Critical Care Nursing: A Holistic Approach
11th Edition Morton Fontaine Test Bank
, Chapter 1 Critical Care Nursing Practice: Promoting Excellence-
Caring,Collaboration Evidence
Multiple Choice
1. A nurse is the only one in the ICU who has not achieved certification in critical care nursing. She
often will ask her fellow nurses what to do in caring for a patient because she doubts the accuracy of her
knowledge and her intuition. She loves her work but wishes she could do it with a greater level of
competence. What is the most important effect that obtaining certification would likely have on the
nurses practice?
A) Recognition by peers
B) Increase in salary and rank
C) More flexibility in seeking employment
D) Increased confidence in making decisions
2. A hospital interviews two different candidates for a position in the ICU. Both candidates have
around 10 years of experience working in the ICU. Both have excellent interpersonal skills and highly
positive references. One, however, has certification in critical care nursing. Which of the following is the
most compelling and accurate reason for the hospital to hire the candidate with certification?
A) The certified nurse will have more knowledge and expertise.
B) The certified nurse will behave more ethically.
C) The certified nurse will be more caring toward patients.
D) The certified nurse will work more collaboratively with other nurses.
3. A nurse is caring for an elderly man recently admitted to the ICU following a stroke. She
assesses his cognitive function using a new cognitive assessment test she learned about in a recent article
in a nursing journal. She then brings a cup of water and a straw to the patient because she observes that
his lips are dry. Later, she has the patient sit in a wheelchair and takes him to have some blood tests
performed. He objects at first, saying that he can walk on his own, but the nurse explains that it is
hospital policy to use the wheelchair. That evening, she recognizes signs of an imminent stroke in the
patient and immediately pages the physician. Which action taken by the nurse is the best example of
evidence-based practice?
A) Giving the patient a cup of water
B) Transferring the patient in a wheelchair
C) Using the cognitive assessment test
D) Recognizing signs of imminent stroke and paging the physician
4. A nurse is on a committee that is trying to reduce the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections
in the ICU. Her role is to conduct research to find which interventions have been shown to be most
effective in reducing these infections. She consults many different sources and finds conflicting
information. Which of the following sources should she consider the most authoritative?
A) AACN expert panel report
B) A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in the American Journal of Nursing
C) A systematic review of qualitative studies in the Journal of Advanced Nursing
D) A single randomized controlled trial in the American Journal of Critical Care
5. A nurse who has been recently hired to manage the nursing staff of the ICU is concerned at the
lack of evidence-based practice she sees among the staff. Which of the following would be the best step
for her to take to promote incorporating evidence into clinical practice?
A) Only hire nurses certified in critical care nursing.
B) Leave copies of several different nursing journals in the nurses lounge.
C) Demonstrate to the staff the best nursing-related search terms to use in Google or Yahoo!
,D) Introduce the staff to the PubMed search engine and assign them topics to research on it.
6. A physician visits a patient in the ICU while the nurse is out. The patient complains that the pain
medication is not effective and that he would like to receive an increased dose. The physician has the
nurse paged and consults with him in the hallway regarding the patients request for stronger pain
medication. The nurse explains that patient was started on a morphine drip only 20 minutes ago and that
the drug has not had time to take effect yet. The physician agrees and tells the patient to give it just a bit
more time. Which component of a healthy work environment is most evident in this scenario?
A) Skilled communication
B) Appropriate staffing
C) True collaboration
D) Meaningful recognition
7. A nurse in the ICU is responding to a patient who has just gone into cardiac arrest. A moment
later, the nurse is notified that another patient has just gone into anaphylactic shock due to a drug allergy.
She is conflicted as to what to do, as she is the only nurse available at the moment to tend to both
patients. Which component of a healthy work environment is lacking in this scenario?
A) Effective decision making
B) Appropriate staffing
C) Authentic leadership
D) Meaningful recognition
8. An ICU nurse has provided excellent care for a 6-year-old girl who had been admitted to the ICU
for a head injury. The nurse was attentive not only to the needs of the patient but also went out of her
way to care for the needs of the girls family. According to research, which of the following forms of
recognition would the nurse value the most?
A) A card from the girls family
B) A plaque from the ICU physicians naming her as Nurse of the Year
C) A letter of commendation from the hospitals administration
D) A bouquet of flowers from her supervisor
9. A patient in the ICU has recently been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Before being
discharged, this patient will require detailed instructions on how to manage her diet, how to self-inject
insulin, and how to handle future diabetic emergencies. Which nurse competency is most needed in this
situation?
A) Clinical judgment
B) Advocacy and moral agency
C) Caring practices
D) Facilitation of learning
10. An elderly patient is admitted to the ICU with stage IV lung cancer, diabetes mellitus, and
congestive heart failure. The health care team assembled to care for her is large and diverse, including an
oncologist, a pulmonologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, and others. The patient is not expected to
survive more than a few weeks, and her husband is overwhelmed with stress and grief. Which nurse
competency or competencies are most needed in this situation? Select all that apply.
A) Clinical judgment
B) Caring practices
C) Collaboration
D) Response to diversity
11. An Ethiopian man with AIDS has recently been admitted to the ICU with a case of pneumonia.
The man is new to the U.S. and has no health insurance. He would likely be eligible for the states
Medicaid coverage, but does not understand how to access this coverage. Which competency or
competencies are most needed in this situation? Select all that apply.
, A) Clinical judgment
B) Advocacy and moral agency
C) Collaboration
D) Systems thinking
E) Response to diversity
F) Clinical inquiry
12. A nurse decides to seek certification in critical care nursing. What is the most important benefit
for the individual nurse in becoming certified in a specialty?
A) It will result in a salary increase.
B) It is required to work in critical care.
C) It demonstrates the nurses personal expertise.
D) It is mandated by employers.
13. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) sponsors certification in critical care
nursing for several critical care subspecialties. What is the most important benefit of such certification
for the profession of nursing?
A) Provides positive publicity for nursing
B) Validates nurses expert knowledge and practice
C) Mandated by government regulations
D) Demonstrates basic knowledge in the field
14. A nurse has achieved certification in critical care nursing. What is the most important effect that
this certification will have on the nurses practice?
A) Recognition by peers
B) Increase in salary and rank
C) More flexibility in seeking employment
D) Increased confidence in critical thinking
15. The nurse cites evidence-based practice as a rationale for a patient care decision. What is the best
description of evidence-based practice?
A) Decisions based on expert legal testimony
B) Use of best available research data
C) Evolution of nursing practice over time
D) Individual optimization of patient outcomes
16. The nurse caring for a critically ill patient implements several components of care. What
component is an example of the use of evidence-based practice?
A) Use of a protocol for admission of a patient to the unit
B) Application of an insulin sliding scale method from research
C) Checking the patients armband before giving a medication
D) Limiting visits to immediate family only for 2 hours a day
17. The nurse wishes to increase the use of evidence-based practice in the critical care unit where he
works. What is a significant barrier to the implementation of evidence-based practice?
A) Use of computerized records by the hospital
B) Health Information Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA)
C) Lack of knowledge about literature searches
D) Strong collaborative relationships in the work setting
18. The nurse has identified an increase in medication errors in the critical care unit over the past
several months. What aspect of medication procedures should be evaluated first?
A) Adherence to procedures by nursing staff
B) Clarity of interdisciplinary communication
C) Number of new employees on the unit
D) Changes in administration procedures
11th Edition Morton Fontaine Test Bank
, Chapter 1 Critical Care Nursing Practice: Promoting Excellence-
Caring,Collaboration Evidence
Multiple Choice
1. A nurse is the only one in the ICU who has not achieved certification in critical care nursing. She
often will ask her fellow nurses what to do in caring for a patient because she doubts the accuracy of her
knowledge and her intuition. She loves her work but wishes she could do it with a greater level of
competence. What is the most important effect that obtaining certification would likely have on the
nurses practice?
A) Recognition by peers
B) Increase in salary and rank
C) More flexibility in seeking employment
D) Increased confidence in making decisions
2. A hospital interviews two different candidates for a position in the ICU. Both candidates have
around 10 years of experience working in the ICU. Both have excellent interpersonal skills and highly
positive references. One, however, has certification in critical care nursing. Which of the following is the
most compelling and accurate reason for the hospital to hire the candidate with certification?
A) The certified nurse will have more knowledge and expertise.
B) The certified nurse will behave more ethically.
C) The certified nurse will be more caring toward patients.
D) The certified nurse will work more collaboratively with other nurses.
3. A nurse is caring for an elderly man recently admitted to the ICU following a stroke. She
assesses his cognitive function using a new cognitive assessment test she learned about in a recent article
in a nursing journal. She then brings a cup of water and a straw to the patient because she observes that
his lips are dry. Later, she has the patient sit in a wheelchair and takes him to have some blood tests
performed. He objects at first, saying that he can walk on his own, but the nurse explains that it is
hospital policy to use the wheelchair. That evening, she recognizes signs of an imminent stroke in the
patient and immediately pages the physician. Which action taken by the nurse is the best example of
evidence-based practice?
A) Giving the patient a cup of water
B) Transferring the patient in a wheelchair
C) Using the cognitive assessment test
D) Recognizing signs of imminent stroke and paging the physician
4. A nurse is on a committee that is trying to reduce the occurrence of hospital-acquired infections
in the ICU. Her role is to conduct research to find which interventions have been shown to be most
effective in reducing these infections. She consults many different sources and finds conflicting
information. Which of the following sources should she consider the most authoritative?
A) AACN expert panel report
B) A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in the American Journal of Nursing
C) A systematic review of qualitative studies in the Journal of Advanced Nursing
D) A single randomized controlled trial in the American Journal of Critical Care
5. A nurse who has been recently hired to manage the nursing staff of the ICU is concerned at the
lack of evidence-based practice she sees among the staff. Which of the following would be the best step
for her to take to promote incorporating evidence into clinical practice?
A) Only hire nurses certified in critical care nursing.
B) Leave copies of several different nursing journals in the nurses lounge.
C) Demonstrate to the staff the best nursing-related search terms to use in Google or Yahoo!
,D) Introduce the staff to the PubMed search engine and assign them topics to research on it.
6. A physician visits a patient in the ICU while the nurse is out. The patient complains that the pain
medication is not effective and that he would like to receive an increased dose. The physician has the
nurse paged and consults with him in the hallway regarding the patients request for stronger pain
medication. The nurse explains that patient was started on a morphine drip only 20 minutes ago and that
the drug has not had time to take effect yet. The physician agrees and tells the patient to give it just a bit
more time. Which component of a healthy work environment is most evident in this scenario?
A) Skilled communication
B) Appropriate staffing
C) True collaboration
D) Meaningful recognition
7. A nurse in the ICU is responding to a patient who has just gone into cardiac arrest. A moment
later, the nurse is notified that another patient has just gone into anaphylactic shock due to a drug allergy.
She is conflicted as to what to do, as she is the only nurse available at the moment to tend to both
patients. Which component of a healthy work environment is lacking in this scenario?
A) Effective decision making
B) Appropriate staffing
C) Authentic leadership
D) Meaningful recognition
8. An ICU nurse has provided excellent care for a 6-year-old girl who had been admitted to the ICU
for a head injury. The nurse was attentive not only to the needs of the patient but also went out of her
way to care for the needs of the girls family. According to research, which of the following forms of
recognition would the nurse value the most?
A) A card from the girls family
B) A plaque from the ICU physicians naming her as Nurse of the Year
C) A letter of commendation from the hospitals administration
D) A bouquet of flowers from her supervisor
9. A patient in the ICU has recently been diagnosed with diabetes mellitus. Before being
discharged, this patient will require detailed instructions on how to manage her diet, how to self-inject
insulin, and how to handle future diabetic emergencies. Which nurse competency is most needed in this
situation?
A) Clinical judgment
B) Advocacy and moral agency
C) Caring practices
D) Facilitation of learning
10. An elderly patient is admitted to the ICU with stage IV lung cancer, diabetes mellitus, and
congestive heart failure. The health care team assembled to care for her is large and diverse, including an
oncologist, a pulmonologist, an endocrinologist, a cardiologist, and others. The patient is not expected to
survive more than a few weeks, and her husband is overwhelmed with stress and grief. Which nurse
competency or competencies are most needed in this situation? Select all that apply.
A) Clinical judgment
B) Caring practices
C) Collaboration
D) Response to diversity
11. An Ethiopian man with AIDS has recently been admitted to the ICU with a case of pneumonia.
The man is new to the U.S. and has no health insurance. He would likely be eligible for the states
Medicaid coverage, but does not understand how to access this coverage. Which competency or
competencies are most needed in this situation? Select all that apply.
, A) Clinical judgment
B) Advocacy and moral agency
C) Collaboration
D) Systems thinking
E) Response to diversity
F) Clinical inquiry
12. A nurse decides to seek certification in critical care nursing. What is the most important benefit
for the individual nurse in becoming certified in a specialty?
A) It will result in a salary increase.
B) It is required to work in critical care.
C) It demonstrates the nurses personal expertise.
D) It is mandated by employers.
13. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) sponsors certification in critical care
nursing for several critical care subspecialties. What is the most important benefit of such certification
for the profession of nursing?
A) Provides positive publicity for nursing
B) Validates nurses expert knowledge and practice
C) Mandated by government regulations
D) Demonstrates basic knowledge in the field
14. A nurse has achieved certification in critical care nursing. What is the most important effect that
this certification will have on the nurses practice?
A) Recognition by peers
B) Increase in salary and rank
C) More flexibility in seeking employment
D) Increased confidence in critical thinking
15. The nurse cites evidence-based practice as a rationale for a patient care decision. What is the best
description of evidence-based practice?
A) Decisions based on expert legal testimony
B) Use of best available research data
C) Evolution of nursing practice over time
D) Individual optimization of patient outcomes
16. The nurse caring for a critically ill patient implements several components of care. What
component is an example of the use of evidence-based practice?
A) Use of a protocol for admission of a patient to the unit
B) Application of an insulin sliding scale method from research
C) Checking the patients armband before giving a medication
D) Limiting visits to immediate family only for 2 hours a day
17. The nurse wishes to increase the use of evidence-based practice in the critical care unit where he
works. What is a significant barrier to the implementation of evidence-based practice?
A) Use of computerized records by the hospital
B) Health Information Privacy and Portability Act (HIPPA)
C) Lack of knowledge about literature searches
D) Strong collaborative relationships in the work setting
18. The nurse has identified an increase in medication errors in the critical care unit over the past
several months. What aspect of medication procedures should be evaluated first?
A) Adherence to procedures by nursing staff
B) Clarity of interdisciplinary communication
C) Number of new employees on the unit
D) Changes in administration procedures
