Realities of Canadian Nursing: Professional
Practice and Power Issues
(5th Edition)
Carol McDonald & Marjorie McIntyre –
Complete Question and Answer Collection
,1. A nurse wishes to take political action to influence healthcare policy.
How can the nurse best take political action?
A) Begin an active letter-writing campaign to policy creators.
B) Encourage colleagues to promote quality client care.
C) Address unit-level issues to create short-term change.
D) Speak to the nursing union representative about the policy.
2. A nurse wants to address chronic nursing shortages in a region. In what
order should the nurse complete the steps for an inductive approach to
addressing this issue?
1. Articulate the issue.
2. Analyze the issue.
3. Identify barriers to resolution.
4. Create strategies for resolution.
5. Create a lobbying approach.
A) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
B) 1, 5, 3, 2, 4
C) 2, 3, 4, 1, 5
D) 2, 1, 3, 4, 5
3. How can individual nurses best assist in the clear articulation of nursing issues?
A) Speak in unison and be collectively organized.
B) Support union activities that promote nursing's image.
C) Speak out on a wide variety of healthcare issues.
D) Write letters and lobby the government.
4. In considering the importance of political action on the quality of healthcare delivered in
Canada, the nurse should prioritize what? Select all that apply.
A) Healthcare in Canada is publicly funded.
B) Educational standards are directed by public policy.
C) Legislation governs scope of healthcare practice.
D) Nursing comprises primarily female practitioners.
E) Canada is a diverse nation with a wide variety of client needs.
5. A nurse is concerned about the quality of education being delivered and the
preparedness of new graduate nurses. What should the nurse do first in addressing these
concerns?
A) Speak to a nurse who teaches in a nursing program.
B) Investigate the issue exploring various contexts.
C) Write a letter to the Minister of Health outlining the concerns.
D) Survey other nurses to determine if they share the same concerns.
, 6. What should nurses do to improve the chances for the success of a lobbying campaign?
Select all that apply.
A) Research the topic thoroughly and be well informed prior to meeting with key
figures.
B) Include complex statistics consisting of percentages to reduce any challenge of the
data.
C) Only include members of political parties that favour the initiative being lobbied.
D) Follow up with meeting attendees with a written summary of the meeting.
E) Be aware of the meeting attendees' public position on the topic being discussed.
7. A nurse is performing a political analysis of the nursing shortage in Canada's northern
regions. What questions should the nurse ask? Select all that apply.
A) Who benefits from keeping the nursing shortage in place?
B) Who is currently advocating for change and who is resisting this change?
C) What are the financial implications related to the nursing shortage?
D) Are there any hidden agendas of the stakeholders involved?
E) How does the nursing shortage compare to past nursing shortages in the area?
8. A nursing colleague tells the nurse that being politically active is not something worth
the effort since there is no extra pay for this involvement. How should the nurse
respond?
A) “You could lobby for increased nursing pay and better working conditions by being
politically active, so it could pay off!”
B) “You are obligated to be politically active according to the provincial standards of
practice so you are jeopardizing your license if you are not.”
C) “Being politically active is the most effective way for nurses to address health-
related issues in a significant and lasting way.”
D) “It is up to you if you want to be involved, but money should not be a motivating
factor in how you use your time as a nurse.”
9. A nurse educator is creating a presentation about the nursing profession's obligation to
address social justice issues in order to promote health and well-being. What would be
best for the educator to cite in the presentation?
A) News articles about local social justice issues linked to poor health
B) First-hand accounts from people whose health has been affected by social issues
C) The official provincial/territorial Nursing College's Standards of Practice
D) Canadian Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses
10. A group of nurses have decided to address an issue of health inequity in their
community. What should the group's first step be?
A) Speak to those directly affected.
B) Identify the topic of interest.
C) Determine if it is a nursing issue.
D) Determine if it is a priority.
, 11. A nurse who is attempting to take political action to address the nursing shortage has
been told by a manager that the shortage exists as the direct result of provincial funding
cuts. While situating the topic, the nurse considers the information to be:
A) an assumption.
B) an opinion.
C) a fact.
D) misinformation.
12. A committee of nurses is engaged in addressing an important workplace issue and is
currently trying to articulate the issue. How can the nurses best meet this goal?
A) By eliciting input from outsiders.
B) By seeking legal counsel.
C) By asking “what and who” questions.
D) By identifying the barriers to change.
13. As nurses work to address health-related issues through political action, what
advantages should they consider when choosing an inductive over a deductive
approach?
A) An inductive approach simplifies the process, allowing for timelier addressing of
the issue.
B) The inductive approach enables the nurse to better understand the complexity of
the issue.
C) Inductive approaches involve an established framework with a single, clear path to
follow.
D) Induction guarantees greater compliance with existing rules and norms compared
to deduction.
14. A nurse educator has been interviewing stakeholders who have been involved in
previous attempts to resolve a healthcare issue that has existed for decades. While
gathering this information, what should the nurse remember related to historical
contexts?
A) History is a partial and incomplete interpretation.
B) History is completely subjective and unreliable.
C) The information will be most reliable if taken from a single stakeholder.
D) History recounted by individuals is far less reliable than written records.
15. A nurse has noticed that many of the clients in a particular area of the city have poor
control of their diabetes and suffer a disproportioned amount of complications. What
area of intervention should the nurse focus on to best address this issue?
A) Social determinants of health
B) Education of the individual clients
C) The quality of nursing care
D) Cost of medication and equipment