Exam 7: Making Decisions and Solving Problems

In a busy rehabilitation unit,the team manager decided that the best way to reward the staff was to give them a monetary bonus rather than time off.The staff was very concerned about the decision and went to the administration with a number of complaints.Critical thinking is a process that entails a number of steps.What steps did the manager omit?

The nurse manager of a rehabilitation unit wants to purchase a new anti-embolic stocking.To make a high-quality decision,the nurse manager would

During a fire drill,several psychiatric patients become agitated.The nurse manager quickly assigns a staff member to each patient.This decision style is most appropriate for

To solve a problem,the nurse manager understands that the most important problem-solving step is

The maintenance department wishes to have the nursing lounge renovated so that the lounge will be more "user-friendly." The department asks the nursing staff to make a wish list of everything that they would like to see in the new lounge.This process is an example of which part of the decision-making process?

Several nurses on an adolescent psychiatric unit complain that the teenagers are becoming unmanageable on the shift from 2300 to 700 hours.To resolve this problem,the nurse manager decides that the staff should have a brainstorming session.The goal of brainstorming is to

Decisions are most likely to be of high quality in nursing situations when

The risk manager informs the nurse manager of an orthopedic unit that her unit has had an increase in incident reports about patients falling during the shift from 2300 to 700 hours.The nurse manager knows that the best way to resolve the problem is to

Justin is a nurse manager in a rehabilitation unit in a small urban centre.There is a high turnover rate among rehabilitation assistants because of the heavy work assignments.Justin decides to hire new staff in the order that applications are received until all vacant positions are filled.Which of the following decisions did Justin make?

When confronted with the controversy and the apparent poor morale of the evening staff,the unit manager decided the staff needed to take some time off.He scheduled holidays for the staff without consulting them.A couple of the staff nurses approached the manager and indicated that the problem was not scheduling but rather the team leader and her patient assignments.What was the unit manager's first missed step in problem solving?

From the information supplied in this chapter,which statements best defines critical thinking?

Which of the following is an intuitive decision-making model?

The risk manager wants to evaluate the reasons for an increased number of falls on the rehabilitation unit.The risk manager devises a fishbone diagram.A fishbone diagram is a useful tool to

Silvana,a nurse manager,has a staff nurse who has been absent a great deal for the past 3 months.A co-worker gives some information to Silvana indicating that the staff nurse will be resigning and returning to school.Because of this,Silvana decides to do which of the following?

After the nurses who work on an adolescent psychiatric unit have had a brainstorming session,they are ready to resolve the problem of teenagers who are unmanageable.To maximize group effectiveness in decision making and problem solving,the nurse manager has

The clinic nurse understands that problem solving is best defined as

Knowing when to have the entire team participate in the decision-making process or when to have only the team leader make the decisions depends on the situation and the desired outcomes.Which situation would warrant individual decision making?

Marcella,an experienced head nurse,is given the task of completing the summer vacation schedule for the pediatric unit.She is fully aware of the hospital's restrictions on time off and the number of staff on vacation at any given time,as well as its issues regarding seniority.She weighs the options of allowing staff choice,such as it takes more time but gives employees options.However,if choice is allowed,this could cause arguments.Which of the following is the best alternative?

Which statement best defines the difference between problem solving and decision making?

Decision making is described by the nursing educator as the process that a person uses to