Deck 11: Leadership, Excellence, and Creating the Future of Nursing

Question 1

Which statement by a nurse best represents both excellence and leadership?
1)"Both can be achieved only by people in positions of authority."
2)"Both require a degree of comfort with change."
3)"Both are focused on the here and now."
4)"Both thrive in an environment characterized by certainty and stability."

Answer 1

2

Question 2

Which example characterizes excellence in nursing?
1)Setting and meeting high standards personally and for the group
2)Accepting mediocre or minimally adequate performance
3)Giving in to pressure from "above" to do only what is essential
4)Doing the best only when some authority figure pushes

Answer 2

1

Question 3

A nurse wants to become involved in a professional organization. Which organization was started by six nursing students who wanted to acknowledge nursing scholarship?
1)Sigma Theta Tau International
2)Phi Kappa Phi
3)American Nurses Association
4)National League for Nursing

Answer 3

1

Question 4

What type of relationship describes leadership for excellence?
1)One that follows "party lines"
2)One of authority
3)One of influence
4)One that is mandatory

Question 5

For nursing to achieve its preferred future, in which areas should each individual nurse take responsibility for providing leadership?
1)Selected professional and personal matters
2)Our lives, our institutions, and our society
3)Our communication with every individual we encounter
4)Certain parts of our lives

Question 6

A nurse leader has a commitment to pursue excellence to help shape a preferred future. Which idea should the nurse leader use?
1)Minimal training will be needed for this transformation.
2)People in top positions will accomplish the change.
3)Inspection will help achieve quality during this adjustment.
4)Individual investment will be required for this process.

Question 7

Which phrase best illustrates the idea that achieving excellence requires an enormous investment on the part of each individual, and not merely the creation of a supportive environment by those "at the top?"
1)"The cautious seldom err." (Confucius)
2)"Every job is a self-portrait of the person who did it." (Anonymous)
3)"Nothing endures but change." (Heraclitus)
4)"Don't judge a man until you have walked a mile in his shoes." (Native American proverb)

Question 8

Besides excellence, which other focus should nurses have to create a preferred future?
1)Look to physicians to lead the health-care team.
2)Accomplish a list of tasks.
3)Achieve quality patient outcomes.
4)Create limited professional involvement.

Question 9

Nurses interested in excellence want constructive feedback from their supervisor and peers. Frequently, however, the most helpful feedback is actually a result of which action?
1)Interviewing nurses from other agencies to obtain feedback about one's care
2)Reviewing patient satisfaction of care results for one's unit
3)Taking the "mirror test" to evaluate one's own work
4)Asking patients about the care they received from the health-care team

Question 10

Professional nurses who strive for and expect excellence will most likely take which action in work situations where people seem to be satisfied with maintaining the status quo?
1)Question assumptions that underlie existing practices and report faulty ones to the person in charge.
2)Ask why things are done the way they are and offer thoughtful alternatives for doing things differently.
3)Be highly critical of the people in the setting and the procedures used.
4)Demand immediate change, regardless of the cost.

Question 11

What is the most useful way for a nurse leader to build and sustain a culture of excellence?
1)Develop a mechanism to discipline staff not involved in seeking excellence.
2)Create a culture of critical reflection.
3)Attempt to improve the environment only in very small increments.
4)Allow for stabilization of growth for a minimum of 12 months.

Question 12

A staff nurse is striving for excellence by following the descriptions offered by Diers and Evans (1980). Which concept best describes the nurse's ability to successfully balance competing demands?
1)Discipline
2)Skepticism
3)Responsibility
4)Choreography

Question 13

A nurse dreams of working in a setting where excellent care is given. The nurse observes, however, that more and more patients and families are complaining that no one is attending to their needs or answering their questions. Which action by the nurse demonstrates leadership and is likely to be most effective in moving toward a level of excellence?
1)Arrange for a meeting of nursing colleagues to discuss the problem and go to that meeting with a list of possible solutions to consider.
2)Tell the patients and families that the agency will not hire enough staff to spend more time with them so little can change.
3)Write a letter to the nurse executive and to the agency chief executive officer demanding that they do something to solve this problem.
4)Quit and find another job in another facility that fosters excellence.

Question 14

According to Diers and Evans (1980), "excellent nurses are inflamed by nursing." How should a nurse interpret the word inflamed?
1)Aggressively outspoken
2)Angry but active
3)Passionate about one's work
4)Skilled and precise

Question 15

Which action will be considered challenging for a nurse who has been in nursing for less than 1 year?
1)Performing a highly complicated technical skill that the nurse has done a number of times before
2)Modifying the plan of care for a patient for whom the nurse has cared for during the past 4 days
3)Responding to a satisfaction survey sent by the school from which the nurse recently graduated
4)Accepting an invitation to speak at a regional professional meeting

Question 16

A nurse leader strives for excellence. What will this accomplish?
1)Empower colleagues to be excellent.
2)Promote a narrow focus.
3)Decrease ambiguity.
4)Foster passivity.

Question 17

Which term accurately describes a nurse leader striving for excellence?
1)Infallible
2)Genius
3)Risk taker
4)Perfectionist

Question 18

Deming (1986) is known for his statement that "quality is never an accident." In light of this statement, what should a nurse do to reach success?
1)Work in a silo and be committed to perfection in every aspect of life.
2)Remain steadfast in one's focus and never change one's original ideas.
3)Be sincere about intentions and demonstrate intelligent direction and skillful execution.
4)Use multiple formative evaluations and financial incentives to improve productivity.

Question 19

What do Mescon and Mescon (1984) say counts on the road to perfection?
1)The little things
2)The possible dream
3)The quantity
4)The organization

Question 20

How can a nurse attain excellence?
1)Hold back when speaking up because it could get one in trouble.
2)Take safe risks.
3)Expect more than others think is possible.
4)Dream practical.

Question 21

Hesselbein (2002) expressed which statement about leadership for excellence?
1)Leadership is a matter of intelligence.
2)Leadership is a matter of how to do it.
3)Leadership is a matter of how to be.
4)Leadership is a matter of skill.

Question 22

Which trait is typical of a leader who wants to promote excellence?
1)Discourages conflict
2)Is unwilling to use intuition
3)Has limited vision
4)Acts as a change agent

Question 23

A nurse striving for excellence joins a professional organization. What are the benefits of joining? Select all that apply.
1)It exposes the nurse to positive role models and potential mentors.
2)It offers opportunities for the nurse to develop new skills (e.g., advancing a health policy agenda).
3)It helps the nurse stay "connected" with significant issues facing nursing.
4)It helps the nurse learn less about excellence in nursing
5)It offers opportunities for the nurse to avoid working.

Question 24

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have a program that identifies five critical elements of a health-care organization's success. Which element will the nurse leader use to help shape a preferred future for nursing in such organizations?
1)Improvement initiatives to actively engage staff in meaningful problem-solving
2)Integration of formal mentors to give formative and summative feedback regularly
3)Alignment to achieve inconsistency of goals to resource allocation
4)Leadership commitment to quantity

Question 25

Which actions by a nurse are components of excellence according to Diers and Evans (1980)? Select all that apply.
1)Acknowledges what is done well or poorly and blames no one
2)Strives to get by
3)Keeps an open mind to new ideas and perspectives
4)Allows several demands to go unmet so that another demand can be met successfully
5)Demonstrates a concern and a compassion for others