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TEST BANK
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Chapter 1. Primary Care in the Twenty-First Century: A Circle of Caring
1. A nurse has conducted a literature review in an effort to identify the effect of
handwashing on the incidence of nosocomial (hospital-acquired) infections in acute care settings.
An article presented findings at a level of significance of <0.01. This indicates that
A) The control group and the experimental group were more than 99% similar.
B) The findings of the study have less than 1% chance of being attributable to chance.
C) The effects of the intervention were nearly zero.
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D) The clinical significance of the findings was less than 1:100.
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Ans: B
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Feedback: The level of significance is the level at which the researcher believes that the study
results most likely represent a no chance event. A level of significance of <0.01 indicates that
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there is less than 1% probability that the result is due to chance.
2. A nurse has read a qualitative research study in order to understand the lived experience
of parents who have a neonatal loss. Which of the following questions should the nurse prioritize
when appraising the results of this study?
A) How well did the authors capture the personal experiences of these parents?
B) How well did the authors control for confounding variables that may have affected the
findings?
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C) Did the authors use statistical measures that were appropriate to the phenomenon in
question?
D) Were the instruments that the researchers used statistically valid and reliable?
Ans: A
Feedback: Qualitative studies are judged on the basis of how well they capture and convey the
subjective experiences of individuals. Statistical measures and variables are not dimensions of a
qualitative methodology.
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3. A nurse has expressed skepticism to a colleague about the value of nursing research,
claiming that nursing research has little relevance to practice. How can the nurses colleague best
defend the importance of nursing research?
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A) The existence of nursing research means that nurses are now able to access federal grant
money, something that didnt use to be the case.
B) Nursing research has allowed the development of masters and doctoral programs and has
greatly increased the credibility of the profession.
C) The growth of nursing research has caused nursing to be viewed as a true profession,
rather than simply as a trade or a skill.
D) The application of nursing research has the potential to improve nursing practice and
patient outcomes.
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Ans: D
Feedback: The greatest value of nursing research lies in the potential to improve practice and,
ultimately, to improve patient outcomes. This supersedes the contributions of nursing research to
education programs, grant funding, or the public view of the profession.
4. Tracy is a nurse with a baccalaureate degree who works in the labor and delivery unit of a
busy urban hospital. She has noticed that many new mothers abandon breast-feeding their babies
when they experience early challenges and wonders what could be done to encourage more
women to continue breast-feeding. What role is Tracy most likely to play in a research project
that tests an intervention aimed at promoting breast-feeding?
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A) Applying for grant funding for the research project
B) Posing the clinical problem to one or more nursing researchers
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C) Planning the methodology of the research project
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D) Carrying out the intervention and submitting the results for publication Ans: B
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Feedback: A major role for staff nurses is to identify questions or problems for research. Grant
applications, methodological planning, and publication submission are normally carried out by
nurses who have advanced degrees in nursing.
5. A patient signed the informed consent form for a drug trial that was explained to patient
by a research assistant. Later, the patient admitted to his nurse that he did not understand the
research assistants explanation or his own role in the study. How should this patients nurse
respond to this revelation?
A) Explain the research process to the patient in greater detail.
B) Describe the details of a randomized controlled trial for the patient.
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C) Inform the research assistant that the patients consent is likely invalid.
D) Explain to the patient that his written consent is now legally binding.
Ans: C
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Feedback: Just as the staff nurse is not responsible for medical consent, the staff nurse is not
responsible for research consent. If patients who have agreed to participate exhibit ambivalence
or uncertainty about participating, do not try to convince them to participate. Ask the person
from the research team who is managing consents to speak with concerned patients about the
study, even after a patient has signed the consent forms.
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Multiple Selection
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6. A nurse leader is attempting to increase the awareness of evidence-based practice (EBP)
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among the nurses on a unit. A nurse who is implementing EBP integrates which of the
following? (Select all that apply.)
A) Interdisciplinary consensus
B) Nursing tradition
C) Research studies
D) Patient preferences and values
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E) Clinical expertise Ans: C, D, E
Feedback: Fineout-Overholt, Melnyk, Stillwell, and Williamson define EBP as a problem-
solving approach to the delivery of healthcare that integrates the best evidence from studies and
patient care data with clinician expertise and patient preferences and values.
Multiple Choice
7. Mrs. Mayes is a 73-year-old woman who has a diabetic foot ulcer that has been extremely
slow to heal and which now poses a threat of osteomyelitis. The wound care nurse who has been
working with Mrs. Mayes applies evidence-based practice (EBP) whenever possible and has
proposed the use of maggot therapy to debride necrotic tissue. Mrs. Mayes, however, finds the
suggestion repugnant and adamantly opposes this treatment despite the sizable body of evidence
supporting it. How should the nurse reconcile Mrs. Mayes views with the principles of EBP?
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A) The nurse should explain that reliable and valid research evidence overrides the patients
opinion.
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B) The nurse should explain the evidence to the patient in greater detail.
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C) The nurse should integrate the patients preferences into the plan of care.
D) The nurse should involve the patients family members in the decision-making process.
Ans: C
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Feedback: Patient preferences should be integrated into EBP and considered alongside research
evidence and the nurses clinical expertise; evidence does not trump the patients preferences. The
family should be involved, but this is not an explicit dimension of EBP. Similarly, explaining the
evidence in more detail is not a demonstration of EBP.
8. The administrators of a long-term care facility are considered the use of specialized,
pressure- reducing mattresses in order to reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers among
residents. They have sought input from the nurses on the unit, all of whom are aware of the need
to implement the principles of evidence-based practice (EBP) in this decision. Which of the
following evidence sources should the nurses prioritize?
A) A qualitative study that explores the experience of living with a pressure ulcer
B) A case study that describes the measures that nurses on a geriatric unit took to reduce
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pressure ulcers among patients
C) Testimonials from experienced clinicians about the effectiveness of the mattress in
question
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D) A randomized controlled trial that compared the pressure-reducing mattress with standard
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mattresses
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Ans: D
Feedback: The most reliable evidence is considered RCTs. Qualitative studies, case studies, and
expert opinion are low on the hierarchy of evidence.
9. Hospital administrators are applying the principles of evidence-based practice (EBP) in
their attempt to ascertain the most efficient and effective way to communicate between nurses
who are on different units, a project that will consider many types of evidence. Which of the
following information sources should the administrators prioritize?
A) A systematic review about communication in nursing contexts
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B) Nurses ideas about communication methods
C) The results of a chart review
D) The hospitals accreditation status Ans: A
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Feedback: Systematic reviews are assigned a high value in EBP. Reviews would be prioritized
over nurses ideas or a chart review, though both are potential considerations. The hospitals
accreditation status is not a relevant consideration.
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10. A nurse has resolved to apply the evidence-based practice (EBP) process to the way that
admission assessments are conducted and documented on a unit. How should the nurse begin the
process of establishing EBP?
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A) Gather evidence showing the shortcomings of current practices
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B) Formulate a clear and concise question to be addressed
C) Elicit support from the nurses who are most often responsible for admissions
D) Search the literature for evidence that is potentially relevant to the practice need Ans: B
Feedback: The first step in applying EBP is to ask a clear, focused question. This should precede
a search of the literature or the recruitment of participants. An assessment of the shortcomings of
the current system is not an explicit component of the EBP process.
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11. Which of the following questions best exemplifies the PICOT format for asking
evidence-based questions?
A) What affect does parents alcohol use have on the alcohol use of their teenage children?
B) Among postsurgical patients, what role does meditation rather than benzodiazepines have
on anxiety levels during the 48 hours following surgery?
C) Among high school students, what is the effectiveness of a sexual health campaign
undertaken during the first 4 weeks of the fall semester as measured by incidence of new
sexually transmitted infections?
D) In children aged 68, is the effectiveness of a descriptive pain scale superior to a numeric
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rating scale in the emergency room context?
Feedback: The correct answer includes a population (postsurgical patients), intervention
(meditation), comparison (benzodiazepines), outcome (anxiety levels), and a time frame (48
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hours). No other option contains each of the five elements of a PICOT question.
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12. A nurse has made plans to implement the University of North Carolina (UNC) model of 5
As during the process of applying evidence-based practice (EBP) to a practice problem. What is
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the final step that the nurse will take in applying this model?
A) Analyze the results of the EBP process
B) Advocate for others to embrace the identified change
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C) Adopt the changes identified in the review process
D) Assess the outcomes of the new practice Ans: D
Feedback: The final step in the UNC rubric is to Assess the change using the quality
improvement process in place in the institution.
13. A nurse has been asked to make a presentation to a group of high school students on the
subject of sexual health. However, the nurse does not have a background in this practice area and
requires rapid access to evidence-based guidelines. Which of the following strategies is most
likely to provide the nurse with valid and reliable evidence in a time-efficient manner?
A) Search the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews
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B) Google search terms such as sexual health teens and sexual education
C) Search Medline using PubMed and order relevant articles
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D) Scan the most recent issues of nursing journals that address this area of practice
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Feedback: For some problems, a systematic review may be available from a source such as the
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Cochrane Library. Often this review is done by an expert panel providing excellent information
on which to base decisions. This approach is more likely to produce valid and reliable results
than a Google search and is more efficient than searching journal manually or ordering articles
through PubMed.
14. The nurses at a university hospital have been informed that a computerized record system
will be implemented over the next 12 months. The nurses should be aware that such as system
presents particular challenges in the area of
A) vulnerability to errors in charting and the inability to make changes.
B) patient privacy and confidentiality of records.
