Deck 15: Environmental Health

Question 1

A CHN desires greater understanding of the physiological effects of selected chemicals on humans.Which specialist would the CHN most likely find is the best repository of information about this subject?

A)A chemist
B)An epidemiologist
C)A pharmacologist
D)A toxicologist

Answer 1

A toxicologist

Question 2

Which of the following is an example of risk communication, a part of the CHN's role in environmental health?

A)Interpreting and applying environmental health principles
B)Responding in scientifically sound and humanely sensitive ways to community concerns
C)Proposing, informing, and monitoring action from agencies, communities, and organization perspectives
D)Detecting potential and actual exposure pathways and outcomes for clients cared for in acute care, chronic care, and healthy communities

Answer 2

Interpreting and applying environmental health principles

Question 3

A chemical company executive asks a new public health department employee about obtaining a permit to build a new factory.Which of the following employee statements, overheard by the CHN, would be the biggest cause for concern?

A)"If your operation employs fewer than 20 employees, you will be exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit."
B)"Granting permits is a mechanism for controlling pollution by regulating the operations and procedures of a facility."
C)"This process may take a long time because your plans will need to be studied by engineers and other specialists."
D)"You will need to submit an application detailing how your factory will operate."

Answer 3

"If your operation employs fewer than 20 employees, you will be exempt from the requirement to obtain a permit."

Question 4

In order to increase the proportion of noninstitutionalized adults who are vaccinated annually against influenza, a nurse practitioner has established a mobile clinic.Which part of the nursing process is fulfilled by delivering immunization services?

A)Goal setting
B)Planning
C)Intervention
D)Evaluation

Question 5

In which of the following scenarios does the occupational health nurse (OHN) use primary prevention to improve health outcomes when environmental health risks are present?

A)Using radiation detectors to detect unsafe levels of radiation exposure
B)Irrigating the eyes of an employee who has had a chemical splash to the face
C)Teaching new employees who will work outdoors about the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness
D)Using spirometry to rule out obstructive or restrictive lung disease in workers before they start using mask respirators

Question 6

When a concerned citizen asks the CHN about environmental health, the CHN wants to provide comprehensive information.Which of the following definitions of environmental health does the CHN provide?

A)Environmental health is the causative factors invading a susceptible host through an environment favourable to producing disease, such as a biological or chemical agent.
B)Environmental health is the systematic and ongoing observation and collection of data concerning disease occurrence to describe phenomena and detect changes in frequency or distribution.
C)Environmental health is the study of the effect of physical, chemical, and biological factors in the external environment on human health.
D)Environmental health is the achievement of health and wellness and the prevention of illness and injury from exposure to physical or psychosocial environmental hazards.

Question 7

In which of the following scenarios does the CHN use secondary prevention to reduce environmental health risks?

A)Collecting blood specimens from preschool children to check for lead levels
B)Meeting with local government officials to request that the city clean up a contaminated vacant lot
C)Referring a child diagnosed with toxic lead levels to a neurologist
D)Teaching the parents of a 2-year-old about the dangers of lead-based paint in older homes

Question 8

The CHN is examining blood lead levels in school-aged children one year after a community-wide education intervention.Which of the following terms identifies this phase of the nursing process?

A)Assessment
B)Diagnosis
C)Intervention
D)Evaluation

Question 9

Local inspections of restaurants are conducted by which level of government?

A)Local and regional boards of health
B)Environment Canada
C)Provincial/territorial Ministry of Labour
D)Health Canada

Question 10

A farm worker reports an onset of wheezing, abdominal cramping, and fatigue.Assuming that the cause is environmental, which one of the following will the CHN consider to be the most likely cause?

A)Carbon monoxide poisoning
B)Lead poisoning
C)Organophosphate toxicity
D)Sulphur dioxide exposure

Question 11

Which of the following statements made by a seminar participant indicates that the community health nurse (CHN) speaker needs to further clarify teaching about environmental principles?

A)"Everything is connected to everything else."
B)"Everything has to go somewhere."
C)"The solution to pollution is prosecution."
D)"Today's solution may be tomorrow's problem."

Question 12

A community member reports to a CHN in the public health department that the city's water has had an unusual taste for the past few months.What is the best action on the part of the CHN?

A)Advocate with or lobbying decision makers.
B)Consult the Canadian Partnership for Children's Health & Environment (CPCHE).
C)Check the most recent report on water quality in the community.
D)Place a call to the poison control centre.

Question 13

Which of the following is the first step to understanding the potential environmental health risks in a community in order to conduct an environmental health assessment?

A)Conduct a health risk assessment of randomly selected individuals.
B)Perform a windshield survey.
C)Review facility permits and consumer confidence reports.
D)Survey community members.