Deck 5: Critical Thinking and Decision Making

Question 1

The nurse leader has been asked to take on the supervision of another unit that is vastly different in organization from the unit the nurse leader currently has charge of.The nurse leader will use which elements of thought when using the critical thinking process to best understand the new nursing unit? Select all that apply.

A)The question the nurse leader is trying to figure out
B)Identification of strengths and weakness of the organization
C)The frame of reference that nurse leader holds about the issue
D)The evidence the nurse leader has concerning the issue to be studied
E)The threats to not accomplishing the initial goal of the nurse leader

Answer 1

The question the nurse leader is trying to figure out
The frame of reference that nurse leader holds about the issue
The evidence the nurse leader has concerning the issue to be studied

Question 2

The director of nursing of an acute care facility has developed a new mechanism for ensuring that all staff members are apprised of monthly continuing education programs.What decision-making action by this nurse leader corresponds with the implementation portion of the nursing process?

A)After 3 months,the nurse leader determines how many nurses took advantage of the monthly continuing education programs.
B)The director of nursing sends an e-mail to all nurses with a listing of that month's continuing education programs.
C)The director of nursing analyzes the data to determine how many nurses are currently attending continuing education program sponsored by the acute care facility.
D)The director of nursing identifies that nurses are not attending available continuing education programs because they do not appear to be aware of them.

Answer 2

The director of nursing sends an e-mail to all nurses with a listing of that month's continuing education programs.

Question 3

The nurse leader is modeling critical thinking for the nursing staff to foster a mindset of continuous improvement and knows that expert nurses use what other type of thinking to aid decision making?

A)Reflective thinking
B)Reactive thinking
C)Intuitive thinking
D)Superficial thinking

Answer 3

Reflective thinking

Question 4

After hearing that a nurse on the unit has made a medication error,the nurse leader begins termination of employment proceedings toward the nurse.What type of thinking is the nurse using in making this decision?

A)Reflective thinking
B)Intuitive thinking
C)Reactive thinking
D)Critical thinking

Question 5

The nurse leader took over a dysfunctional nursing unit that included staff members who had difficulty getting along with each other and used reflective thinking to produce what result?

A)All of the staff get along with each other.
B)The nursing unit runs at peak efficiency.
C)There is no longer any turnover of staff.
D)The nursing staff are more trusting of each other.

Question 6

What theme do most definitions of critical thinking have in common?

A)Creativity is at the heart of critical thinking.
B)Most critical thinking methods are both systematic and logical in nature.
C)Critical thinking is best conducted by a single person.
D)When using critical thinking,it is important to find new data to investigate.

Question 7

The nurse leader is trying to determine a better way for staff nurses to request vacation time.After analyzing the data,the nurse has concluded that nurses with the most seniority will be able to choose vacation times first.What essential cognitive skill of critical thinking is the nursing leader using at this time?

A)Self-regulation
B)Explanation
C)Evaluation
D)Inference

Question 8

The nurse leader is aware that critical thinking is more important in health care at this time because of what issues present in health-care organizations today?

A)Nurses must process more information than before.
B)Nurses are required to carry a heavier patient load than before.
C)Nurses are not adequately prepared in school to care for patients of today.
D)Nurses do not have the requisite computer skills necessary for patient care documentation.

Question 9

The nurse leader has received a complaint from a number of staff members that the process of daily patient care assignments is not resulting in equitable workloads.What is the first cognitive skill that the nurse leader should utilize in using critical thinking to look at this issue?

A)Analysis
B)Interpretation
C)Evaluation
D)Inference