NURS 5350 UPDATED EXAM SCRIPT QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔In contrast to traditional, randomized controlled studies, outcomes research
evaluates results of healthcare processes by:
A) focusing studies on the "real world" of physician offices, hospitals, clinics, and homes
and includes patients' functional status.
B) relying principally on analyses of patients' lab results and diagnostic measures to
determine functional status.
C) compiling anecdotal reports from the patients' primary providers.
D) using insurance companies' claims datA) - ✔✔A
✔✔Which of the following is a meta-analysis of several high-quality randomized,
controlled clinical trials?
A) Observational study
B) Randomized controlled clinical trial
C) Case series
D) Systematic review - ✔✔D
✔✔When completing Step 1 of Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt's evidence-based practice
(EBP) process, which action does the NP student implement?
A) Cultivating a spirit of inquiry
B) Formulating a clinical question
C) Creating a culture of evidence-based practice
D) Searching for high-quality research evidence - ✔✔B
✔✔When searching for the best research evidence, which step does the nurse
practitioner (NP) student complete first?
A) Expand the search using the explode option.
B) Combine searches generated from PICOT key words.
C) Establish inclusion and exclusion criteria.
D) Use tools to limit the search to the topic of interest. - ✔✔C
✔✔Based on the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) evidence-
leveling system, which type of evidence demonstrates the greatest strength?
A) Meta-analysis of multiple controlled trials
B) Well-designed controlled studies
C) Peer-reviewed organizational standards
D) Theory-based evidence from multiple case reports - ✔✔A
✔✔During critical appraisal of the credibility of a research study, the nurse practitioner
(NP) student considers which information?
A) Evidence of conflict of interest
B) Control of extraneous variables
C) Clarity of reported results
, D) Selection of sampling procedure - ✔✔A
✔✔Explain the purpose of the PICOT method. - ✔✔Prior to finding the best current
evidence for clinical decision making, the clinical problem must be identified and
translated into a searchable, answerable question. The PICOT method is a widely
accepted format for creating clinical questions.
✔✔Discuss the primary components of a PICOT question. - ✔✔The primary
components of a PICOT question include P: Population/disease (age, gender, ethnicity,
with a certain disorder); I: Intervention or variable of interest (therapy, exposure to a
disease, risk behavior, prognostic factor); C: Comparison (alternate therapy, placebo or
usual practice, absence of risk factor); O: Outcome (risk of disease, accuracy of a
diagnosis, rate of occurrence of adverse outcome); and T: Time, which is the time it
takes to demonstrate an outcome (i.e., the time required for the intervention to achieve
an outcome or time populations are observed for outcome).
✔✔Which of the following provides the strongest evidence for practice?
A) Evidence from one or more randomized controlled trials
B) Case control or cohort studies
C) Evidence from a controlled trial without randomization
D) Systematic reviews of all randomized controlled trials - ✔✔D
✔✔The best quality evidence is scientifically based and has been
_____________________.
A) Peer-reviewed
B) Replicated
C) Promoted by other clinicians
D) Translated - ✔✔B
✔✔Which of the following methods are used to reduce the presence of confounding
variables?
A) Choose a different sample
B) Use a control group
C) Change the dependent variable
D) Control for the confounding variable - ✔✔B
✔✔The process of writing to publish in journals can be broken down into several stages.
Which of the following identifies the logical flow of the stages?
A) Topic selection, journal selection, pre-writing, authorship negotiation, writing,
submission, responding to reviews and re-writing.
B) Journal selection, topic selection, pre-writing, writing, authorship negotiation,
submission, responding to reviews and re-writing.
C) Pre-writing, topic selection, journal selection, authorship negotiation, writing,
submission, responding to reviews and re-writing.
SOLUTIONS RATED A+
✔✔In contrast to traditional, randomized controlled studies, outcomes research
evaluates results of healthcare processes by:
A) focusing studies on the "real world" of physician offices, hospitals, clinics, and homes
and includes patients' functional status.
B) relying principally on analyses of patients' lab results and diagnostic measures to
determine functional status.
C) compiling anecdotal reports from the patients' primary providers.
D) using insurance companies' claims datA) - ✔✔A
✔✔Which of the following is a meta-analysis of several high-quality randomized,
controlled clinical trials?
A) Observational study
B) Randomized controlled clinical trial
C) Case series
D) Systematic review - ✔✔D
✔✔When completing Step 1 of Melnyk and Fineout-Overholt's evidence-based practice
(EBP) process, which action does the NP student implement?
A) Cultivating a spirit of inquiry
B) Formulating a clinical question
C) Creating a culture of evidence-based practice
D) Searching for high-quality research evidence - ✔✔B
✔✔When searching for the best research evidence, which step does the nurse
practitioner (NP) student complete first?
A) Expand the search using the explode option.
B) Combine searches generated from PICOT key words.
C) Establish inclusion and exclusion criteria.
D) Use tools to limit the search to the topic of interest. - ✔✔C
✔✔Based on the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN) evidence-
leveling system, which type of evidence demonstrates the greatest strength?
A) Meta-analysis of multiple controlled trials
B) Well-designed controlled studies
C) Peer-reviewed organizational standards
D) Theory-based evidence from multiple case reports - ✔✔A
✔✔During critical appraisal of the credibility of a research study, the nurse practitioner
(NP) student considers which information?
A) Evidence of conflict of interest
B) Control of extraneous variables
C) Clarity of reported results
, D) Selection of sampling procedure - ✔✔A
✔✔Explain the purpose of the PICOT method. - ✔✔Prior to finding the best current
evidence for clinical decision making, the clinical problem must be identified and
translated into a searchable, answerable question. The PICOT method is a widely
accepted format for creating clinical questions.
✔✔Discuss the primary components of a PICOT question. - ✔✔The primary
components of a PICOT question include P: Population/disease (age, gender, ethnicity,
with a certain disorder); I: Intervention or variable of interest (therapy, exposure to a
disease, risk behavior, prognostic factor); C: Comparison (alternate therapy, placebo or
usual practice, absence of risk factor); O: Outcome (risk of disease, accuracy of a
diagnosis, rate of occurrence of adverse outcome); and T: Time, which is the time it
takes to demonstrate an outcome (i.e., the time required for the intervention to achieve
an outcome or time populations are observed for outcome).
✔✔Which of the following provides the strongest evidence for practice?
A) Evidence from one or more randomized controlled trials
B) Case control or cohort studies
C) Evidence from a controlled trial without randomization
D) Systematic reviews of all randomized controlled trials - ✔✔D
✔✔The best quality evidence is scientifically based and has been
_____________________.
A) Peer-reviewed
B) Replicated
C) Promoted by other clinicians
D) Translated - ✔✔B
✔✔Which of the following methods are used to reduce the presence of confounding
variables?
A) Choose a different sample
B) Use a control group
C) Change the dependent variable
D) Control for the confounding variable - ✔✔B
✔✔The process of writing to publish in journals can be broken down into several stages.
Which of the following identifies the logical flow of the stages?
A) Topic selection, journal selection, pre-writing, authorship negotiation, writing,
submission, responding to reviews and re-writing.
B) Journal selection, topic selection, pre-writing, writing, authorship negotiation,
submission, responding to reviews and re-writing.
C) Pre-writing, topic selection, journal selection, authorship negotiation, writing,
submission, responding to reviews and re-writing.
