Public Health Nursing Practice 4th Edition – Test Bank

Public Health Nursing Practice 4th Edition – Test Bank

Maurer: Community/Public Health Nursing Practice, 4th Edition

Chapter 01: Responsibilities for Care in Community/Public Health Nursing

Test Bank

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. A community/public health nurse is best defined as a nurse who:

A.	Applies concepts and knowledge from nursing and public health.
B.	Gives care to families in the community.
C.	Has a baccalaureate and previous experience in community health.
D.	Is employed outside an institution such as a hospital or care facility.

ANS: A

Community/public health nurses synthesize all their nursing expertise as well as knowledge from public health.

Cognitive Level: Knowledge

REF: Text page 3

2. Sometimes persons try to distinguish between community health nursing and public health nursing. The only clear distinction is that the community health nurse:

A.	Gives care in community settings regardless of personal education, whereas public health nurses have specific educational preparation.
B.	Is a title that has historically been used, whereas public health nursing is the new “in” title for the role.
C.	Is employed to give care to families and groups, whereas the public health nurse works in public health departments.
D.	Is the broader term, which includes public health nursing, school nursing, home health nursing, etc.

ANS: A

Public health nurses synthesize all their nursing expertise as well as knowledge from public health, whereas nurses with varied educational backgrounds may be employed in community settings, a much broader classification.

Cognitive Level: Knowledge

REF: Text page 3

3. Nurses do all of the following. Which is a unique function of community/public health nurses?

A.	Care for the sick and dying
B.	Committed to help clients
C.	Focus on the client as a member of the community
D.	Give holistic care to clients in the presence of their families

ANS: C

All of the above may be done by all nurses except focusing on the community environment.

Cognitive Level: Knowledge

REF: Text page 4

4. What is the value of discussing our vision for health of the community? Select all that apply.

A.	Assists others in seeking possibilities they may not have thought possible.
B.	Encourages others to become partners in a specific project.
C.	Forces others to think about health issues and nurses’ power.
D.	Helps coerce others to become partners in the nurse’s dream.
E.	Helps divert attention from issues pushed by other professions.
F.	Such sharing when others agree can become a source of energy and motivation for all.

ANS: A, B, F 

Discussing our dream or vision empowers us and helps us remember why we do what we do. It also allows others to become involved and to recognize new possibilities. Expressing our visions also provides an opportunity for others to become partners in working for what might be, not only the broader vision but also in relation to specific projects. Nurses do not force or coerce others and often work with other professions on issues related to health. 

Cognitive Level: Knowledge

REF: Text page 5

5. What is the appropriate approach for the community/public health nurse in balancing individual privacy and autonomy and the community’s needs for safety and security?

A.	Always fulfill agency policies first.
B.	Implement professional standards of nursing practice.
C.	Obey all legal mandates.
D.	Remember that group needs outrank individual needs.
E.	Seek a balance between individuals’ needs and the community’s needs.

ANS: E

While the nurse’s practice should be consistent with employing agency policies, legal mandates, and professional standards, the nurse must seek a balance between individual autonomy and other individual rights and the rights of all other community members. It is a delicate balance.

Cognitive Level: Knowledge

REF: Text page 6

6. When caring for a family or community, what is one of the most important variables for the care to be acceptable to the recipients?

A.	According to the textbook or procedure manual
B.	Consistent with agency policies
C.	Consistent with legal rules and regulations
D.	Culturally congruent
E.	The least expensive option if all are equally effective

ANS: D

While the nurse should do all of the above, for recipients to accept the care, the care must be consistent with their cultural expectations and norms.

Cognitive Level: Application

REF: Text page 7

7. What is the meaning of the term aggregate as used in community health?

A.	A group of people who reside in a specific geographic area
B.	All of the people who live in a specific community
C.	A set of persons having some characteristic in common
D.	“The public” in professional terminology

ANS: C

By definition, an aggregate is a group of persons who have one or more characteristics in common, particularly a set of persons under statistical study with some common personal or environmental characteristic. Aggregate is a synonym for population.

Cognitive Level: Knowledge

REF: Text page 10

8. In a situation in which there are not enough resources to care for everyone who wants and could benefit from care, what would an ethical community/public health nurse do?

A.	Ask the agency supervisor how to approach this problem.
B.	Focus on basic services such as immunization for everyone in the community.
C.	Give care to everyone who can pay the cost of whatever care they might need.
D.	Follow agency policies, whatever those policies might be.
E.	Give care to those workers and their families who have insurance to pay for their care.

ANS: B

To provide for the greatest good to the greatest number, it is often necessary to focus on basic services, such as immunization or prenatal care, because such care has the most effect on the whole community.

Cognitive Level: Application

REF: Text page 12

9. When faced with an ethical conflict about limited resources and unlimited need, which action is the most just?

A.	Give care to those patients whose needs most closely match the nurse’s abilities.
B.	Give care to whichever prospective clients ask for care first.
C.	Just work as hard as you can and do not worry about it.
D.	Follow personal clinical expertise and preferences.
E.	Try to achieve the outcome of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

ANS: E

While option B fulfills the criteria of egalitarian (equal) justice, it is a short-term answer to an ongoing problem. Option E describes a utilitarian approach to justice, which is more helpful when dealing with large populations such as those seen by the community/public health nurse. 

Cognitive Level: Synthesis

REF: Text page 13

10. What document is helpful in describing competent and appropriate nursing care in the community?

A.	Community Health: Standards of Nursing
B.	Healthy People 2010
C.	The Joint Commission: The Comprehensive Accreditation Manual
D.	Public Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice

ANS: D

The document Public Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2007) was developed in concert with the steps of the nursing process to help nurses promote the health of people. There is no such document as Community Health: Standards of Nursing. 

Cognitive Level: Knowledge