Chapter 20: Patient Safety

Chapter 20: Patient Safety

 

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

 

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. In the 2000 Institute of Medicine’s milestone report To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, how many patients were estimated to die each year as a result of errors occurring in a hospital setting?

a.	25,000
b.	35,000
c.	50,000
d.	98,000

 

 

ANS:  D

A total of 98,000 people were estimated to have died each year from errors during hospital care.

The report estimated that more than 25,000 people, as many as 98,000, die each year from errors occurring during hospital care.

The report estimated that more than 35,000 people, as many as 98,000, die each year from errors occurring during hospital care.

The report estimated that more than 50,000 people, as many as 98,000, die each year from errors occurring during hospital care.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Remember            REF:   343

TOP:   Integrated Process: Teaching/Learning

MSC:  NCLEX Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Safety and Infection Control

 

2. A nurse asks the manager why the nursing staff seems to have the bulk of the responsibility for preventing errors in patient care. The manager explains that the primary reason nurses are best situated to recognize and prevent errors is because they

a.	are leaders on the health care team.
b.	have refined communication skills.
c.	interact with patients so frequently.
d.	provide the majority of risky care.

 

 

ANS:  C

Nurses interact with patients on a frequent basis and so are positioned to prevent medical errors as much as 90% of the time.

Nurses should play a leadership role in all patient care situations, but this is not the best answer for this question because in many work environments, nurses still take a subservient role.

Nurses are taught communication skills in nursing school, but nurses and other health care providers are taught to communicate in very different ways.

Nurses do provide some care that is considered risky, such as medication administration, but physicians often provide the riskiest care, such as operations and invasive procedures.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Understand            REF:   343

TOP:   Integrated Process: Teaching/Learning

MSC:  NCLEX Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Safety and Infection Control

 

3. The nurse executive explains to a group of newly hired nurses that the major responsibility for preventing errors in patient care lies with the

a.	individual because of legal obligations for safety.
b.	individual, because that is who makes the error.
c.	system, because it is responsible for employee acts.
d.	system, because process designs can lead to errors.

 

 

ANS:  D

Process design and implementation most often lead to the commission of errors. The nurse is a key member of the team to identify poor processes and to work on improvement of processes.

Professional staff does have a legal responsibility for safe care, but hospital systems are more often the root cause of errors.

Individuals do make each error, but often the error is the result of many problems within the system and processes of the health care facility.

The system is responsible for many of its employees’ actions but not for all.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Analyze                TOP:   Integrated Process: Teaching/Learning

MSC:  NCLEX Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Safety and Infection Control

 

4. A nursing executive wishes to implement a new policy based on initial National Patient Safety Goals 2002 to eliminate wrong patient, wrong site, and wrong procedure. Which action by the executive would best meet one of the goals?

a.	Collaborate with the laboratory for timely reporting of laboratory values.
b.	Formulate a time-out policy.
c.	Mandate that all fall-prone patients be clearly identified.
d.	Reevaluate work flow design and patient–staffing ratios.

 

 

ANS:  B

One of the initial National Patient Safety Goals 2002 was to eliminate wrong patient, wrong site, and wrong procedure surgeries, so establishing a policy that requires a time-out to verify patient, site, and procedure before starting an operation would help meet this goal.

Timely reporting of lab values would not be closely related to any of the initial National Patient Safety Goals 2002.

Reducing falls is a laudable goal, but identifying high-risk patients was not one of the initial National Patient Safety Goals 2002.

Work flow design and patient–staffing ratios may be related to patient errors, but these measures would not closely align with any of the original National Patient Safety Goals 2002.

 

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Apply                   TOP:   Nursing Process: Implementation

MSC:  NCLEX Client Needs: Safe and Effective Care Environment: Safety and Infection Control