Exam Questions and CORRECT Answers
Top 3 causes of death in Canada - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. Cancer
2. Heart disease
3. Patient safety incidents
Procedure-related accidents - CORRECT ANSWER - Hospital acquired infections (any
tube that goes into a patient poses a risk)
Performing surgery in wrong anatomical location
Equipment-related accidents - CORRECT ANSWER - Issues with mechanical aspect of
equipment
Patient-inherent accidents - CORRECT ANSWER - accidents (other than falls) in which a
patient is the primary reason for the accident
Number 1 cause of patients injuries in the hospital - CORRECT ANSWER - Falls
A lot of acute care hospitals work with adults
They usually have multiple issues going on (ex: diabetes and heart disease) → putting them in a
new environment increases the risk of falls
Infectious agents - CORRECT ANSWER - Viruses that may spread rapidly through the
unit
Over the next 30 years, it is expected that: a patients safety incident (PSI) will occur in Canada
nearly every minute, and a resulting a death nearly every ______ - CORRECT ANSWER -
13 minutes
,What is the most prevalent patient safety incident in the acute care system in Canada? -
CORRECT ANSWER - Falls and infections are the most common causes
Adverse event (AE) - CORRECT ANSWER - is a type of injury that most frequently is
due to an error in medical or surgical treatment rather than the underlying medical condition of
the patient. Adverse events may be preventable when there is a failure to follow accepted
practice at a system or individual level.
- unintended injury, prolonged hospitalization, or physical disability that results from medical or
surgical patient management.
- complications resulting from prolonged hospitalization or by factors inherent in the healthcare
system.
Sentinel event: - CORRECT ANSWER - When someone dies from an unexpected
outcome
Near miss: - CORRECT ANSWER - When person could have had a bad outcome but
somehow avoided it
Swiss Cheese Model - CORRECT ANSWER - - All sorts of barriers in place (both
physical and not) so errors don't happen
- Maybe there's some issues with the barriers → "holes get poked into barriers"
EX.
- Don't have all the allergies of the patient
- Not enough supervision/mentors for new nurses
- Broken machines
What happens when the nurse/doctor makes a mistake? - CORRECT ANSWER - - Focus
is always on prevention
- Patient-Inherent accidents
- Equipment related accidents
,MEDICATION ERRORS - CORRECT ANSWER - Labels - End user does not usually
design how the medications look.
Illegible writing
Unapproved abbreviations (morph for morphine)
Symbols
- Agencies will have a set of symbols/abbreviations they use so its important to stick to symbols
used by the agency you work at in order to not confuse others
Risk to Patient Safety: FALLS - CORRECT ANSWER - Fall: is an abrupt, uncontrolled,
downward change in position, in which the potential for injury exists or in which an actual injury
occurs
Near fall: - CORRECT ANSWER - a potential fall that is prevented through purposeful
actions
Repeat faller: - CORRECT ANSWER - has had 2 or more falls within the last 3 months
Interventions for falls - CORRECT ANSWER - - Assess the patient's risk for falls
- Know the indicators
- Implement fall reduction strategies
- More risks they have → more likely they are to fall
Physiological Related Changes due to Aging (Falls) - CORRECT ANSWER - - Altered
center of gravity
- Deterioration in eyesight and hearing
, - Injuries from activity (eg: used to be a runner and have a injury that now affects balance and
motility)
- Medications with side effects
- Deconditioning form lack of activity (lose muscle mass from being sedentary)
- Certain diseases put people at risk (Parkinsons, MS)
Where do most falls happen? - CORRECT ANSWER - Most falls happen at home
domino effect → - CORRECT ANSWER - more hesitant to engage in activities because of
worries with falling again but being sedentary also reduced muscle mass increasing the risk for
falls (maladaptive)
More statistics about Falls - CORRECT ANSWER - - Falls are the leading cause of injury
in older adults
- Falls cause 90% of all hip fractures
- Over 1/3 of older adults go to LTC after being hospitalized for a fall
- Also have chronic pain, loss of independence, reduced mobility or death
Why falls happen - Personal and Medical - CORRECT ANSWER - Conditions like
Parkinsons and MS that affect someone physical and change their motility/balance → increased
fall risk
Why falls happen - Behavioural - CORRECT ANSWER - Changes to lifestyle related to
the fear of falling
Their behaviors have changed such as sleep patterns, engagement in activity and substance use
What do they do around the house? Eg: pulling up a chair to reach something up high, after a
fall, might not try this
Why falls happen - Environmental - CORRECT ANSWER - What are the stairs like?
Safe walkways during winter, ice can increase risk of falls