Deck 1: Communication and Behavior

Question 1

Communicating the right information to the right people at the right time in the right way:

A) Is an essential part of the nurse's mission to assess, plan, implement, and document care
B) Is a requirement for collaborating with nurse colleagues and all other members of the healthcare team
C) Can make the difference between life and death for patients
D) All of the above

Answer 1

All of the above

Question 2

Each of the following is an example of successful nurse communication EXCEPT:

A) The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse sharing her concerns with the physician about a patient's anxious spouse
B) The graduate nurse telling his supervisor that he is not comfortable using the IV pump and would like additional training
C) The medical-surgical nurse offering to work an extra shift even though she feels emotionally and physically exhausted
D) The nursing student asking her instructor to clarify her clinical assignment

Answer 2

The medical-surgical nurse offering to work an extra shift even though she feels emotionally and physically exhausted

Question 3

Developing behaviors associated with effective communication requires:

A) Self-reflection, personal growth, and social learning
B) Self-reflection, social learning, and avoidance of conflict
C) Social learning, manual dexterity, and personal growth
D) None of the above

Answer 3

Self-reflection, personal growth, and social learning

Question 4

Providing patient-centered care "with sensitivity and respect for the diversity of human experience" is a competency promoted by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Institute that overlaps with which of the following communication and behavioral skills that nurses must develop?

A) Awareness of others
B) Asking questions respectfully
C) Understanding patient preferences
D) All of the above

Question 5

Individuals with an aggressive style of communication demonstrate which of the following characteristics of behavior?

A) Frequently interrupt others, discount others' perspectives, and fidget
B) Throw objects, invade the personal space of others, and use humiliating language
C) Speak in an angry tone, gossip about others behind their backs, and discount others' perspectives
D) Exclude others from group activities, frequently interrupt others, and invade the personal space of others

Question 6

Individuals who practice a passive style of communication:

A) Believe their opinions are not as important as those of their colleagues
B) Often keep their ideas to themselves
C) Speak confidently and clearly
D) Both A and B

Question 7

Nonverbal communication represents 80% to 90% of what is being communicated and includes all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Facial expression
B) Physical stance
C) Language
D) Intonation

Question 8

Schuster and Nykolyn's transformational model of communication is helpful in explaining all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Why communication is so complicated
B) The desired outcome of communication
C) The need to consider patients' rooms as their homes
D) The prevalence of miscommunication or communication failures in patient safety issues

Question 9

A nurse calls the covering physician to report a patient's temperature of 101.7°F. Which of the following variables may impact their communication?

A) Time of day
B) Workload of both the nurse and the physician
C) A history of positive or negative communication encounters between these healthcare professionals
D) All of the above

Question 10

Which of the following are depicted as risk factors in Schuster and Nykolyn's transformational model of communication?

A) Medical jargon, stress, heavy accents, and empathy
B) Stress, stereotypes, humor, and urgency
C) Medical jargon, stereotypes, physical noise, and patient education
D) Patient education, physical noise, medical jargon, and stress

Question 11

A behavioral approach to learning communication is the best approach because:

A) Human behavior and communication are interrelated.
B) Teaching communication without a focus on the underlying behaviors is not adequate.
C) The skills to practice successful nurse communication involve self-awareness and self-reflection.
D) All of the above

Question 12

Which of the following behaviors suggest that the nurse is being passive? Select all that apply.

A) She apologizes three times to her colleague for taking up space at the nurse's station.
B) She feels the rest of the team should have dinner together without her because she is not much fun.
C) She uses a confident tone to express her concerns about a patient's rising blood sugar to the physician on call.
D) She has an idea about troubleshooting a problem with the new computer system but keeps it to herself because she doubts it would be valuable.

Question 13

Emotional maturity of nurses is an important part of the behavioral approach to communication promoted in this text.

Question 14

The pre-licensure curricula developed by the Quality and Safety Education for Nurses (QSEN) Institute include competencies developed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and frequently require aspects of communication and behavior.

Question 15

Nurses must develop and practice healthy responses to communication variables such as fatigue, ethnic differences among professionals and patients, and interruptions that take place in the moment-to-moment real world of practice.

Question 16

Becoming an effective and respectful communicator will occur naturally if students memorize the models of communication.