Nursing 120 exam 1 Flashcards
(438 cards)
A nurse educator is teaching a group of students about professionalism. The educator informs the students that a profession is distinguished from other kinds of occupations by a number of characteristics. Which of the following are among those characteristics? Select all that apply.
A) The members of a profession are financially liable for their actions.
B) The members of a profession participate in ongoing research.
C) The members of a profession must acquire specialized education.
D) The members of a profession possess autonomy.
E) The members of a profession regularly socialize with one another
Answer: B, C, D
Explanation: A) A profession is generally distinguished from other kinds of occupations by its requirement of prolonged, specialized training to acquire a specific body of knowledge; its emphasis on service to others; its support of ongoing research to expand the profession’s body of knowledge; its development of a code of ethics; the autonomy of its members; and the existence of a professional organization. Financial liability and socialization with other nurses are not among the criteria that distinguish nursing as a profession.
A nurse would like to implement an evidence-based practice change that will influence client care on the medical-surgical unit. The nurse works with the nurse manager and other members of the leadership team to write a new policy and produce educational materials for the unit's staff and clients. In carrying out these actions, the nurse is practicing which standard of professional performance? A) Leadership B) Collaboration C) Evaluation D) Collegiality
Answer: B
Explanation: A) The nurse is practicing collaboration by working with other staff members to implement a policy change. Collaboration involves working with clients, their families, and others in the conduct of nursing practice. Collegiality describes interaction with and contributions to the professional development of peers and colleagues, as would be the case in a mentoring relationship. Leadership involves providing direction in a professional practice setting. Evaluation involves a comparison between one’s own nursing practice and professional practice standards.
A nurse faculty member is speaking to prospective students of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at their educational institution. Which of the following reasons should the nurse faculty member cite as a major incentive for students to select a BSN program over an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) program? Select all that apply.
A) Greater autonomy in the practice setting
B) Receipt of a fuller liberal arts education
C) Easier transition to graduate school
D) Ability to work in critical care areas
A nurse faculty member is speaking to prospective students of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at their educational institution. Which of the following reasons should the nurse faculty member cite as a major incentive for students to select a BSN program over an Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN) program? Select all that apply.
A) Greater autonomy in the practice setting
B) Receipt of a fuller liberal arts education
C) Easier transition to graduate school
D) Ability to work in critical care areas
Answer: A, E
Explanation: A) Nurses who hold a BSN enjoy greater autonomy, responsibility, participation in institutional decision making, and career advancement than nurses who hold only an ASN. All RNs, regardless of their education level, can work in critical care areas. There are some institutions that offer RN-to-MSN educational programs, but the ease of transition is not the ultimate incentive, which is career advancement. Having a liberal arts education is also a plus, although not as major an incentive for career advancement
) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ establishes and maintains the social, political, and economic arrangements that give professionals the means to control their professional affairs. A) Autonomy B) Governance C) Socialization D) Accountability
) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ establishes and maintains the social, political, and economic arrangements that give professionals the means to control their professional affairs. A) Autonomy B) Governance C) Socialization D) Accountability
A nurse educator is conducting a continuing education in-service for the nurses in a pediatric intensive care unit. Why is it so important for the professional nurse to attend these in-services?
A) Most states require it to maintain licensure.
B) It is a good way to receive overtime pay.
C) Research and new technology demand that nurses stay current.
D) New diseases are discovered every day.
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Research and technology are constantly changing and improving client care. Professional nurses are accountable for staying abreast of new information by attending continuing education courses. Receiving overtime pay is not a reason to attend continuing education courses. Although new diseases are discovered regularly, nurses wouldn’t necessarily need ongoing training on the diseases themselves, but rather on new ways of treating diseases. Finally, although many states do have continuing education requirements for nurses, new technology and research are the most important reasons for staying current. In fact, these changes are the reasons why continuing education is required by most states.
A registered nurse (RN) who now works as a nursing supervisor at a local hospital is asked to talk about nursing during career day at a local high school. When explaining to the students why nursing is a profession rather than a job, which criteria should the RN include? Select all that apply.
A) Nurses engage in ongoing research.
B) Nurses receive high salaries.
C) More nurses are needed to meet current and predicted demand.
D) Nursing has a service orientation.
E) Nurses must have broad general knowledge of a variety of topics.
Answer: A, D
Explanation: A) Several characteristics make nursing a profession rather than a job. For instance, a service orientation differentiates nursing from occupations pursued primarily for profit. Also, as professionals, nurses engage in ongoing research to improve practice and expand the field’s body of knowledge. As with other professions, nursing’s knowledge base is well defined and specific rather than broad and general. Salary level is not a criterion for a profession, nor is the number of practitioners in the field.
Answer: A, D
Explanation: A) Several characteristics make nursing a profession rather than a job. For instance, a service orientation differentiates nursing from occupations pursued primarily for profit. Also, as professionals, nurses engage in ongoing research to improve practice and expand the field’s body of knowledge. As with other professions, nursing’s knowledge base is well defined and specific rather than broad and general. Salary level is not a criterion for a profession, nor is the number of practitioners in the field.
Explanation: A) Although an associate’s degree is usually sufficient for nursing licensure, the ANA recommends a bachelor’s degree to enter professional practice. Having a bachelor’s degree can also lead to more career opportunities, because many magnet hospitals and academic health centers require that their RNs have at least this level of education. A master’s degree is usually undertaken to provide specialized nursing education, such as that required to become a nurse practitioner. A doctorate involves advanced training, which may focus on clinical or organizational skills and usually involves research.
) What is the most powerful factor in encouraging adoption of the attitudes and behaviors that characterize professionalism in nursing? A) Employment opportunities B) Licensure requirements C) Interaction with peers D) Specialized training
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Employment opportunities and licensure requirements are not associated with adopting the attitudes and behaviors of professional nursing. Specialized training provides nurses with the knowledge and skills necessary to do their job, but it doesn’t necessarily lead a nurse to internalize the attitudes and behaviors that characterize professionalism in nursing. Rather, one of the most powerful mechanisms of professional socialization is interaction with fellow students and nurses.
How does accountability differ from responsibility?
A) Responsibility involves specific tasks that must be completed in order to fulfill a role, whereas accountability involves being answerable for the outcomes of those tasks.
B) Accountability involves specific tasks that must be completed in order to fulfill a role, whereas responsibility involves being answerable for the outcomes of those tasks.
C) Responsibility involves the professional standards used to determine what a nurse should or should not do, whereas accountability involves taking ownership of the actions of others.
D) Accountability involves the professional standards used to determine what a nurse should or should not do, whereas responsibility involves taking ownership of the actions of others.
How does accountability differ from responsibility?
A) Responsibility involves specific tasks that must be completed in order to fulfill a role, whereas accountability involves being answerable for the outcomes of those tasks.
B) Accountability involves specific tasks that must be completed in order to fulfill a role, whereas responsibility involves being answerable for the outcomes of those tasks.
C) Responsibility involves the professional standards used to determine what a nurse should or should not do, whereas accountability involves taking ownership of the actions of others.
D) Accountability involves the professional standards used to determine what a nurse should or should not do, whereas responsibility involves taking ownership of the actions of others.
A novice nurse on a medical-surgical unit is released from the orientation phase of training. The nurse is able to care for a four- to five-client assignment independently and is assigned a coach on the unit who will help with problem solving if needed. According to Benner's stages of nursing expertise, this nurse would belong in which stage? A) Stage II B) Stage V C) Stage III D) Stage IV
Explanation: A) The new graduate nurse who is fresh out of the orientation phase is considered to be in Stage II. A Stage II nurse is an advanced beginner, meaning he or she demonstrates marginally acceptable performance. Stage III is the competency stage; the nurse in this stage has 2 or 3 years of experience and demonstrates organizational and planning abilities. Stage IV is the proficiency stage. The Stage IV nurse has 3 to 5 years of experience, has a holistic understanding of the client that improves decision making, and focuses on long-term goals. The nurse at Stage V is considered an expert. His or her performance is fluid, flexible, and highly proficient. The expert nurse no longer requires rules, guidelines, or maxims to connect an understanding of the situation to appropriate action. This individual has highly intuitive and analytic abilities in new situations.
One of the roles of the community health nurse is to educate individuals about health promotion and wellness. Which activity would the nurse dismiss as irrelevant to health promotion and wellness? A) Holding classes for teenagers regarding prevention of sexually transmitted infections B) Teaching a class about smoking cessation C) Initiating infant care classes for new parents D) Implementing an exercise class for clients who have had a heart attack
Answer: D
Explanation: A) Teaching clients about recovery activities, such as exercises that accelerate recovery after a heart attack, would fall under the category of health restoration, not health promotion. All of the other activities listed here promote health and wellness by teaching activities and behaviors that enhance clients’ quality of life and maximize their personal potential, including their physical fitness and emotional health.
A nurse educator is talking to a group of staff nurses about the importance of continued competence in nursing practice. One of the staff nurses asks about activities that can help professional nurses maintain competence. Which action should the nurse educator recommend?
A) Working overtime whenever hours are available
B) Designing a poster presentation on current research on care for the dying client
C) Volunteering to take blood pressures at a health and wellness fair
D) Organizing a seminar to educate new nurses about hospital policies
A nurse educator is talking to a group of staff nurses about the importance of continued competence in nursing practice. One of the staff nurses asks about activities that can help professional nurses maintain competence. Which action should the nurse educator recommend?
A) Working overtime whenever hours are available
B) Designing a poster presentation on current research on care for the dying client
C) Volunteering to take blood pressures at a health and wellness fair
D) Organizing a seminar to educate new nurses about hospital policies
A nurse, who has been working in a small rural hospital for 4 years since obtaining a nursing license, participates on an interdisciplinary task force to improve client care. Which skill level is this nurse demonstrating according to Benner's stages of nursing expertise? A) Advanced beginner B) Competent C) Proficient D) Expert
Answer: C
Explanation: A) According to Benner’s stages, this nurse would be considered proficient, because he or she has 3 to 5 years of experience and a holistic understanding of the client, which improves decision making. In comparison, an advanced beginner nurse has less than 2 years of experience and demonstrates marginally acceptable performance; a competent nurse has 2 or 3 years of experience and demonstrates organizational and planning abilities; and an expert nurse has more than 5 years of experience and demonstrates highly skilled intuitive and analytic ability in new situations.
A school nurse in a large urban high school regularly delivers presentations on nutrition, smoking cessation, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). What area(s) of nursing competence is this nurse demonstrating? Select all that apply. A) Health restoration B) Health and wellness promotion C) Caring for the dying D) Illness prevention E) Care cost savings
A school nurse in a large urban high school regularly delivers presentations on nutrition, smoking cessation, and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). What area(s) of nursing competence is this nurse demonstrating? Select all that apply. A) Health restoration B) Health and wellness promotion C) Caring for the dying D) Illness prevention E) Care cost savings
An experienced nurse practitioner is always conscious of the need to maintain a high level of competence within professional nursing practice. Which activities support this nurse’s goal? Select all that apply.
A) Reading professional journals
B) Collaborating with peers
C) Counseling clients
D) Attending professional workshops and seminars
E) Administering medications appropriately
Answer: A, B, D
Explanation: A) Lifelong competence can be promoted by attending seminars offered by colleges and professional organizations, reading professional and peer-reviewed journals, and having formal and informal discussions with peers and other members of the healthcare team. Providing counseling to clients and administering medications are ways to implement nursing knowledge, not methods for increasing it.
) \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ is a state of being in which individuals engage in behaviors that enhance their quality of life and maximize their personal potential. A) Health promotion B) Wellness C) Prevention D) Health restoration
Answer: B
Explanation: A) Wellness can be described as a state of being in which individuals engage in activities and behaviors that enhance their quality of life and maximize their personal potential, including their physical fitness and emotional health. In comparison, health promotion is a process that enables individuals and communities to increase their control over the determinants of well-being, thereby improving their overall health; prevention focuses on maintaining health by working to stop illnesses and injuries from occurring; and health restoration involves efforts to return clients to their optimal state of health following illness or injury.
) Providing wound care, referring clients to post-trauma psychological counseling, and assisting clients with physical and occupational therapy are all activities associated with which area of nursing competence? A) Health promotion B) Illness prevention C) Health restoration D) Holistic care and support
Answer: C
Explanation: A) These activities all fall under the umbrella of health restoration, the area of nursing competency that involves efforts to return clients to their optimal state of physical, cognitive, psychological, and spiritual health following illness or injury. Health promotion is the area of nursing competency that involves enabling individuals and communities to increase their control over the determinants of well-being, thereby improving their overall health. Illness prevention is the area of nursing competency that involves helping individuals maintain optimal health by preventing disease and injury. Although holistic care and support are important aspects of nursing, they are not considered a core competency in the same sense as health promotion, illness prevention, health restoration, and caring for the dying.
Which of the following individuals is widely considered to be the founder of public health nursing? A) Lavinia Dock B) Lillian Wald C) Mary Mahoney D) Linda Richards
Which of the following individuals is widely considered to be the founder of public health nursing? A) Lavinia Dock B) Lillian Wald C) Mary Mahoney D) Linda Richards
) The nurse is administering a bed bath to a client in a long-term care facility. The nurse is careful to cover the client during the bath. Which nursing role does this action reflect? A) Communicator B) Caregiver C) Client advocate D) Teacher
Answer: B
Explanation: A) The caregiver role includes those activities that assist the client physically and psychologically while preserving the client’s dignity. In this scenario, the nurse is acting in the role of a caregiver. As a communicator, the nurse identifies client problems, then communicates these verbally or in writing to other members of the health team. As a teacher, the nurse helps clients learn about their health and the healthcare procedures they need to perform to maintain or restore their health. As a client advocate, the nurse acts to protect clients and represents their needs and wishes to other health professionals.
Answer: B
Explanation: A) The caregiver role includes those activities that assist the client physically and psychologically while preserving the client’s dignity. In this scenario, the nurse is acting in the role of a caregiver. As a communicator, the nurse identifies client problems, then communicates these verbally or in writing to other members of the health team. As a teacher, the nurse helps clients learn about their health and the healthcare procedures they need to perform to maintain or restore their health. As a client advocate, the nurse acts to protect clients and represents their needs and wishes to other health professionals.
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Discussing the situation with the nursing supervisor is the appropriate decision because the supervisor is the next highest link in the chain of command. As such, the supervisor is responsible for making the appropriate decision about how to deal with the potentially impaired charge nurse. Confronting the other nurse would not be appropriate given that the nurse seems impaired. Although the nurse manager will need to be notified, the charge nurse must first notify the nursing supervisor so he or she can determine how to proceed. Security may need to be notified eventually, but again, that decision would be made by the nursing supervisor.
A nurse is overseeing a group of students who are completing a clinical rotation on a medical-surgical unit. The students are providing direct client care with the assistance of the nurse. The nurse who is overseeing the students is functioning in which capacity? A) Clinical nurse specialist B) Nurse practitioner C) Nurse entrepreneur D) Nurse educator
Answer: D
Explanation: A) Nurse educators are responsible for classroom and often clinical teaching—as is happening in this scenario. A clinical nurse specialist has an advanced degree or expertise and is considered to be an expert in a specialized area of practice. He or she provides direct client care, educates others, consults, conducts research, and manages care. A nurse practitioner has an advanced education, is a graduate of a nurse practitioner program, and usually deals with nonemergency acute or chronic illness and provides primary ambulatory care. A nurse entrepreneur usually has an advanced degree, manages a health-related business, and may be involved in education, consultation, or research.
A student nurse is trying to explain nursing to family members. Which contemporary aspects of nursing might the student nurse include in the explanation? Select all that apply. A) Nursing is a science. B) Nursing is easy. C) Nursing is a new profession. D) Nursing is focused on illness. E) Nursing is holistic.
Answer: A, E
Explanation: A) The American Nurses Association (ANA) recognizes the influence and contribution of the science of caring to nursing philosophy and practice. Nursing is complex and involves the interrelationship among nurses, nursing, the client, the environment, and the intended client outcome. Florence Nightingale defined nursing nearly 150 years ago. The nurse is concerned with both healthy and ill individuals and approaches care holistically, considering its physical, cognitive, psychological, and spiritual elements.
A client who has been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer states to the nurse, "I do not want any further treatment, but I am afraid my doctor will insist that I continue chemotherapy." Which role is the nurse performing when informing the healthcare provider of the client's choice to stop treatment? A) Change agent B) Case manager C) Advocate D) Teacher
Answer: C
Explanation: A) Here, the nurse is acting as client advocate, because this role involves representing the client’s needs and wishes to other health professionals. As change agents, nurses assist clients to make modifications in their behavior. Nurse case managers work with the multidisciplinary healthcare team to measure the effectiveness of the case management plan and monitor outcomes. As teachers, nurses help clients learn about their health and about healthcare procedures used to restore or maintain their health.
) A nurse working in the emergency department (ED) notes that a healthcare provider smells strongly of alcohol and appears confused. Which action by the nurse is appropriate?
A) Contact the charge nurse to report the problem.
B) Tell the healthcare provider to seek alcohol rehabilitation.
C) Report the healthcare provider to the hospital CEO.
D) Report the healthcare provider to the state licensing board.
Answer: A
Explanation: A) In a hospital, problems like this one are usually first reported to the charge nurse, then to the unit manager. If the problem is still not resolved, the nurse may approach someone in middle or upper management. Making suggestions to the healthcare provider about rehabilitation does not address the nurse’s responsibility to clients and the organization. The nurse should address the problem through the chain of command within the hospital.