Deck 18: Tools for Applying Evidence to Practice

Question 1

A nurse clinician reads that in an experimental study with two treatment groups and one control group,the hazard ratio between the two treatment groups was 3.0.How should this be most accurately interpreted?

A) The slopes of the two groups were identical.
B) Three groups were used for the analysis.
C) The rate of deaths in one treatment group was three times the rate of the other.
D) The rate at which subjects escaped bad outcomes.

Answer 1

The rate of deaths in one treatment group was three times the rate of the other.

Question 2

A nursing researcher is describing likelihood ratios.What is the significance of a diagnostic test with a large positive likelihood ratio?

A) It provides only limited predictive value for disease.
B) It provides a high degree of certainty that the patient has the suspected disorder.
C) It mandates other supportive diagnostic tests.
D) It provides little assistance in clinical decision making.

Answer 2

It provides a high degree of certainty that the patient has the suspected disorder.

Question 3

A research mentor is advising a new researcher on aspects of the literature review.Which type of research findings would the mentor recommend as strongest available evidence?

A) Meta-analysis
B) Descriptive
C) Case study
D) Narrative

Answer 3

Meta-analysis

Question 4

In a clinical trial,the arithmetic difference in rates of bad outcomes between experimental and control patients is most accurately referred to as:

A) Absolute risk increase
B) Number needed to harm
C) Relative benefit increase
D) Relative risk increase

Question 5

A term that is used for the ability of a test or technique to detect a disease when it is truly present is

A) Specificity
B) CI
C) Survival curve
D) Sensitivity

Question 6

A nurse researcher is seeking evidence about the efficacy of pressure-reduction surfaces on development of pressure ulcers in surgical patients.Which database is most likely to yield the highest-level evidence?

A) Psychological abstracts
B) Google.com
C) Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL)
D) Cochrane Review

Question 7

Skills needed to consult the literature and answer a clinical question are most accurately referred to as:

A) Informatics
B) Database searching
C) Information literacy
D) Evidence-based practice (EBP)

Question 8

When a nurse seeks to answer a question about the effectiveness of a particular treatment,what kind of study would be most appropriate?

A) Descriptive
B) Correlational
C) Exploratory
D) Quasi-experimental
E) Qualitative

Question 9

Applying study results to individual patients or to a specific patient population and communicating findings to patients in a meaningful way is the hallmark of:

A) Scientific perspectives
B) Clinical practice
C) Meta-analysis
D) EBP

Question 10

A nursing student reviewing an experimental study notices that one group received the "gold standard" treatment.How should this be most accurately interpreted?

A) Experimental treatment
B) No treatment
C) Nonconventional treatment
D) Current standard of treatment

Question 11

What statistic should a nurse researcher choose to use in a meta-analysis?

A) Survival curve
B) Odds ratio
C) Measure of central tendency
D) Measure of dispersion

Question 12

The nurse researcher is developing a focused clinical question.What order would be most appropriate for the following statements,progressing from lowest level to highest level?
A.What is the population of interest?
B.To what will this intervention be compared?
C.What is the intervention of interest?
D.How will the intervention make things better or worse?

A) a, b, c, d
B) d, c, b, a
C) d, b, c, a
D) a, c, b, d

Question 13

To assess the efficacy of a specific intervention,which type of clinical category should the student investigate in appraising study results?

A) Therapy
B) Sensitivity and specificity
C) Prognosis
D) Harm

Question 14

Which type of support for a nursing intervention is reduced or eliminated by EBP?

A) Expert advice
B) Dated rituals
C) Case studies
D) Qualitative research findings

Question 15

A wound-care specialist is interested in testing a handheld ultrasound probe to assess true depth of damage under an eschar-covered pressure ulcer.In reviewing product materials,which reported precision confidence interval (CI)for correct depth assessment would make the nurse interested in purchase?

A) CI of 2-100 mm
B) CI of 15-75 mm
C) CI of 25-75 mm
D) CI of 2-5 mm

Question 16

In an experiment,when a value is obtained that shows no difference between the treatment and control group,the value is referred to as:

A) Causal
B) Sensitivity
C) Null
D) Positively predictive

Question 17

A nursing student critiquing a research study notes that a CI is too large for a new therapy to be clinically meaningful.What factor likely contributed to this statistical outcome?

A) Strong power level
B) Quantitative experimental design
C) Statistical analysis
D) Too small a sample

Question 18

When a nurse wants to answer a question about a patient's likely course in a disease trajectory,what kind of study would be most appropriate?

A) Experimental
B) Longitudinal
C) Cross-sectional
D) Methodological
E) Quasi-experimental

Question 19

A term or phrase used to describe the reduction of risk in real reduction terms because of an experimental treatment is:

A) Relative risk reduction
B) Number needed to treat
C) Control event rate
D) Absolute risk reduction

Question 20

A nurse researcher wants to determine whether historical exposure to a specific water source is associated with later development of inflammatory bowel disease.Which type of study design will be most appropriate?

A) Ex post facto design
B) Experimental design
C) Qualitative design
D) Therapeutic design

Question 21

How should the nurse researcher interpret an odds ratio greater than 1.0?

A) This means there is no difference in the odds of an event occurring between the experimental and control groups.
B) The event is less likely in the treatment group than the control group.
C) The event is more likely to occur in the treatment group than the control group.
D) Percent increase in risk of the event that is added after considering the percent of risk that
Would occur anyway.

Question 22

How should the nurse researcher interpret an odds ratio less than 1.0?

A) This means there is no difference in the odds of an event occurring between the experimental and control groups.
B) The event is less likely in the treatment group than in the control group.
C) The event is more likely to occur in the treatment group than in the control group.
D) Percent increase in risk of the event that is added after considering the percent of risk that would occur anyway.

Question 23

A nurse researcher is seeking studies whose outcomes are described with a measure of precision about the studies' results.Which statistical descriptions would the researcher seek? (Select all that apply.)

A) The t test
B) Correlation
C) Standard deviation
D) CI
E) Mean

Question 24

Therapy-type articles (e.g.,intervention studies)are associated with outcome variables that are categorized as (select all that apply):

A) Continuous
B) Isolated
C) Rich text
D) Dichotomous

Question 25

A nurse is investigating the literature on a clinical topic and is particularly interested in studies that are experimental.What other terms may the nurse encounter in a literature search? (Select all that apply.)

A) Randomized controlled trials
B) Intervention studies
C) Individual studies
D) Prognostic studies

Question 26

Types of EBP clinical categories include (select all that apply):

A) Therapy
B) Diagnosis
C) Prognosis
D) Harm
E) Hazard

Question 27

How should the nurse researcher interpret a relative risk that is greater than 1.0?

A) There is no difference between the experimental and control group outcomes.
B) The risk of the event is reduced in experimental event rate (EER) compared with control event rate (CER).
C) The risk of an event is greater in EER compared with CER.
D) Difference in risk of outcome between patients who have had the event and those who have not.

Question 28

From top to bottom,what are the study designs associated with the strongest level of evidence base? (Select all that apply.)

A) Randomized controlled trial
B) Quasi-experimental
C) Correlational
D) Descriptive study
E) Phenomenal

Question 29

What does the vertical line represent in a graphic of a systematic review?

A) An odds ratio of 1
B) The 95% CI
C) The findings from an individual study
D) The amount of information in an individual study

Question 30

Which of the following questions determine a researcher's selection of a relevant,credible article? (Select all that apply.)

A) Who or what paid for the research?
B) Is the setting of the study similar to my study?
C) Is the sample of the study similar to mine?
D) Was the article peer reviewed?
E) None of above

Question 31

A researcher is explaining the concept of risk in clinical trials.Which statements are correct regarding risk of an event? (Select all that apply.)

A) Identification of a risk of an event does not imply causality between the factor and the studied condition.
B) Event rate is directly tied to number of patients in the control group.
C) Relative risk is the risk of the event after the experimental treatment as a ratio of original risk.
D) The higher the relative risk, the more likely the event is causal.

Question 32

How should the nurse researcher interpret an odds ratio equal to 1.0?

A) This means there is no difference in the odds of an event occurring between the experimental and control groups.
B) The event is less likely in the treatment group than in the control group.
C) The event is more likely to occur in the treatment group than in the control group.
D) Percent increase in risk of the event that is added after considering the percent of risk that would occur anyway.

Question 33

How should the nurse researcher interpret a relative risk that is equal to 1.0?

A) There is no difference between the experimental and control group outcomes.
B) The risk of the event is reduced in EER compared with CER.
C) The risk of an event is greater in EER compared with CER.
D) Difference in risk of outcome between patients who have had the event and those who have not.

Question 34

How is absolute risk reduction calculated?

A) EER + CER
B) EER - CER/CER
C) EER - CER
D) EER/CER

Question 35

How should the nurse researcher interpret a relative risk that is less than 1.0?

A) There is no difference between the experimental and control group outcomes.
B) The risk of the event is reduced in EER compared with CER.
C) The risk of an event is greater in EER compared with CER.
D) Difference in risk of outcome between patients who have had the event and those who have not.

Question 36

How is relative risk reduction calculated?

A) EER + CER
B) EER - CER|/CER
C) EER - CER
D) EER/CER

Question 37

Which information regarding a new algorithm for pressure support surface selection should be interpreted as favorable for adoption of the algorithm? (Select all that apply.)

A) It is solely clinically focused.
B) It was recently published.
C) It is endorsed by two prominent wound care organizations.
D) It is based on two systematic reviews from Cochrane Library.