,Chapter 1: Public Health and Nursing Practice
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. Public health nurses (PHNs) know they must approach a public health issue with an understanding of the
related underlying risk factors to develop effective nursing interventions. They evaluate these risk factors
from two perspectives:
1. Disease; individual
2. Intervention; government
3. Epidemic; population
4. Individual; population
2. A nursing student is studying public health. She learns that, according to C.E.A. Winslow’s definition, some
of the goals of public health include disease prevention, promoting health, control of communicable
infections, and .
1. Risk assessment for disease
2. Promotion of primary care
3. Organization of medical and nursing services for the early diagnosis and preventive
treatment of disease
4. Governmental safety regulations
3. If the international medical community was working to contain several worldwide pandemics, they would
look to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is:
1. The public health arm of the United Nations.
2. Working to improve health and well-being for the global population.
3. Working with nurses to promote public health interventions.
4. All of the above.
4. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), now known as the Health and Medicine Division (HMD) of the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, stated in their report, The Future of the Public’s Health,
that there are three core functions that society carries out to collectively support the optimum conditions for
public health. Which one of the following is not one of these functions?
1. Prevention
2. Assessment
3. Policy development
4. Assurance
5. With aging, there is an increased prevalence of both noncommunicable (chronic) and communicable disease
(NCD). The most pressing issue from a public health perspective based on this increase is:
1. An increased demand for long-term care
2. An increased need for further research
3. Further exploration of the developmental stages related to aging
4. Decreased cost of medications.
6. A PHN would like to use the Dahlgren-Whitehead model to help herself and other local practitioners
understand health in populations. She understands that the Dahlgren-Whitehead ecological model assumes
that:
1. There are multiple determinants of health, and thus multiple strategies are needed.
2. A population and environmental approach is essential.
3. Linkages and relationships are crucial.
, 4. All of the above.
7. The PHN completed a community assessment and found that the obesity rate in one of the neighborhoods was
higher than the other neighborhoods in the county. She suspects that this is partially due to limited access to
full-service grocery stores and a lack of dedicated safe venues for exercise. Assuming her conclusion is
correct, what category or categories of determinants of health would these issues within the community fall
into?
1. Upstream determinants of health
2. Downstream determinants of health
3. Behavioral determinants of health
4. Genetic determinants of health
8. Two PHNs working in a large urban community notice that community members are rarely engaged in the
process of planning interventions aimed at addressing a particular increase in a specific disease in the
community. For their next project, they include community collaboration as an essential component of the
development, implementation, and evaluation of the program. When questioned by others, they report that
there is evidence that community collaboration increases effectiveness and productivity, empowers the
participants, strengthens social engagement, and .
1. Decreases disease rates
2. Ensures accountability
3. Increases the availability of treatment for the targeted disease
4. Improves screening rates
9. Which one of the following scenarios is not an example of community collaboration?
1. Local service groups working to organize disaster relief for tornado victims
2. A city council passing an ordinance to stop smoking in restaurants
3. An advocacy group working with the local churches to improve health care for the
indigent with mental health disorders
4. A school working with the local health department to start a school clinic
10. Which layer of government is primarily responsible for issuing quarantines during a communicable disease
outbreak?
1. Federal
2. State
3. Local
4. All of the above
11. As a PHN in a small local public health department, you understand that based on federal mandates your
public health department routinely performs all but which of the following?
1. Surveillance of disease at the local level
2. Investigation of disease outbreaks
3. Licensing of local hospitals
4. Quarantine
12. The PHN recognizes that environmental science, epidemiology, biostatistics, biomedical sciences, and
form the foundational subjects of public health.
1. Economics
2. The humanities
3. Social and behavioral sciences
4. Anthropology
13. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), an example of a health promotion intervention is
whereas a risk reduction/health protection intervention is .
, 1. Conducting a health fair; funding a school exercise program
2. Giving a free exercise class; conducting a flu vaccine outreach program
3. Providing flu medication free to older adults; a diet class for teenagers
4. Offering a tour of a hospital; a relaxation technique class
14. From a health promotion perspective, how could an occupational health nurse advise a company to encourage
its employees to work towards good health?
1. Lower insurance premiums for employees who demonstrate good health habits
2. Have employee exercise classes or discounted health club memberships
3. Have incentives for healthy eating
4. All of the above
15. Diversity refers to all of but which of these concepts?
1. Race
2. Culture
3. Ethnicity
4. Environment
Multiple Response
Identify one or more choices that best complete the statement or answer the question.
16. Many of the emerging threats for public health are tied to increasing globalization. Which of the following
reflect these globalization threats? (Select all that apply.)
1. Greater disparities between rich and poor
2. Greater need for newer technology
3. Greater distribution of tobacco and alcohol
4. Emergence or re-emergence of communicable diseases
5. Increased need for improved transportation
17. Several nurses who work in the emergency department of an urban hospital notice during the evening shift
that a number of children in a certain ethnic population have all come in presenting with similar symptoms.
The first step the nurses take to address the issue is which of the following? (Select all that apply.)
1. Increase antibiotic therapy availability
2. Identify characteristics of the disease
3. Group patients by diagnosis
4. Notify the public health department
5. Assess the environment of the patients
18. The six standards of practice for public health nursing include which of the following? (Select all that
apply.)
1. Assessment
2. Population diagnosis and priorities
3. Outcomes identification
4. Planning
5. Mitigation
19. Which of the following activities of PHNs reflect the PHN Core Competencies? (Select all that apply.)
1. Develop policy for handling a local quarantine.
2. Understand dietary restrictions when planning a program for new immigrants.
3. Create a financial plan for implementing a community level health intervention.
4. Develop a treatment plan for persons with a specific communicable disease.
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
1. Public health nurses (PHNs) know they must approach a public health issue with an understanding of the
related underlying risk factors to develop effective nursing interventions. They evaluate these risk factors
from two perspectives:
1. Disease; individual
2. Intervention; government
3. Epidemic; population
4. Individual; population
2. A nursing student is studying public health. She learns that, according to C.E.A. Winslow’s definition, some
of the goals of public health include disease prevention, promoting health, control of communicable
infections, and .
1. Risk assessment for disease
2. Promotion of primary care
3. Organization of medical and nursing services for the early diagnosis and preventive
treatment of disease
4. Governmental safety regulations
3. If the international medical community was working to contain several worldwide pandemics, they would
look to the World Health Organization (WHO), which is:
1. The public health arm of the United Nations.
2. Working to improve health and well-being for the global population.
3. Working with nurses to promote public health interventions.
4. All of the above.
4. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), now known as the Health and Medicine Division (HMD) of the National
Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, stated in their report, The Future of the Public’s Health,
that there are three core functions that society carries out to collectively support the optimum conditions for
public health. Which one of the following is not one of these functions?
1. Prevention
2. Assessment
3. Policy development
4. Assurance
5. With aging, there is an increased prevalence of both noncommunicable (chronic) and communicable disease
(NCD). The most pressing issue from a public health perspective based on this increase is:
1. An increased demand for long-term care
2. An increased need for further research
3. Further exploration of the developmental stages related to aging
4. Decreased cost of medications.
6. A PHN would like to use the Dahlgren-Whitehead model to help herself and other local practitioners
understand health in populations. She understands that the Dahlgren-Whitehead ecological model assumes
that:
1. There are multiple determinants of health, and thus multiple strategies are needed.
2. A population and environmental approach is essential.
3. Linkages and relationships are crucial.
, 4. All of the above.
7. The PHN completed a community assessment and found that the obesity rate in one of the neighborhoods was
higher than the other neighborhoods in the county. She suspects that this is partially due to limited access to
full-service grocery stores and a lack of dedicated safe venues for exercise. Assuming her conclusion is
correct, what category or categories of determinants of health would these issues within the community fall
into?
1. Upstream determinants of health
2. Downstream determinants of health
3. Behavioral determinants of health
4. Genetic determinants of health
8. Two PHNs working in a large urban community notice that community members are rarely engaged in the
process of planning interventions aimed at addressing a particular increase in a specific disease in the
community. For their next project, they include community collaboration as an essential component of the
development, implementation, and evaluation of the program. When questioned by others, they report that
there is evidence that community collaboration increases effectiveness and productivity, empowers the
participants, strengthens social engagement, and .
1. Decreases disease rates
2. Ensures accountability
3. Increases the availability of treatment for the targeted disease
4. Improves screening rates
9. Which one of the following scenarios is not an example of community collaboration?
1. Local service groups working to organize disaster relief for tornado victims
2. A city council passing an ordinance to stop smoking in restaurants
3. An advocacy group working with the local churches to improve health care for the
indigent with mental health disorders
4. A school working with the local health department to start a school clinic
10. Which layer of government is primarily responsible for issuing quarantines during a communicable disease
outbreak?
1. Federal
2. State
3. Local
4. All of the above
11. As a PHN in a small local public health department, you understand that based on federal mandates your
public health department routinely performs all but which of the following?
1. Surveillance of disease at the local level
2. Investigation of disease outbreaks
3. Licensing of local hospitals
4. Quarantine
12. The PHN recognizes that environmental science, epidemiology, biostatistics, biomedical sciences, and
form the foundational subjects of public health.
1. Economics
2. The humanities
3. Social and behavioral sciences
4. Anthropology
13. As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), an example of a health promotion intervention is
whereas a risk reduction/health protection intervention is .
, 1. Conducting a health fair; funding a school exercise program
2. Giving a free exercise class; conducting a flu vaccine outreach program
3. Providing flu medication free to older adults; a diet class for teenagers
4. Offering a tour of a hospital; a relaxation technique class
14. From a health promotion perspective, how could an occupational health nurse advise a company to encourage
its employees to work towards good health?
1. Lower insurance premiums for employees who demonstrate good health habits
2. Have employee exercise classes or discounted health club memberships
3. Have incentives for healthy eating
4. All of the above
15. Diversity refers to all of but which of these concepts?
1. Race
2. Culture
3. Ethnicity
4. Environment
Multiple Response
Identify one or more choices that best complete the statement or answer the question.
16. Many of the emerging threats for public health are tied to increasing globalization. Which of the following
reflect these globalization threats? (Select all that apply.)
1. Greater disparities between rich and poor
2. Greater need for newer technology
3. Greater distribution of tobacco and alcohol
4. Emergence or re-emergence of communicable diseases
5. Increased need for improved transportation
17. Several nurses who work in the emergency department of an urban hospital notice during the evening shift
that a number of children in a certain ethnic population have all come in presenting with similar symptoms.
The first step the nurses take to address the issue is which of the following? (Select all that apply.)
1. Increase antibiotic therapy availability
2. Identify characteristics of the disease
3. Group patients by diagnosis
4. Notify the public health department
5. Assess the environment of the patients
18. The six standards of practice for public health nursing include which of the following? (Select all that
apply.)
1. Assessment
2. Population diagnosis and priorities
3. Outcomes identification
4. Planning
5. Mitigation
19. Which of the following activities of PHNs reflect the PHN Core Competencies? (Select all that apply.)
1. Develop policy for handling a local quarantine.
2. Understand dietary restrictions when planning a program for new immigrants.
3. Create a financial plan for implementing a community level health intervention.
4. Develop a treatment plan for persons with a specific communicable disease.
