Physical Examination: Best Practices
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forHealth and Well-Being Assessment
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2nd Edition by Kate Gawlik
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ALL CHAPTERS 1-29 WITH RATIONALES| A+ GRADE
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,Chapter 1. APPROACH TO EVIDENCE-BASED ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH AND WELL- BEING
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MULTIPLE CHOICE B
1. After completing an initial assessment of a patient, the nurse has charted that his respirations are
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eupneic and his pulse is 58 beats per minute. These types of data would be:
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a. Objective.
b. Reflective.
c. Subjective.
d. Introspective.
ANS: A B
Objective data are what the health professional observes by inspecting, percussing, palpating, and
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auscultating during the physical examination. Subjective data is what the person says about him or herself
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during history taking. The terms reflective and introspective are not used to describe data.
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DIF: Cognitive Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: z. 2
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MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Management of Care
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2. A patient tells the nurse that he is very nervous, is nauseated, and feels hot. These types of data would be:
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a. Objective.
b. Reflective.
c. Subjective.
d. Introspective.
ANS: C B
Subjective data are what the person says about him or herself during history taking. Objective data are
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what the health professional observes by inspecting, percussing, palpating, and auscultating during the
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physical examination. The terms reflective and introspective are not used to describe data.
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DIF: Cognitive Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: z. 2
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MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Management of Care
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,3. The patients record, laboratory studies, objective data, and subjective data combine to form the:
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a. Data base. B
b. Admitting data. B
c. Financial statement. B
d. Discharge summary. B
ANS: A B
Together with the patients record and laboratory studies, the objective and subjective data form the data base.
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The other items are not part of the patients record, laboratory studies, or data.
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DIF: Cognitive Level: Remembering (Knowledge) REF: z. 2
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MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Management of Care
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4. When listening to a patients breath sounds, the nurse is unsure of a sound that is heard. The nurses next
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action should be to:
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a. Immediately notify the patients physician. B B B B
b. Document the sound exactly as it was heard. B B B B B B B
c. Validate the data by asking a coworker to listen to the breath sounds.
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d. Assess again in 20 minutes to note whether the sound is still present.
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ANS: C B
When unsure of a sound heard while listening to a patients breath sounds, the nurse validates the data to
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ensure accuracy. If the nurse has less experience in an area, then he or she asks an expert to listen.
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DIF: Cognitive Level: Analyzing (Analysis) REF: z. 2
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MSC: Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Management of Care
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5. The nurse is conducting a class for new graduate nurses. During the teaching session, the nurse should
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keep in mind that novice nurses, without a background of skills and experience from which to draw, are
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more likely to make their decisions using:
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a. Intuition.
b. A set of rules.
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, c. Articles in journals. B B
d. Advice from supervisors. B B
ANS: B B
Novice nurses operate from a set of defined, structured rules. The expert practitioner uses intuitive links. DIF:
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Cognitive Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: z. 3 MSC: Client Needs: General
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6. Expert nurses learn to attend to a pattern of assessment data and act without consciously labeling it.
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These responses are referred to as:
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a. Intuition.
b. The nursing process.B B
c. Clinical knowledge. B
d. Diagnostic reasoning. B
ANS: A B
Intuition is characterized by pattern recognition expert nurses learn to attend to a pattern of assessment data
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and act without consciously labeling it. The other options are not correct.
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DIF: Cognitive Level: Understanding (Comprehension) REF: z. 4 MSC: Client Needs: General
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7. The nurse is reviewing information about evidence-based practice (EBP). Which statement best reflects
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EBP?
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a. EBP relies on tradition for support of best practices.
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b. EBP is simply the use of best practice techniques for the treatment of patients.
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c. EBP emphasizes the use of best evidence with the clinicians experience.
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d. The patients own preferences are not important with EBP.
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ANS: C
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EBP is a systematic approach to practice that emphasizes the use of best evidence in combination with the
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clinicians experience, as well as patient preferences and values, when making decisions about care and
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treatment. EBP is more than simply using the best practice techniques to treat patients, and questioning tradition
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is important when no compelling and supportive research evidence exists.
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DIF: Cognitive Level: Applying (Application) REF: z. 5
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