Deck 1: Decision Making, Problem Solving Critical Thinking, and Clinical Reasoning: Requisites for Successful Leadership and Management

Question 1

What statement is true regarding decision making?

A) It is an analysis of a situation
B) It is closely related to evaluation
C) It involves choosing between courses of action
D) It is dependent upon finding the cause of a problem

Answer 1

It involves choosing between courses of action

Question 2

What is a weakness of the traditional problem-solving model?

A) Its need for implementation time
B) Its lack of a step requiring evaluation of results
C) Its failure to gather sufficient data
D) Its failure to evaluate alternatives

Answer 2

Its need for implementation time

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true regarding decision making?

A) Scientific methods provide identical decisions by different individuals for the same problems
B) Decisions are greatly influenced by each person's value system
C) Personal beliefs can be adjusted for when the scientific approach to problem solving is used
D) Past experience has little to do with the quality of the decision

Answer 3

Decisions are greatly influenced by each person's value system

Question 4

What influences the quality of a decision most often?

A) The decision maker's immediate superior
B) The type of decision that needs to be made
C) Questions asked and alternatives generated
D) The time of day the decision is made

Question 5

What does knowledge about good decision making lead one to believe?

A) Good decision makers are usually right-brain, intuitive thinkers
B) Effective decision makers are sensitive to the situation and to others
C) Good decisions are usually made by left-brain, logical thinkers
D) Good decision making requires analytical rather than creative processes

Question 6

What is the best definition of decision making?

A) The planning process of management
B) The evaluation phase of the executive role
C) One step in the problem-solving process
D) Required to justify the need for scarce items

Question 7

If decision making is triggered by a problem with what does it end?

A) An alternative problem
B) A chosen course of action
C) An action that guarantees success
D) A restatement of the solution

Question 8

Why do our values often cause personal conflict in decision making?

A) Some values are not realistic or healthy
B) Not all values are of equal worth
C) Our values remain unchanged over time
D) Our values often collide with one another

Question 9

Which statement is true concerning critical thinking?

A) It is a simple approach to decision making
B) It is narrower in scope than decision making
C) It requires reasoning and creative analysis
D) It is a synonym for the problem-solving process

Question 10

How do administrative man managers make the majority of their decisions?

A) After gathering all the facts
B) In a manner good enough to solve the problem
C) In a rational, logical manner
D) After generating all the alternatives possible

Question 11

What needs to be considered in evaluating the quality of one's decisions?

A) Is evaluation necessary when using a good decision-making model?
B) Can evaluation be eliminated if the problem is resolved?
C) Will the effectiveness of the decision maker be supported?
D) Will the evaluation be helpful in increasing one's decision-making skills?

Question 12

Which statement concerning the role of the powerful in organizational decision making is true?

A) They exert little influence on decisions that are made
B) They make decisions made that are in congruence with their own values
C) They allow others to make the decisions however they wish
D) They make all the important decisions with consideration to others

Question 13

One of the nurses on the unit said, "Male patients have a low threshold for pain." This is an example of what type of illogical thinking?

A) Affirming the consequences
B) Arguing from analogy
C) Deductive reasoning
D) Overgeneralizing

Question 14

What effect of organizational power on decision making is often reflected in the tendency of staff?

A) Making decisions independent of organizational values
B) Not trusting others to decide
C) Desiring personal power
D) Having private beliefs that are separate from corporate ones

Question 15

What does a decision grid allow the decision maker to do?

A) Examine alternatives visually and compare each against the same criteria
B) Quantify information
C) Plot a decision over time
D) Predict when events must take place to complete a project on time

Question 16

What statement regarding management decision-making aides is true?

A) They are subject to human error
B) They ensure good decision making
C) They eliminate uncertainty and risk
D) They tend to save management time

Question 17

What is heuristics?

A) Discrete, unconscious process to allow individuals to solve problems quickly
B) Set of rules to encourage learners to discover solutions for themselves
C) Formal process and structure in the decision-making process
D) Trial-and-error method or rules-of-thumb approach

Question 18

Which statement is true regarding an economic man style manager?

A) Lacks complete knowledge and generates few alternatives
B) Makes decisions that may not be ideal but result in solutions that have an adequate outcome
C) Makes most management decisions using the administrative man model of decision making
D) These managers gather as much information as possible and generate many alternatives

Question 19

What is a characteristic of a left-brain thinker?

A) Creative
B) Intuitive
C) Analytical
D) Holistic

Question 20

What type of brain dominance creates a management style that is highly organized and detail oriented?

A) Upper left brain
B) Upper right brain
C) Lower left brain
D) Lower right brain

Question 21

Which problem-solving learning strategy provides the learner with the most realistic, risk-free learning environment?

A) Case studies
B) Simulation
C) Problem-based learning (PBL)
D) Grand rounds

Question 22

Which statement demonstrates a characteristic of a critical thinker? Select all that apply.

A) "Since that didn't work effectively, let's try something different."
B) "The solution has to be something the patient is willing to do."
C) "I'll talk to the patient's primary care giver about the problem."
D) "Maybe there is no new solution to this particular problem."

Question 23

What is the value of using a structured approach to problem solving for the novice nurse?

A) Facilitates effective time management
B) Supports the acquisition of clinical reasoning
C) Supplements the orientation process
D) Encourages professional autonomy

Question 24

Which situation is characteristic of the weakness of the nursing process?

A) The frequent absence of well-written patience-focused objectives
B) The confusion created by the existence of numerous nursing diagnoses
C) The ever-increasing need for effective assessment skills required of the nurse
D) The amount of nursing staff required to implement the patients' plans of care

Question 25

What is the advantage of using a payoff table when applicable?

A) It assures the correct decision when dealing with financial situations
B) It is very helpful when quantitative information about the topic is available
C) It assists in the visualization of the available historic and current data
D) It is easy to construct even for the novice decision maker