Test Bank: The New Leadership Challenge
A nurse manager is experiencing poor staff morale on her unit. While participating in a
baccalaureate course, the nurse manager had learned that one of the reasons nurses lack
power today is related to the past. In the early decades of the profession, nurses lacked power
because:
a. nurses freely chose to defer to physicians and administrators with more education.
b. women lacked legal, social, and political power because of legal and cultural barriers.
c. the first nursing licensure laws prohibited nurses from making most decisions.
d. nurses astutely recognized the risks of grabbing too much power too soon. - ANSWERSb.
women lacked legal, social, and political power because of legal and cultural barriers.
Nurses who engage in infighting, seek physician support against nursing colleagues, and avoid
political advocacy through membership in nursing organizations:
a. refuse to believe that they are acting like members of groups that suffer socioeconomic
oppression.
b. do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the whole
profession
. c. purposefully choose to exercise their power in the workplace through indirect means.
d. suffer from learned helplessness as a result of abuse by powerful nurse executives -
ANSWERSb. do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the
whole profession
A nurse belongs to several professional organizations, serving on a state-level committee of one
group and on two task forces at work. The nurse is committed to a range of health issues and
knows the state senator from the nurse's district, as well as the name of the representative in
Washington, DC. This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nursing?
a. Gladiator
b. Buy-in
c. Self-interest
,d. Political astuteness - ANSWERSd. Political astuteness
A manager relies on his director (immediate supervisor) for advice about enrolling in graduate
school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive. The director may exercise what kinds of
power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?
a. Expert, coercive, and referent
b. Reward, connection, and information
c. Referent, expert, and information
d. Reward, referent, and information - ANSWERSc. Referent, expert, and information
A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit. What approach would
the manager use to most effectively empower the staff of the unit?
a. Discuss the guidelines for the budget cuts with the staff, making the decisions with those
who participate.
b. Inform the staff of the budget cuts in a series of small group meetings and accept their ideas
in writing only.
c. Provide the staff with handouts about the budget cuts and let them make recommendations
in writing.
d. Hold a series of mandatory meetings on the budget cuts, asking staff for ideas on the cuts. -
ANSWERSa. Discuss the guidelines for the budget cuts with the staff, making the decisions with
those who participate.
During orientation of new nurse managers, the chief nursing officer stresses strategies that help
nurse managers to achieve a powerful image. What behaviors best contribute to a powerful
image for the nurse manager?
a. Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile; listening carefully
when problems arise
b. For men, no facial hair, always wearing a suit and tie; for women, always wearing a suit and
high-heeled shoes
, c. Maintaining a soft voice during times of conflict; making unbroken eye contact during
interactions
d. Smiling all the time; always wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase, and, if a woman, wearing no
jewelry - ANSWERSa. Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile;
listening carefully when problems arise
Two nurses approach their manager about a conflict regarding the next month's schedule. The
nurses are talking loudly and at the same time. The manager most effectively uses
communication skills to resolve the conflict by:
a. taking both nurses aside, separately and then together, and charging them with resolving the
problem without her direct intervention.
b. listening to each nurse speak to the other without interruption and asking clarifying
questions to help them resolve the issue themselves. c. separating the nurses, instructing each
to decide how the problem can be resolved, and meeting with them the next day.
d. calling an emergency scheduling committee meeting and asking volunteers to resolve the
conflict between the two nurses. - ANSWERSb. listening to each nurse speak to the other
without interruption and asking clarifying questions to help them resolve the issue themselves
A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a job
search for a middle-management position. What action is least likely to expand her job-
searching network?
a. Reviewing her address book or card file for names and phone numbers of former colleagues
who are now in middle-management positions
b. Making an appointment to meet with a former instructor from her graduate program in
nursing administration
c. Making a long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nurse executive
d. Attending a state-level conferences for nurse managers and executives and volunteering to
help with professional organizations' informal luncheons and receptions - ANSWERSc. Making a
long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nurse executive
A staff nurse asks the nurse manager for a few days off for personal reasons. The nurse manager
turns in the request to the human resources office with a note indicating that the staff nurse has
A nurse manager is experiencing poor staff morale on her unit. While participating in a
baccalaureate course, the nurse manager had learned that one of the reasons nurses lack
power today is related to the past. In the early decades of the profession, nurses lacked power
because:
a. nurses freely chose to defer to physicians and administrators with more education.
b. women lacked legal, social, and political power because of legal and cultural barriers.
c. the first nursing licensure laws prohibited nurses from making most decisions.
d. nurses astutely recognized the risks of grabbing too much power too soon. - ANSWERSb.
women lacked legal, social, and political power because of legal and cultural barriers.
Nurses who engage in infighting, seek physician support against nursing colleagues, and avoid
political advocacy through membership in nursing organizations:
a. refuse to believe that they are acting like members of groups that suffer socioeconomic
oppression.
b. do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the whole
profession
. c. purposefully choose to exercise their power in the workplace through indirect means.
d. suffer from learned helplessness as a result of abuse by powerful nurse executives -
ANSWERSb. do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the
whole profession
A nurse belongs to several professional organizations, serving on a state-level committee of one
group and on two task forces at work. The nurse is committed to a range of health issues and
knows the state senator from the nurse's district, as well as the name of the representative in
Washington, DC. This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nursing?
a. Gladiator
b. Buy-in
c. Self-interest
,d. Political astuteness - ANSWERSd. Political astuteness
A manager relies on his director (immediate supervisor) for advice about enrolling in graduate
school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive. The director may exercise what kinds of
power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?
a. Expert, coercive, and referent
b. Reward, connection, and information
c. Referent, expert, and information
d. Reward, referent, and information - ANSWERSc. Referent, expert, and information
A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit. What approach would
the manager use to most effectively empower the staff of the unit?
a. Discuss the guidelines for the budget cuts with the staff, making the decisions with those
who participate.
b. Inform the staff of the budget cuts in a series of small group meetings and accept their ideas
in writing only.
c. Provide the staff with handouts about the budget cuts and let them make recommendations
in writing.
d. Hold a series of mandatory meetings on the budget cuts, asking staff for ideas on the cuts. -
ANSWERSa. Discuss the guidelines for the budget cuts with the staff, making the decisions with
those who participate.
During orientation of new nurse managers, the chief nursing officer stresses strategies that help
nurse managers to achieve a powerful image. What behaviors best contribute to a powerful
image for the nurse manager?
a. Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile; listening carefully
when problems arise
b. For men, no facial hair, always wearing a suit and tie; for women, always wearing a suit and
high-heeled shoes
, c. Maintaining a soft voice during times of conflict; making unbroken eye contact during
interactions
d. Smiling all the time; always wearing a suit, carrying a briefcase, and, if a woman, wearing no
jewelry - ANSWERSa. Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile;
listening carefully when problems arise
Two nurses approach their manager about a conflict regarding the next month's schedule. The
nurses are talking loudly and at the same time. The manager most effectively uses
communication skills to resolve the conflict by:
a. taking both nurses aside, separately and then together, and charging them with resolving the
problem without her direct intervention.
b. listening to each nurse speak to the other without interruption and asking clarifying
questions to help them resolve the issue themselves. c. separating the nurses, instructing each
to decide how the problem can be resolved, and meeting with them the next day.
d. calling an emergency scheduling committee meeting and asking volunteers to resolve the
conflict between the two nurses. - ANSWERSb. listening to each nurse speak to the other
without interruption and asking clarifying questions to help them resolve the issue themselves
A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a job
search for a middle-management position. What action is least likely to expand her job-
searching network?
a. Reviewing her address book or card file for names and phone numbers of former colleagues
who are now in middle-management positions
b. Making an appointment to meet with a former instructor from her graduate program in
nursing administration
c. Making a long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nurse executive
d. Attending a state-level conferences for nurse managers and executives and volunteering to
help with professional organizations' informal luncheons and receptions - ANSWERSc. Making a
long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nurse executive
A staff nurse asks the nurse manager for a few days off for personal reasons. The nurse manager
turns in the request to the human resources office with a note indicating that the staff nurse has
