Question 1

In your role as the nurse at a genetics clinic, you are reviewing the health and genetic history of a woman whose mother died of breast cancer. Which of the following is the most important factor documented in the patients genetic history?

Accepted Answer

A)  Three generations of information about the family 
B)  Current medications taken 
C)  Health problems present in the womans children 
D)  Immunizations received for the past three generations

Question 2

Genetics-related health care is a component of holistic nursing practice. What action should a nurse who practices in the area of genetics prioritize?

Accepted Answer

A)  Teaching families about the different patterns of inheritance 
B)  Gathering relevant family and medical history information 
C)  Providing advice on termination of pregnancy 
D)  Discouraging females from conceiving after the age of 40 years

Question 3

A pregnant woman has a child at home who has been diagnosed with neurofibromatosis 1 . She asks the nurse what she should look for in her new baby that would indicate that it also has neurofibromatosis 1 . What sign should the nurse instruct the woman to look for in the new baby?

Accepted Answer

A)  Increased urination 
B)  Projectile vomiting 
C)  Caf-au-lait spots 
D)  Xanthoma

Question 4

A couple have come to the genetics clinic for their first visit. In taking their history, the nurse learns that they are both Ashkenazi Jews. For what health problem would this couple be genetically screened?

Accepted Answer

A)  Huntington disease 
B)  Trisomy 21 
C)  Alzheimers disease 
D)  Canavan disease

Question 5

A 47-year-old patient with osteoarthritis and hypertension is diagnosed with breast cancer. She tells the nurse that her mother also suffered from osteoarthritis and hypertension, and she developed breast cancer at the age of 51 years. The nurse should recognize that this patients health status may be the result of what phenomenon?

Accepted Answer

A)  X-linked inheritance 
B)  Autosomal recessive inheritance 
C)  Autosomal dominant inheritance 
D)  Multifactorial inheritance

Question 6

During the admission assessment, the nurse notes many caf-au-lait spots on the patients trunk, back, neck, and legs and suspects that the patient has neurofibromatosis. Based on the nurses knowledge of neurofibromatosis, the nurse understands that a single family member has which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A)  A spontaneous mutation 
B)  A germline mutation 
C)  A nondisjunction 
D)  A monosomy

Question 7

For what health problem would a patient of African American heritage most likely have genetic carrier testing?

Accepted Answer

A)  Meckels diverticulum 
B)  Sickle cell anemia 
C)  Huntington disease 
D)  Rubella

Question 8

A nurse is participating in the assessment portion of a couples genetic screening and testing. Early in the assessment of the couples family history, the nurse learns that the husbands father and the wifes father are brothers. The nurse recognizes that this greatly increases the couples risk of what health problems?

Accepted Answer

A)  Diseases that have a multifactorial pattern of inheritance 
B)  Diseases with autosomal recessive inheritance 
C)  Autosomal dominant disease 
D)  X-linked diseases

Question 9

A nurse who practices in a clinic that provides genetic counseling has obtained a clients family history. This nurse has consequently completed the first step in what process?

Accepted Answer

A)  Establishing the pattern of inheritance 
B)  Influencing the clients genetic future 
C)  Answering the clients genetic questions 
D)  Answering the clients relational questions

Question 10

To explain the concept of autosomal recessive inheritance, a nurse is using the example of two parents with two recessive genes each for six toes. What is the chance that this couple will have a child with six toes?

Accepted Answer

A)  25% 
B)  50% 
C)  75% 
D)  100%

Question 11

An adult patient has undergone genetic testing and the results reveal a genetic mutation that allows clinicians to make accurate predictions about disease onset and progression. This model for presymptomatic testing is most likely being used to address what disease?

Accepted Answer

A)  Alzheimers disease 
B)  Huntington disease 
C)  Tay-Sachs disease 
D)  Sickle cell disease

Question 12

A 40-year-old man who has been separated from his father since early childhood tells the nurse that his father recently contacted him to inform him that he is dying of Huntington disease. What is an essential component of care for this patient?

Accepted Answer

A)  Assist the patient in determining signs of neuromuscular weakness 
B)  Instruct the man on treatment options for Huntington disease 
C)  Teach the man how to avoid passing Huntington disease to his own children 
D)  Provide genetic counseling, evaluation, and testing for the disease

Question 13

A nurse is providing care for a young couple who wish to start a family. In response to one of the couples questions, the nurse is describing the concept of personalized medicine. To explain this concept adequately, the nurse must understand which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A)  That personalized medicine is, by definition, holistic 
B)  That collaboration is essential in genomic medicine 
C)  The ethical basis for genomic medicine 
D)  The new technologies and treatments of genetic- and genomic-based health care

Question 14

Three sisters decide to have genetic testing done because their mother and their maternal grandmother died of breast cancer. Each of the sisters has the BRCA1 gene mutation. The nurse explains that just because they have the gene does not necessarily mean that they will develop breast cancer. On what does the nurse explain their chances of developing breast cancer depend?

Accepted Answer

A)  Sensitivity 
B)  Conductivity 
C)  Penetrance 
D)  Susceptibility

Question 15

A nurse is participating in genetic counseling for a couple who are considering trying to conceive. After the couple receives the results of genetic testing, the nurse should prioritize which of the following?

Accepted Answer

A)  Secondary illness prevention 
B)  Psychosocial support 
C)  Gene therapy 
D)  Assessing adherence to treatment

Question 16

A patient comes to the clinic for genetic testing. The nurse asks the patient to sign consent forms to
Obtain the patients medical records. The patient wants to know why the geneticist needs their old medical records. What is the nurses best response?

Accepted Answer

A)  We always get old medical records just in case we need them. 
B)  This is just part of the due diligence that we practice here at the clinic. 
C)  Your medical information is needed so we can provide the appropriate information and counseling to you. 
D)  We need your medical records in case there is something about your medical history that you forget to tell us.

Question 17

You are the nurse documenting the family history of an 81-year-old female patient newly diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. What knowledge would influence your nursing considerations for genetic testing?

Accepted Answer

A)  What genetic tests predict the patients husbands risk of Alzheimers disease 
B)  What actions the geneticist has recommended for treating the disease 
C)  The genetic bases of adult-onset conditions such as Alzheimers disease 
D)  Whether any of the patients peers have Alzheimers disease

Question 18

A woman with both heart disease and osteoarthritis has come to the genetics clinic for genetic screening. What would the nurse know about these two diseases?

Accepted Answer

A)  They are multifactorial. 
B)  They are direct result of the patients lifestyle. 
C)  They are caused by a single gene. 
D)  They do not have a genetic basis.

Question 19

A woman has come to the clinic for her first prenatal visit after becoming pregnant for the first time. She asks the nurse about age guidelines for genetic counseling and prenatal testing. The nurse informs the patient that genetic counseling and prenatal testing should be performed for all pregnant women in which age group?

Accepted Answer

A)  18 to 21 
B)  40 and older 
C)  35 and older 
D) 18 and under

Exam 8: Overview of Genetics and Genomics in Nursing