This statement reflects that the patient is in what stage of the health belief model?
perceived susceptibility to the disease
A nurse works in a special care unit for children with severe immunology problems and is caring for a 3 year od boy from Greece. The boy’s father is with him while his mother and sister are back in Greece. The nurse is having difficulty communicating with the father. What action does the nurse take?
search for help with interpretation and understanding of the cultural differences by contacting someone from the local Greek community
A patient with a 20 year history of diabetes mellitus had a lower leg amputation. Which statement made by the patient indicates that he is experiencing a problem with body image?
a. I just don’t have any energy to get out of bed in the morning
b. I’ve been attending church regularly with my wife since I got out of the hospital
c. My wife has taken over paying the bills since I’ve been in the hospital
d. I don’t go out very much because everyone stares at me.
D. I don’t go out very much because everyone stares at me.