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Evidence-Based Nursing Research and Practice Final Exam
1. Nursing research is significant to the profession of nursing because it promotes:
a. More specifically defined nursing practice responsibilities
b. Decreased liability within the practice of nursing
c. Generation of a specialized body of nursing knowledge for use in nursing practice
d. Expansion of the scope of nursing practice into other disciplines
2. An aspect of the scientific investigation of nursing practice that is also a fundamental concept of
American Nurses Association (ANA)’s Code for Nurses is:
a. Professional accountability
b. Standards of care
c. Legal scope of practice
d. Advanced practice nursing activities
3. The action that demonstrates the role of a knowledgeable consumer of nursing research is:
a. Designing a nursing research study
b. Analyzing data to determine a study’s outcome
c. Evaluating the credibility of research findings
d. Implementing an intervention found to be effective in one clinical study
4. Which statement describes the role of the nurse in research?
a. Nurses must be prepared at the baccalaureate or higher level of education to have any role in
nursing research
b. Nurses with master’s or high levels of education are solely responsible for applying research to
clinical practice
c. The research role of nurses prepared at both baccalaureate and master’s levels of education
includes critical appraisal skills
d. Regardless of the nursing education level, only the nurse with the most comprehensive
understanding of statistical methods should interpret research findings.
5. What is the primary value of evidence-based nursing practice?
a. Implementing the most cost-effective nursing practices when providing patient care
b. Incorporating research findings with clinical expertise when individualizing patient care
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c. Separating nursing research as unique from the research of other disciplines
d. Developing new nursing theories to promote the growth of nursing practice
6. Which of the following is a critical step for the quality improvement process in health care settings?
a. Outlining general long-range goals
b. Identifying current successful practices
c. Testing practice changes slowly and tentatively
d. Adopting a practice change as a new standard of care
7. The difference between a research question and a hypothesis is:
a. A research question is practice based, and a hypothesis is theory based
b. A hypothesis attempts to answer the question posed by the research problem
c. A research problem defines clinical research and a hypothesis defines basic research
d. There is no difference between a research problem and a hypothesis
8. A nurse makes these statements. Which one has the greatest potential as an area of nursing research?
a. “Most of our hospital’s admissions come in at night.”
b. “It is difficult to find personnel willing to work the nightshift.”
c. “It seems that most of the patient falls on our unit occur during the nightshift.”
d. “The personnel on the nightshift are not attending promptly to the needs of our patients.”
9. The nurse has identified a clinical problem as a potential research question. The next step should be:
a. Identify the variables
b. Formulate the research hypothesis
c. Perform a literature review
d. Determine financial resources for the research project
10. In a research study, properties of interest that differ in value are:
a. Variables
b. Concepts
c. Hypotheses
d. Assumptions
11. The most significant difference between independent and dependent variables is:
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a. The dependent variable should change in response to manipulation by the independent variable
b. The independent variable should change in response to manipulation by the dependent variable
c. Although both the dependent and independent variables are manipulated, only the dependent
variable is considered an intervention.
d. Although both the dependent and independent variables are manipulated, only the independent
variable is considered an intervention
12. What is the purpose of a hypothesis for any study?
a. To identify the dependent and independent variables
b. To provide direction for the study by indicating the expected outcomes
c. To define the appropriate measures needed to test the research problem
d. To provide a means of determining the feasibility of the proposed study
13. The review of literature is important to the research process because:
a. It guides all steps of the research process
b. It provides a vehicle to disseminate the findings of the study
c. It guides only the conceptualization of the problem statement
d. It identifies only gaps or inconsistencies in the knowledge base
14. For which of these reasons would a nurse researcher decide to use a secondary source in a review of
the literature?
a. They provide material written by the person who conducted the study
b. They provide a different way of looking at specific issues or problems
c. They define the relationship of two or more variables affecting an outcome
d. They supplement they body of nursing knowledge in a specific area of practice
15. Which is an example of a primary source in a literature review?
a. A video recorded interview of a nurse researcher
b. A critique of a nursing research study
c. An edited textbook on nursing research
d. A review of theoretical frameworks used in nursing research
16. Which is an example of a secondary source in a literature review?
Evidence-Based Nursing Research and Practice Final Exam
1. Nursing research is significant to the profession of nursing because it promotes:
a. More specifically defined nursing practice responsibilities
b. Decreased liability within the practice of nursing
c. Generation of a specialized body of nursing knowledge for use in nursing practice
d. Expansion of the scope of nursing practice into other disciplines
2. An aspect of the scientific investigation of nursing practice that is also a fundamental concept of
American Nurses Association (ANA)’s Code for Nurses is:
a. Professional accountability
b. Standards of care
c. Legal scope of practice
d. Advanced practice nursing activities
3. The action that demonstrates the role of a knowledgeable consumer of nursing research is:
a. Designing a nursing research study
b. Analyzing data to determine a study’s outcome
c. Evaluating the credibility of research findings
d. Implementing an intervention found to be effective in one clinical study
4. Which statement describes the role of the nurse in research?
a. Nurses must be prepared at the baccalaureate or higher level of education to have any role in
nursing research
b. Nurses with master’s or high levels of education are solely responsible for applying research to
clinical practice
c. The research role of nurses prepared at both baccalaureate and master’s levels of education
includes critical appraisal skills
d. Regardless of the nursing education level, only the nurse with the most comprehensive
understanding of statistical methods should interpret research findings.
5. What is the primary value of evidence-based nursing practice?
a. Implementing the most cost-effective nursing practices when providing patient care
b. Incorporating research findings with clinical expertise when individualizing patient care
,2
c. Separating nursing research as unique from the research of other disciplines
d. Developing new nursing theories to promote the growth of nursing practice
6. Which of the following is a critical step for the quality improvement process in health care settings?
a. Outlining general long-range goals
b. Identifying current successful practices
c. Testing practice changes slowly and tentatively
d. Adopting a practice change as a new standard of care
7. The difference between a research question and a hypothesis is:
a. A research question is practice based, and a hypothesis is theory based
b. A hypothesis attempts to answer the question posed by the research problem
c. A research problem defines clinical research and a hypothesis defines basic research
d. There is no difference between a research problem and a hypothesis
8. A nurse makes these statements. Which one has the greatest potential as an area of nursing research?
a. “Most of our hospital’s admissions come in at night.”
b. “It is difficult to find personnel willing to work the nightshift.”
c. “It seems that most of the patient falls on our unit occur during the nightshift.”
d. “The personnel on the nightshift are not attending promptly to the needs of our patients.”
9. The nurse has identified a clinical problem as a potential research question. The next step should be:
a. Identify the variables
b. Formulate the research hypothesis
c. Perform a literature review
d. Determine financial resources for the research project
10. In a research study, properties of interest that differ in value are:
a. Variables
b. Concepts
c. Hypotheses
d. Assumptions
11. The most significant difference between independent and dependent variables is:
, 3
a. The dependent variable should change in response to manipulation by the independent variable
b. The independent variable should change in response to manipulation by the dependent variable
c. Although both the dependent and independent variables are manipulated, only the dependent
variable is considered an intervention.
d. Although both the dependent and independent variables are manipulated, only the independent
variable is considered an intervention
12. What is the purpose of a hypothesis for any study?
a. To identify the dependent and independent variables
b. To provide direction for the study by indicating the expected outcomes
c. To define the appropriate measures needed to test the research problem
d. To provide a means of determining the feasibility of the proposed study
13. The review of literature is important to the research process because:
a. It guides all steps of the research process
b. It provides a vehicle to disseminate the findings of the study
c. It guides only the conceptualization of the problem statement
d. It identifies only gaps or inconsistencies in the knowledge base
14. For which of these reasons would a nurse researcher decide to use a secondary source in a review of
the literature?
a. They provide material written by the person who conducted the study
b. They provide a different way of looking at specific issues or problems
c. They define the relationship of two or more variables affecting an outcome
d. They supplement they body of nursing knowledge in a specific area of practice
15. Which is an example of a primary source in a literature review?
a. A video recorded interview of a nurse researcher
b. A critique of a nursing research study
c. An edited textbook on nursing research
d. A review of theoretical frameworks used in nursing research
16. Which is an example of a secondary source in a literature review?
