Deck 24: Public Health Surveillance and Outbreak Investigation

Question 1

What information is included in a case definition?

A) The precise point of contact
B) Laboratory confirmation
C) Source of contamination
D) Clinical symptoms

Answer 1

Clinical symptoms

Question 2

A community coalition monitors the increasing obesity rate of children in their schools.Based on this data,they consider a variety of programming options which may possibly help decrease this trend.What was the purpose of conducting this surveillance?

A) Protect the children from diseases that affect obese children
B) Teach parents that obesity will not be tolerated in this community
C) Educate children on surveillance techniques
D) Demonstrate that new clinical and effective protocols need to be developed

Answer 2

Demonstrate that new clinical and effective protocols need to be developed

Question 3

What information is shared among agencies when they collaborate to implement a quality surveillance system?

A) How to use algorithms to identify which events should be investigated
B) Who is to blame for a disease outbreak
C) What shelters will be used and by whom
D) How political action will be necessary to ensure public health

Answer 3

How to use algorithms to identify which events should be investigated

Question 4

A college student goes to the Student Health Center with an extremely swollen neck.The advanced practice nurse determines that he has mumps.His roommate also is experiencing malaise and a sore throat.Which of the following defines these two students?

A) Mixed outbreak
B) Common source
C) Point source
D) Propagated outbreak

Question 5

A nurse practitioner reports a case of gonorrhea to the local health department.Which type of surveillance system is being used?

A) Active
B) Passive
C) Sentinel
D) Special

Question 6

A nurse is completing a disease investigation.Based on the clinical symptoms presented,it is assumed that the individual has measles.However,there has been no laboratory evidence documenting that this individual has the disease.Which of the following types of cases is the nurse investigating?

A) A suspected case
B) A confirmed case
C) A prolonged case
D) An identified case

Question 7

What was the purpose of the CDC creating the first list of standard case definitions for notifiable diseases?

A) Some diseases were underreported and others were overreported.
B) There was no central office to collect data.
C) Some people refused to notify officials when diseases were seen.
D) No one knew where to report the information that was collected.

Question 8

The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome)outbreak was an epidemic that spread over several countries.Which of the following terms describes what happened?

A) Hyperendemic
B) Pandemic
C) Mixed outbreak
D) Holoendemic

Question 9

A nurse is collecting morbidity data.Which of the following would be the source that the nurse would use?

A) Vital statistics reports
B) Birth records
C) Death certificates
D) Specialized disease registries

Question 10

A nurse is conducting disease surveillance.Which of the following describes the rationale for this action?

A) To eradicate a disease before it starts
B) To establish a baseline rate of disease occurrence and patterns of spread
C) To target populations for triage
D) To reduce the incidence of heart disease in a community

Question 11

Which is a feature of public health surveillance?

A) Sharing of the results with others
B) Defining public health policy
C) Evaluating interventions
D) Planning national programs

Question 12

A large amount of data related to hypertension rates is collected in a community.The data is analyzed.Which of the following describes the next step in the surveillance process?

A) Collecting data from multiple valid sources
B) Evaluating the impact on the surveillance system
C) Interpreting the data and disseminating it to decision makers
D) Asking political officials to finance a hypertension clinic

Question 13

A nurse is using surveillance to collect outcome data.What information would most likely be collected?

A) Number of clinic services which use evidence-based protocols
B) Proportion of the population vaccinated against influenza
C) Incidence of breast cancer in the population
D) Probability of a bioterrorism attack occurring in the community

Question 14

A person has returned from overseas and it is determined that he has Q fever.Which of the following must occur?

A) This is not a disease that is on the notifiable list; nothing need be reported.
B) The case must be reported to the state and local health departments.
C) The patient must be isolated immediately.
D) The patient will probably die, so it is not reportable.

Question 15

What does each state do with the information that it receives about notifiable diseases?

A) Uses the information for surveillance purposes
B) Reports the information to the local branch of the World Health Organization (WHO)
C) Transmits the data electronically, weekly, to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
D) Does nothing with the information

Question 16

What occurs during biological terrorism?

A) The intentional release of hazardous chemicals into the environment
B) Environmental and occupational exposure to biological toxins
C) Immunity to toxins related to repeated exposures
D) An intentional release of viruses, bacteria, or other toxins

Question 17

Which problem does a health department usually have the legal authority to investigate?

A) Pandemics
B) Unusual clusters of illness
C) World trends of disease
D) Cases of the common cold and pneumonia

Question 18

A hospital is using surveillance.Which of the following describes the rationale for this action?

A) To protect the public against isolated patients
B) To eliminate pathogens from the environment
C) To improve quality of care and outcomes
D) To decrease the incidence of ventilator-acquired pneumonia

Question 19

A nurse is applying the Minnesota Model of Public Health Interventions: Applications for Public Health Nursing Practice steps of surveillance.Which of the following describes the initial action that the nurse would take?

A) Analyze data
B) Consider whether surveillance is appropriate to the situation
C) Evaluate the impact of the surveillance
D) Collect data

Question 20

A public health nurse (PHN)is investigating an outbreak of salmonellosis in a community.Which type of surveillance system is being used?

A) Active
B) Passive
C) Sentinel
D) Special

Question 21

A nurse is investigating a potential bioterrorism attack.Which of the following evidence would a nurse find if a bioterrorism attack occurred?

A) A large number of cases of influenza
B) A case of cholera in a local politician following a trip to India
C) Dengue fever in a group of students who just returned from a mission trip
D) An unusual illness in a population

Question 22

A staff nurse has demonstrated the ability to be competent as a participant in surveillance and investigation activities.Which of the following skills would you expect that nurse to possess? (Select all that apply.)

A) The ability to identify appropriate data sources
B) The ability to communicate effectively using written reports
C) The ability to collaborate with community agencies
D) The ability to create a budget
E) The ability to interpret laboratory findings

Question 23

Which are the objectives of a disease investigation? (Select all that apply.)

A) Enhance the knowledge of the nurse working in public health
B) Control and prevent disease or death
C) Identify factors that contribute to the disease outbreak/event occurrence
D) Implement measures to prevent occurrences
E) Participate in the core functions of public health

Question 24

A nurse is using public surveillance.Which of the following describes the actions involved? (Select all that apply.)

A) Estimating the magnitude of an influenza outbreak
B) Determining the geographical distribution of gonorrhea cases
C) Detecting an epidemic of whooping cough
D) Reducing the prevalence of obesity
E) Determining the incidence of cardiovascular disease