Yoder-Wise's Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing 3rd Edition Yoder-
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Chapter 12: Power, Politics, and Influence
Waddell/Walton: Yoder-
Wise’s Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing, Third Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
A nurse manager is encountering poor staff morale on her unit. While participating in a
baccalaureate course the nurse manager learned that one of the reasons nurses lack po
wer today is probably because of the past. In the early decades of the profession, nurses
lacked power because:
Nurses freely chose to defer to physicians and administrators with more education.
Women were not socialized to exert power.
The first nursing licensure laws prohibited nurses from making most decisions.
Nurses astutely recognized the risks of grabbing too much power too soon.
ANS: B
Nurses‘ lack of involvement in politics is sometimes associated with their discomfort wi
th acknowledging and using power. Nursing has been a predominantly female profession
, and women traditionally were not socialized to exert power.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF:
Page 229 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
Nurses who engage in infighting seek physician support against nursing colleagues, a
n d avoid membership in nursing organizations:
a. Refuse to believe that they are acting like members of groups that suffer
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socioeconomic oppression.HH
U S N T
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b. Do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the
whole profession.
c. Purposefully choose to exercise their power in the workplace through indire
ct means.
d. Suffer from learned helplessness as a result of abuse by powerful nurse executives.
ANS: B
Lack of understanding about the appropriate exercise of power affects internal and exter
n al relationships.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF:
Page 229 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
A nurse belongs to several professional organizations, serving on a provincial-
level committee of one group and on two task forces at work. The nurse is committed to
a range of health issues. This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nur
sing?
Gladiator.
Buy-in.
Self-interest.
Political sophistication.
ANS: D
,Yoder-Wise's Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing 3rd Edition Yoder-
vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb
The nurse recognizes that influence occurs at many levels and that public policy and polit
i cs shape what nurses do as nurses—
from nursing practice acts that allow licensure, to policies that drive reimbursement.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF:
Page 242 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
A manager relies on his director of nursing (immediate supervisor) for advice about enrol
ling in graduate school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive. The director may exe
rcise what kinds of power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?
Expert, coercive, and referent.
Reward, connection, and information.
Perceived, expert, and connection.
Reward, referent, and connection.
ANS: C
Because the director is in a leadership role, he comes with knowledge or expertise that is
required to assume a leadership role, giving him perceived and expert power. He has co
nnection power inasmuch as an expert registered nurse (RN) he is probably well networ
ked or connected to other professionals in the unit, facility, and organization.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF: Pages 229–
230 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit. Which approa
ch should the manager use to empower the staff of the unit most effectively?
a. Discuss the guidelines fNo r tRUhHeS bNIuTdHgGe t cBu.ts Cwi t hMt he staff, making the decisions wi
vb
th those who participate in the discussion .
Inform the staff of the budget cuts in a series of small group meetings, and acc
e pt their ideas in writing only.
Provide the staff with handouts about the budget cuts, and let them m
a ke recommendations in writing.
Hold a series of mandatory meetings on the budget cuts, asking staff for idea
s on the cuts.
ANS: A
Empowerment involves valuing the ideas and opinions of other people and involving th
e m in the decision-
making process. It means releasing authority and allowing other people to assume accou
ntability as well.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply REF:
Page 231 TOP:
Nursing Process: Implementation
During orientation of new nurse managers, the chief nursing officer stresses strategies t
h at help nurse managers to achieve a powerful image. Which groups of behaviours best
contribute to a powerful image for the nurse manager?
Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile; listen
i ng carefully when problems arise.
For men, no facial hair, always wearing a suit and tie; for women, always wear
i ng a suit and high-heeled shoes.
, Yoder-Wise's Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing 3rd Edition Yoder-
vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb
Maintaining a soft voice during times of conflict; making unbroken eye cont
a ct during interactions.
Smiling all the time; always wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase; for wom
e n, wearing no jewellery.
ANS: A
A powerful and positive approach is communicated through confident behaviours such as gre
eting other people, smiling, and showing respect for the opinions of other people through liste
ning.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply REF:
Page 234 TOP:
Nursing Process: Implementation
Tomas, a new RN, is finding it difficult to practice because he is encountering, on a d a
ily basis, differences between his learned ideals and what he is witnessing as nursing p
ractice on the unit. This situation is an example of:
The theory-to-practice gap.
Transition shock.
An inadequately prepared nurse.
Ethical distress.
ANS: B
Entry into the workplace can cause a significant clash between learned ideals and actual
nursing practice. Reality shock was the term originally coined, but the clash is now referr
ed to as transition shock.
DIF:
Cognitive Level: U nder s t an d
RHEF: Page 235
N URvbSvbNIvbTHGB. vb COHM
TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment
A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a j
ob search for a middle-
management position. Which of the following actions is least likely to expand her job-
searching network?
Reviewing her address book or card file for names and phone numbers of for
m er colleagues who are now in middle-management positions.
Making an appointment to meet with a former instructor from her gradu
a te program in nursing administration.
Making a long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nu
rse executive.
Attending a state-
level conference for nurse managers and executives and attending info
r mal luncheons and receptions.
ANS: C
Networking is the result of identifying, valuing, and maintaining relationships with a syste
m of individuals who are sources of information, advice, and support. In this situation, th
e chief nurse executive and the nurse may not have a close or valued relationship in vie
w of the length of time since their last communication, and so the executive may not be i
n the best position to provide support or advice.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF: Pages 235–
236 TOP:
Nursing Process: Implementation
vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb
Chapter 12: Power, Politics, and Influence
Waddell/Walton: Yoder-
Wise’s Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing, Third Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
A nurse manager is encountering poor staff morale on her unit. While participating in a
baccalaureate course the nurse manager learned that one of the reasons nurses lack po
wer today is probably because of the past. In the early decades of the profession, nurses
lacked power because:
Nurses freely chose to defer to physicians and administrators with more education.
Women were not socialized to exert power.
The first nursing licensure laws prohibited nurses from making most decisions.
Nurses astutely recognized the risks of grabbing too much power too soon.
ANS: B
Nurses‘ lack of involvement in politics is sometimes associated with their discomfort wi
th acknowledging and using power. Nursing has been a predominantly female profession
, and women traditionally were not socialized to exert power.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF:
Page 229 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
Nurses who engage in infighting seek physician support against nursing colleagues, a
n d avoid membership in nursing organizations:
a. Refuse to believe that they are acting like members of groups that suffer
N R IGB.CM
socioeconomic oppression.HH
U S N T
vb vb vbO
vbHHHHvbHHHvb vb
b. Do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the
whole profession.
c. Purposefully choose to exercise their power in the workplace through indire
ct means.
d. Suffer from learned helplessness as a result of abuse by powerful nurse executives.
ANS: B
Lack of understanding about the appropriate exercise of power affects internal and exter
n al relationships.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF:
Page 229 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
A nurse belongs to several professional organizations, serving on a provincial-
level committee of one group and on two task forces at work. The nurse is committed to
a range of health issues. This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nur
sing?
Gladiator.
Buy-in.
Self-interest.
Political sophistication.
ANS: D
,Yoder-Wise's Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing 3rd Edition Yoder-
vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb
The nurse recognizes that influence occurs at many levels and that public policy and polit
i cs shape what nurses do as nurses—
from nursing practice acts that allow licensure, to policies that drive reimbursement.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF:
Page 242 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
A manager relies on his director of nursing (immediate supervisor) for advice about enrol
ling in graduate school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive. The director may exe
rcise what kinds of power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?
Expert, coercive, and referent.
Reward, connection, and information.
Perceived, expert, and connection.
Reward, referent, and connection.
ANS: C
Because the director is in a leadership role, he comes with knowledge or expertise that is
required to assume a leadership role, giving him perceived and expert power. He has co
nnection power inasmuch as an expert registered nurse (RN) he is probably well networ
ked or connected to other professionals in the unit, facility, and organization.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF: Pages 229–
230 TOP:
Nursing Process: Assessment
A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit. Which approa
ch should the manager use to empower the staff of the unit most effectively?
a. Discuss the guidelines fNo r tRUhHeS bNIuTdHgGe t cBu.ts Cwi t hMt he staff, making the decisions wi
vb
th those who participate in the discussion .
Inform the staff of the budget cuts in a series of small group meetings, and acc
e pt their ideas in writing only.
Provide the staff with handouts about the budget cuts, and let them m
a ke recommendations in writing.
Hold a series of mandatory meetings on the budget cuts, asking staff for idea
s on the cuts.
ANS: A
Empowerment involves valuing the ideas and opinions of other people and involving th
e m in the decision-
making process. It means releasing authority and allowing other people to assume accou
ntability as well.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply REF:
Page 231 TOP:
Nursing Process: Implementation
During orientation of new nurse managers, the chief nursing officer stresses strategies t
h at help nurse managers to achieve a powerful image. Which groups of behaviours best
contribute to a powerful image for the nurse manager?
Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile; listen
i ng carefully when problems arise.
For men, no facial hair, always wearing a suit and tie; for women, always wear
i ng a suit and high-heeled shoes.
, Yoder-Wise's Leading and Managing in Canadian Nursing 3rd Edition Yoder-
vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb vb
Maintaining a soft voice during times of conflict; making unbroken eye cont
a ct during interactions.
Smiling all the time; always wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase; for wom
e n, wearing no jewellery.
ANS: A
A powerful and positive approach is communicated through confident behaviours such as gre
eting other people, smiling, and showing respect for the opinions of other people through liste
ning.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Apply REF:
Page 234 TOP:
Nursing Process: Implementation
Tomas, a new RN, is finding it difficult to practice because he is encountering, on a d a
ily basis, differences between his learned ideals and what he is witnessing as nursing p
ractice on the unit. This situation is an example of:
The theory-to-practice gap.
Transition shock.
An inadequately prepared nurse.
Ethical distress.
ANS: B
Entry into the workplace can cause a significant clash between learned ideals and actual
nursing practice. Reality shock was the term originally coined, but the clash is now referr
ed to as transition shock.
DIF:
Cognitive Level: U nder s t an d
RHEF: Page 235
N URvbSvbNIvbTHGB. vb COHM
TOP: Nursing Process: Assessment
A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a j
ob search for a middle-
management position. Which of the following actions is least likely to expand her job-
searching network?
Reviewing her address book or card file for names and phone numbers of for
m er colleagues who are now in middle-management positions.
Making an appointment to meet with a former instructor from her gradu
a te program in nursing administration.
Making a long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nu
rse executive.
Attending a state-
level conference for nurse managers and executives and attending info
r mal luncheons and receptions.
ANS: C
Networking is the result of identifying, valuing, and maintaining relationships with a syste
m of individuals who are sources of information, advice, and support. In this situation, th
e chief nurse executive and the nurse may not have a close or valued relationship in vie
w of the length of time since their last communication, and so the executive may not be i
n the best position to provide support or advice.
DIF: Cognitive Level: Understand REF: Pages 235–
236 TOP:
Nursing Process: Implementation
