Deck 10: Power, Politics, and Influence

Question 1

Lucy,head nurse on the surgical unit,works with her staff to find ways in which they can work together with other disciplines to provide more effective care for patients on the unit.Lucy likely knows her power is:

A) Limited, thereby necessitating involvement of others in implementing ideas.
B) Restricted, which necessitates finding alternative means to achieve strong patient outcomes.
C) Directly primarily toward those who are subordinate to her.
D) Of unlimited capacity when shared with others.

Answer 1

Of unlimited capacity when shared with others.

Question 2

A manager relies on his director (immediate supervisor)for advice about enrolling in graduate school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive.The director may exercise what kinds of power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?

A) Expert, coercive, and referent
B) Reward, connection, and information
C) Referent, expert, and information
D) Reward, referent, and information

Answer 2

Referent, expert, and information

Question 3

The institution where you are a nurse manager has resisted the adoption of a new document management software,citing cost as a concern.You meet with other nurse managers who are in favor of the software and prepare a proposal to take to the senior executive with the goal of persuading the executive to adopt the software.This is an example of:

A) Collaboration.
B) A coalition.
C) Networking.
D) Policy building.

Answer 3

A coalition.

Question 4

A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a job search for a middle-management position.Which of the following actions is least likely to expand her job-searching network?

A) Reviewing her address book or card file for names and phone numbers of former colleagues who are now in middle-management positions
B) Making an appointment to meet with a former instructor from her graduate program in nursing administration
C) Making a long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nurse executive
D) Attending a state-level conference for nurse managers and executives and attending informal luncheons and receptions

Question 5

Which of the following interactions is MOST consistent with the idea of networking?

A) Meet with the same colleagues daily to have coffee and share concerns about the workplace and stories about colleagues.
B) Join an online workplace forum to gain ideas about how to handle workplace conflict.
C) Suggest that you and a new team member meet after work for coffee to review unit guidelines.
D) Join a nurse executive informal lunch meeting to meet other executives for support and for sharing ideas of expertise.

Question 6

Your colleague,Mary,a recent graduate announces one day that she intends to leave nursing in 3 to 4 months to pursue a position in marketing.While at your agency,she plans to give patients excellent care and to learn as much as she can,because "Who knows? Nursing is a great job with a great pay and I may return someday." Mary's statements most accurately exemplify which orientation to the concept of nursing? Nursing as a(n):

A) Profession.
B) Occupation.
C) Flexible discipline.
D) Career with off and on ramps.

Question 7

During orientation of new nurse managers,the chief nursing officer stresses strategies that help nurse managers to achieve a powerful image.Which groups of behaviors best contribute to a powerful image for the nurse manager?

A) Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile; listening carefully when problems arise
B) For men, no facial hair, always wearing a suit and tie; for women, always wearing a suit and high-heeled shoes
C) Maintaining a soft voice during times of conflict; making unbroken eye contact during interactions
D) Smiling all the time; always wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase; women should wear no jewelry

Question 8

Literature on oppression in nursing has:

A) Verified the presence of behaviors associated with oppression within nursing.
B) Suggested that nurses are oppressed because of the actions of other groups.
C) Failed to establish that oppression is present in nursing groups.
D) Indicated that nurses use oppression negatively.

Question 9

During a unit meeting,you notice that Vivian listens attentively when Mary is speaking and offers support and advice when Mary presents ideas to the group.You are surprised because Vivian has often confided that she does not like Mary.Vivian's behavior is best described as:

A) Insincere.
B) Networking.
C) Politically sophisticated.
D) Collegial.

Question 10

Two nurses approach their manager about a conflict regarding the next month's schedule.The nurses are talking loudly and at the same time.The manager most effectively uses communication skills to resolve the conflict by:

A) Taking both nurses aside, separately and then together, and charging them with resolving the problem without her direct intervention.
B) Listening to each nurse speak to the other without interruption and asking clarifying questions to help them resolve the issue themselves.
C) Separating the nurses, instructing each to decide how the problem can be resolved, and meeting with them the next day.
D) Calling an emergency scheduling committee meeting and asking volunteers to resolve the conflict between the two nurses.

Question 11

One day,at coffee,your co-worker suggests that you and she sit with unit members of the hospital research committee.She suggests that this would be an excellent way to get to know people who share her interest in research.Her actions are an example of:

A) Mentorship.
B) Politics.
C) Networking.
D) Empowerment.

Question 12

The workgroup on NU 23 is marked by apathy to the ward's patients,high absenteeism,open conflict among team members,and high turnover of personnel,including managers.The underlying behavior in this situation may be characterized as:

A) Powerlessness.
B) Anger.
C) Apathy.
D) Oppression.

Question 13

A nurse is participating in a baccalaureate course.For the class,she has to attend the legislative session regarding the new role of medication assistants.Nurses should be involved in shaping public policy primarily because:

A) Involvement will enable nurses to take over the healthcare system at some point in the future.
B) Other healthcare professions are less concerned about the essential needs of clients.
C) Such activities are important career builders for nurses who seek top-level executive positions.
D) They are closest to the front line of health care and see how it affects clients and families.

Question 14

A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit.Which approach should the manager use to most effectively empower the staff of the unit?

A) Discuss the guidelines for the budget cuts with the staff, making the decisions with those who participate.
B) Inform the staff of the budget cuts in a series of small group meetings, and accept their ideas in writing only.
C) Provide the staff with handouts about the budget cuts, and let them make recommendations in writing.
D) Hold a series of mandatory meetings on the budget cuts, asking staff for ideas on the cuts.

Question 15

A nurse belongs to several professional organizations,serving on a state-level committee of one group and on two task forces at work.The nurse is committed to a range of health issues.This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nursing?

A) Gladiator
B) Buy-in
C) Self-interest
D) Political sophistication

Question 16

A nurse manager is experiencing poor staff morale on her unit.While participating in a baccalaureate course,the nurse manager had learned that one of the reasons nurses lack power today is probably because of the past.In the early decades of the profession,nurses lacked power because:

A) Nurses freely chose to defer to physicians and administrators with more education.
B) Women lacked legal, social, and political power because of legal and cultural barriers.
C) The first nursing licensure laws prohibited nurses from making most decisions.
D) Nurses astutely recognized the risks of grabbing too much power too soon.

Question 17

Nurses who engage in in-fighting,seek physician support against nursing colleagues,and avoid membership in nursing organizations:

A) Refuse to believe that they are acting like members of groups that suffer socioeconomic oppression.
B) Do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the whole profession.
C) Purposefully choose to exercise their power in the workplace through indirect means.
D) Suffer from learned helplessness as a result of abuse by powerful nurse executives.

Question 18

Which of the following accurately represents the concept of political activism?

A) Meghan, an ER supervisor, encourages staff to write letters to the local health board, protesting closure of the ER and loss of 30 full-time jobs.
B) Sarah refuses involvement in her professional organization but is heavily involved in the Little League organization to which her son belongs.
C) Because of her influential contributions to position papers on health care, Roberta is asked to let her name stand for election as chair of the local organization of gerontology nurse practitioners, who are lobbying for increased certification standards.
D) Sondra volunteers to run for office in her state nursing organization because of her concern about the underrepresentation of expertise from her area of nursing practice.

Question 19

Politics is usually:

A) Confined to legislatures.
B) Seen in dysfunctional workplaces.
C) Found in all social organizations.
D) A representation of self-interest.

Question 20

A staff nurse asks the nurse manager for a few days off for personal reasons.The nurse manager turns in the request to the human resources office with a note indicating that the staff nurse has demonstrated excellent working skills and is a valued employee.The nurse manager has used the influence of her position to help this staff member.Influence is the process of:

A) Using power.
B) Empowering others.
C) Understanding power.
D) Moving past apathy.

Question 21

Which of the following is the best example of skilled negotiation?

A) Linda, the manager on pediatrics, takes a proposal to her supervisor, outlining the benefits of a walk-in preoperative area for children.
B) Kim, RN, asks for leave to pursue a semester of full-time study in her graduate program. She proposes to accept less popular rotations during peak vacation time, in return.
C) George, the head nurse in ER, asks for additional staff for his department and points out the benefits of being able to keep patients longer.
D) Jerry speaks with his supervisor about his supervisor's concerns related to bedside reporting before presenting a proposal to change this process.

Question 22

Susan,an RN in the ED,would like to pursue leadership roles in her career.She is frustrated that others in her working environment seem to pay little attention to her creative ideas or place her in informal leadership positions.As her colleague,you want to provide her with helpful feedback.Which of the following statements will provide feedback as to how she might communicate power and demonstrate that she is capable of handling other leadership responsibilities?

A) "I find your soft voice and manners very reassuring and calming to patients."
B) "Try using a wider vocabulary and big words so that people will think that you are knowledgeable."
C) "At times, you tend to slump and avoid eye contact when you are talking with colleagues and families."
D) "Don't worry about what others think of you. If you feel like saying something, say it, even if it hurts other people's feelings."

Question 23

A unit manager watches a new RN graduate interacting with a patient.When the RN comes out of the room,the unit manager says,"I don't know what they taught you in your nursing program,but if I see you do that again,I will write you up." This example demonstrates:

A) Coercive use of power.
B) Appropriate application of control.
C) Use of informatory power.
D) Use of power to provide coaching.

Question 24

You have been offered a position as a head nurse in the ED.You understand that:

A) You have stature and power by accepting the position.
B) You have stature but no power at this point in your position.
C) As a result of your position, you will need to keep much knowledge to yourself.
D) Knowledge is assumed as a result of your position.

Question 25

Despite repeated invitations by his colleagues to become involved in regional and state nursing practice committees,Tom refuses.His reason is that "nursing committees rarely get anything worthwhile done because of politics and conflicts." According to the text,Tom's view of involvement:

A) Is rare in nursing today.
B) Reflects a fear of power.
C) Reflects the essential process of power.
D) Reflects empowerment and capacity to make his own decisions.

Question 26

Amy has worked in the dialysis unit on staff for about 12 years.She is frequently consulted by other nursing staff regarding protocols and policies on the unit.What type of power is Amy using?

A) Position power
B) Expert power
C) Personal power
D) Competency power