Clinical judgement Exam Questions With Complete
Solutions
A new graduate nurse explains a new approach in the
positioning of patients with chronic low back pain. The nurse
preceptor responds, "That is not the way we do it here." The
preceptor's response illustrates which error in critical thinking?
a. Lack of information
b. Erroneous assumptions
c. Illogical thinking
d. Bias correct answers c. Illogical thinking
-Illogical thinking is often characterized by hasty generalizations
and assumptions that do not consider the evidence. Another trait
associated with this type of thinking is related to following
tradition and uses the argument that "we have always done it this
way." When illogical thinking is used, creativity in thinking can
be limited, and new ideas and approaches do not evolve. In
nursing, illogical thinking can occur if nurses do not stay
current, and care can be compromised.
A new graduate nurse is working with a nurse who has been out
of school for 10 years. The experienced nurse states, "I don't see
the difference between this clinical reasoning and the nursing
process." Which statements by the graduate nurse are
appropriate? (Select all that apply.)
,a. Clinical reasoning is the thinking process by which a nurse
reaches a clinical judgment.
b. Clinical reasoning is limited to assessing, evaluating, and
treating the nursing diagnosis.
c. Clinical reasoning involves reflecting on interventions and
reevaluating the plan of care based on the results of reflection.
d. Clinical reasoning involves assessing, diagnosing, and
planning and using interventions based on assessments.
e. Clinical reasoning is an iterative process of noticing,
interpreting, and responding—reasoning in transition with a fine
attunement to the patient and how the patient responds to the
nurse's actions. correct answers a,c,e
a. Clinical reasoning is the thinking process by which a nurse
reaches a clinical judgment.
c. Clinical reasoning involves reflecting on interventions and
reevaluating the plan of care based on the results of reflection.
e. Clinical reasoning is an iterative process of noticing,
interpreting, and responding—reasoning in transition with a fine
attunement to the patient and how the patient responds to the
nurse's actions.
A nurse is talking to a woman who recently lost her husband. the
nurse has never experienced the loss of a family member. In this
situation, the nurse would most likely employ
a. ethical knowing
,b. esthetic knowing
c. empirical knowing
d. personal knowing correct answers c. empirical knowing
A nurse wishes to obtain data about a patient's self-esteem. What
is the best assessment technique for the nurse to use to obtain
this data?
a. Conducting a structured interview with direct questions
b. Interviewing the patient in an unstructured format
c. Disregard any nonverbal clues from the patient
d. Completing an entire head-to-toe assessment first correct
answers b. Interviewing the patient in an unstructured format
-An unstructured interview format allows the nurse to establish
rapport and get insight into the patient's perspective. Combined
with observation, this would yield the best information.
Observation often results in gathering a depth of data that is
difficult to gain by other methods. Combined with an
unstructured interview to gain the patient's trust, this technique
would be very valuable. A head-to-toe assessment would not
yield information about self-esteem. A structured interview is
often used to gather specific information, but since this nurse
has not yet had time to develop rapport, focusing questions on a
sensitive issue such as self-esteem would probably not elicit
accurate information. Also, structured interviews are most often
used in emergency situations, and this does not qualify as an
emergency.
, A nursing instructor assigns the clinical group the task of writing
a journal depicting the student's clinical day. What is the most
likely rationale for this assignment?
a. Journaling teaches open-mindedness, a critical thinking
disposition.
b. Journaling is a way to organize your thoughts about your
experiences.
c. Journaling allows reflection, an important critical thinking
skill.
d. Journaling gives you time to review what happened in your
clinical. correct answers c. Journaling allows reflection, an
important critical thinking skill.
-Critical thinking requires reflection on what occurred, how data
were processed, and how decisions were made. Journaling is one
method of developing critical thinking skills. Journaling does
give nurses time to review what happened in their clinical, but
this statement does not go far enough in explaining the
importance of the journal-writing process. Journaling may be a
way to organize thoughts about one's experiences, but this
statement is too narrow an explanation and does not account for
the critical aspect of reflection. Open-mindedness is a critical
thinking disposition that allows one to be tolerant of divergent
views. Journaling can assist with developing this disposition, but
only if what is written reflects that specific topic.
Solutions
A new graduate nurse explains a new approach in the
positioning of patients with chronic low back pain. The nurse
preceptor responds, "That is not the way we do it here." The
preceptor's response illustrates which error in critical thinking?
a. Lack of information
b. Erroneous assumptions
c. Illogical thinking
d. Bias correct answers c. Illogical thinking
-Illogical thinking is often characterized by hasty generalizations
and assumptions that do not consider the evidence. Another trait
associated with this type of thinking is related to following
tradition and uses the argument that "we have always done it this
way." When illogical thinking is used, creativity in thinking can
be limited, and new ideas and approaches do not evolve. In
nursing, illogical thinking can occur if nurses do not stay
current, and care can be compromised.
A new graduate nurse is working with a nurse who has been out
of school for 10 years. The experienced nurse states, "I don't see
the difference between this clinical reasoning and the nursing
process." Which statements by the graduate nurse are
appropriate? (Select all that apply.)
,a. Clinical reasoning is the thinking process by which a nurse
reaches a clinical judgment.
b. Clinical reasoning is limited to assessing, evaluating, and
treating the nursing diagnosis.
c. Clinical reasoning involves reflecting on interventions and
reevaluating the plan of care based on the results of reflection.
d. Clinical reasoning involves assessing, diagnosing, and
planning and using interventions based on assessments.
e. Clinical reasoning is an iterative process of noticing,
interpreting, and responding—reasoning in transition with a fine
attunement to the patient and how the patient responds to the
nurse's actions. correct answers a,c,e
a. Clinical reasoning is the thinking process by which a nurse
reaches a clinical judgment.
c. Clinical reasoning involves reflecting on interventions and
reevaluating the plan of care based on the results of reflection.
e. Clinical reasoning is an iterative process of noticing,
interpreting, and responding—reasoning in transition with a fine
attunement to the patient and how the patient responds to the
nurse's actions.
A nurse is talking to a woman who recently lost her husband. the
nurse has never experienced the loss of a family member. In this
situation, the nurse would most likely employ
a. ethical knowing
,b. esthetic knowing
c. empirical knowing
d. personal knowing correct answers c. empirical knowing
A nurse wishes to obtain data about a patient's self-esteem. What
is the best assessment technique for the nurse to use to obtain
this data?
a. Conducting a structured interview with direct questions
b. Interviewing the patient in an unstructured format
c. Disregard any nonverbal clues from the patient
d. Completing an entire head-to-toe assessment first correct
answers b. Interviewing the patient in an unstructured format
-An unstructured interview format allows the nurse to establish
rapport and get insight into the patient's perspective. Combined
with observation, this would yield the best information.
Observation often results in gathering a depth of data that is
difficult to gain by other methods. Combined with an
unstructured interview to gain the patient's trust, this technique
would be very valuable. A head-to-toe assessment would not
yield information about self-esteem. A structured interview is
often used to gather specific information, but since this nurse
has not yet had time to develop rapport, focusing questions on a
sensitive issue such as self-esteem would probably not elicit
accurate information. Also, structured interviews are most often
used in emergency situations, and this does not qualify as an
emergency.
, A nursing instructor assigns the clinical group the task of writing
a journal depicting the student's clinical day. What is the most
likely rationale for this assignment?
a. Journaling teaches open-mindedness, a critical thinking
disposition.
b. Journaling is a way to organize your thoughts about your
experiences.
c. Journaling allows reflection, an important critical thinking
skill.
d. Journaling gives you time to review what happened in your
clinical. correct answers c. Journaling allows reflection, an
important critical thinking skill.
-Critical thinking requires reflection on what occurred, how data
were processed, and how decisions were made. Journaling is one
method of developing critical thinking skills. Journaling does
give nurses time to review what happened in their clinical, but
this statement does not go far enough in explaining the
importance of the journal-writing process. Journaling may be a
way to organize thoughts about one's experiences, but this
statement is too narrow an explanation and does not account for
the critical aspect of reflection. Open-mindedness is a critical
thinking disposition that allows one to be tolerant of divergent
views. Journaling can assist with developing this disposition, but
only if what is written reflects that specific topic.
