Deck 9: Think Like a Nurse: Essential Thinking Skills for Professional Nurses

Question 1

A preceptor nurse is critiquing the student nurse's outcome statements on a patient's care plan.The preceptor tells the student the most well-written outcome statement is "The patient will:

A) ambulate 50 feet with walker by Tuesday."
B) dress self with correct assistive devices."
C) eat majority of meals by 3:00 PM."
D) give self-insulin injections as instructed."

Answer 1

ambulate 50 feet with walker by Tuesday."

Question 2

A nurse is thought of as being difficult to work with because of the attitude that his answers are always correct (even in differing situations)and that no other options can work.The nurse manager should counsel this nurse on developing the critical thinking disposition of:

A) maturity.
B) open-mindedness.
C) self-confidence.
D) systematicity.

Answer 2

maturity.

Question 3

A new graduate nurse is working with an experienced nurse to chart assessment findings.The experienced nurse warns that charting assessment data can be difficult.The best explanation for this statement is that assessment data:

A) can sometimes be charted in a biased manner.
B) change as the patient's condition changes.
C) are usually difficult to obtain from the patient.
D) can be time consuming and tedious to chart.

Answer 3

can sometimes be charted in a biased manner.

Question 4

A new nurse is always asking questions, even when there does not seem to be a problem, much to the annoyance of some of the new nurse's co-workers.The nurse manager's best response to this situation is to:

A) explain to co-workers this is a characteristic of critical thinking.
B) suggest the nurse work more closely with a preceptor.
C) talk with the nurse and suggest asking fewer questions.
D) tell the staff that all new nurses go through this phase.

Question 5

A patient has not met goals on the care plan.The nurse assesses that the patient is in full agreement with the plan and has the motivation to carry it out.The diagnoses are supported by data, and the outcome statements are well written.The nurse concludes that:

A) delegated activities were not done correctly.
B) the interventions did not help meet the goal.
C) the patient is incapable of meeting the goal.
D) there was not enough time for goals to be met.

Question 6

A student nurse asks how the nursing process is different from critical thinking.The best reply by the faculty member is that the nursing process is:

A) a tool for applying critical thinking to patient care.
B) merely the way nurses articulate patient care needs.
C) the only way to use critical thinking for best outcomes.
D) the same thing as critical thinking divided into steps.

Question 7

The nursing student knows that critical thinking is:

A) an innate trait, not a learned skill.
B) applicable only to nursing care.
C) generalizable across professions.
D) only needed for certain positions.

Question 8

A unit has a continuous problem with a certain complication in a specific patient population.One nurse has read extensively about this issue and thinks the problem lies mainly in the unit's failure to follow one or two particular best practices because they use a standardized order set preferred by their physician group.Using the disposition of critical thinking known as analyticity, the best action for this nurse to take is to:

A) get support from other staff nurses and collectively stop implementing specific orders.
B) go directly to the physician group's weekly meeting, asking them to change the orders.
C) show evidence to unit management and ask for help in speaking with the physicians.
D) take the issue to the hospital's policy and procedures committee, asking for a review.

Question 9

A nurse has designed an individualized nursing care plan for a patient, but the patient is not meeting the goals.Further assessment reveals that the patient is not following through on many items.Which action by the nurse would be best for determining the cause of the problem?

A) Assess whether the actions were too hard for the patient.
B) Determine whether the patient agrees with the care plan.
C) Question the patient's reasons for not following through.
D) Reevaluate data to ensure the diagnoses are sound.

Question 10

A student is confused about the need to answer questions in a clinical journal about what happened during the day that could have been handled differently and what the possible outcomes might have been.The nursing instructor explains that this kind of questioning:

A) allows students to contemplate theoretical possibilities in clinical.
B) focuses on the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and the skills required for this.
C) helps cement in students' minds that the actions they took were best.
D) provides a chance to understand assumptions that guided their actions.

Question 11

A nurse has committed a serious medication error.The manager is a firm believer in developing critical thinking skills.From this standpoint, what action by the manager would best nurture this ability in the nurse who made the error?

A) Have the nurse present an in-service related to the cause of the error.
B) Instruct the nurse to write a paper on how to avoid this type of error.
C) Let the nurse work with more experienced nurses when giving medications.
D) Send the nurse to refresher courses on medication administration.

Question 12

When applying the nursing process to patients, the nurse knows that the goal of data analysis is:

A) to decide when new assessments should occur.
B) to ensure that enough data have been collected.
C) the creation of appropriate nursing diagnoses.
D) to discovery disparities in the collected data.

Question 13

A faculty member explains to a class of nursing students that the primary goal of critical thinking in clinical practice is to:

A) compete with other health professionals.
B) create diverse theories of nursing practice.
C) determine an effective course of action.
D) judge the relative value of chosen actions.

Question 14

A nurse studying critical thinking theories can generalize the process as:

A) a reflective process of gathering and evaluating data to choose a course of action.
B) one conceptual mechanism for critiquing ideas and establishing goal-oriented care.
C) researching best-practice literature to create care pathways for certain populations.
D) using the nursing process to design individualized and specific nursing care plans.

Question 15

The student nurse learning to write nursing care plans learns that evaluation:

A) happens at the end of an episode of care.
B) is valuable when the patient has met goals.
C) occurs at each step of the nursing process.
D) should occur every few days on a schedule.

Question 16

A recent graduate nurse charts the following entry: "1200: Ambulated patient 25 feet with walker." The preceptor nurse critiques the entry.Which statement by the preceptor nurse is most accurate? "This charting:

A) has missing data you must incorporate."
B) is accurate and timely-very well done."
C) needs to say whether the patient did well or not."
D) should include the patient's response."

Question 17

When the nurse is assessing a patient, the best action by the nurse is to:

A) focus on assessment data collected with the five senses.
B) not rely on information from friends, who may be wrong.
C) use both primary and secondary sources of information.
D) use secondary sources to determine assessment priorities.

Question 18

A patient has been admitted for a complex operation that will require complicated home care, including dressing changes.The primary nurse should begin the process of teaching and discharge planning:

A) after the operation and the patient is awake.
B) upon admission along with the initial assessment.
C) the day before the patient is to be discharged.
D) when narcotics are no longer needed routinely.

Question 19

The nursing student understands that being willing to listen and examine all ideas, even if they cause a negative reaction when considering them, describes the critical thinking characteristic is known as intellectual:

A) autonomy.
B) courage.
C) humility.
D) integrity.

Question 20

Some nursing students are complaining about having to write "so many journals." Which statement by the nursing instructor provides the best explanation for this? "Journaling:

A) allows reflection, an important critical thinking skill."
B) gives you time to review what happened in your clinical."
C) is a way to organize your thoughts about your experiences."
D) teaches open-mindedness, a critical thinking disposition."

Question 21

A practicing nurse uses the Universal Intellectual Standards when providing care.Which standards do these include? (Select all that apply.)

A) Accuracy
B) Clarity
C) Confidence
D) Humility
E) Precision

Question 22

A nurse wishes to obtain data about a new patient's self-esteem.To gain the clearest picture, the nurse uses the assessment technique of: (Select all that apply.)

A) asking about the patient's perception of self-esteem.
B) completing an entire head-to-toe assessment first.
C) conducting a structured interview with direct questions.
D) interviewing the patient in an unstructured format.
E) observing for relevant verbal and nonverbal clues.

Question 23

An experienced nurse explains to a nursing student that validating, organizing, and categorizing data are critical thinking processes most correlated with the nursing process step of:

A) analysis.
B) assessment.
C) implementation.
D) planning.

Question 24

A nurse assessing a patient knows that secondary sources of information include: (Select all that apply.)

A) data from other professionals.
B) information from the patient.
C) physical assessment findings.
D) significant others and friends.
E) written records about the patient.

Question 25

The faculty member teaches nursing students that a nursing diagnosis: (Select all that apply.)

A) can be treated with nurse-prescribed activities.
B) describes human responses to health events.
C) leads to actions that are designed to cure.
D) reflects actual or potential health problems.
E) revolves around pathophysiological problems.

Question 26

A nurse readily admits errors when they occur and is aware of the limits of his knowledge in practice.The nurse's manager would evaluate that this nurse demonstrates which traits of mind of a critical thinker? (Select all that apply.)

A) Confidence in reason
B) Fair-mindedness
C) Intellectual courage
D) Intellectual humility
E) Intellectual integrity