Deck 11: Organizing Patient Care

Question 1

A group of nursing students are discussing how staffing affects patient safety.Which nursing student comment if observed by the nursing instructor would warrant intervention?

A)Research has indicated that if staffing is adequate then patients are less likely to develop nosocomial infections.
B)If staffing is adequate with registered nurses (RNs),then patient mortality is decreased.
C)There is little evidence to support that adequate staffing leads to improved patient outcomes.
D)Adequate staffing helps to prevent nursing fatigue leading to better clinical decision making.

Answer 1

There is little evidence to support that adequate staffing leads to improved patient outcomes.

Question 2

Which description best illustrates a type of care delivery model? Select all that apply.

A)Primary nursing focused on the registered nurse being responsible for total patient care at the bedside.
B)A team nursing approach consisted of all registered nurses providing complex care to a group of high acuity patients.
C)Nontraditional models of patient care incorporate non-nursing personnel to deliver patient care.
D)Partnership models focused on decreasing health-care costs while providing patient care.
E)Functional care model focused on the use of registered nurses as the basis for providing total care.

Answer 2

Primary nursing focused on the registered nurse being responsible for total patient care at the bedside.
Nontraditional models of patient care incorporate non-nursing personnel to deliver patient care.
Partnership models focused on decreasing health-care costs while providing patient care.

Question 3

Which factors are seen as being critical to evaluating staffing patterns based on nurse-sensitive quality indicators (National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators [NDNQI])?

A)Only the skill mix of nurses in the clinical setting
B)Skill mix and amount of nursing hours per patient per day
C)Acuity of patients and number of physicians
D)Skill mix and nurse job satisfaction

Answer 3

Skill mix and amount of nursing hours per patient per day

Question 4

Which statement is accurate in describing care delivery models?

A)Total patient care is an example of a contemporary care delivery model.
B)Functional nursing model and team nursing are equivalent models.
C)Lateral communication exists in primary nursing model.
D)Integrated models utilize registered nurses to provide primary care to patients.

Question 5

Inspection of a medical-surgical nursing unit reveals that the unit is understaffed,with several of the nurses asked to continually sign up for overtime to fulfill staffing needs.Prior to this staffing pattern request,nurses were called off due to low patient census.The present situation has now been occurring for several months,and the nurse manager has just received a 2-week notice from one of the staff nurses assigned to the unit.What would one suspect to be occurring based on this observed situation?

A)Teamwork and solidarity on the part of the nursing staff
B)Consistent patient outcomes
C)Poor morale of nursing staff
D)Decrease in nosocomial infections

Question 6

A charge nurse is preparing staffing for the upcoming shift on a medical-surgical unit.Which factor would take priority in planning?

A)Productive time
B)Adequate staffing mix
C)Average daily census
D)High patient acuity

Question 7

When monitoring the productivity of any nursing unit,it is important to consider whether there is evidence of what critical factor?

A)Job satisfaction of staff
B)Quality of care delivered
C)Stable economic costs
D)Adequate staffing

Question 8

According to clinical research findings,what is a higher registered nurse (RN)skill mix associated with?

A)Increased missed care
B)Increased patient complications
C)Increased assessment time
D)Better time management