Question 1

Karen has started a job in an oncology office. This is a new area of practice for her. Karen looks on the Association of Oncology Social Workers (AOSW) website for published, scholarly research to answer questions about the type of treatment shown to be most effective with this population. Karen is beginning the process of ________________________.

Accepted Answer

Karen is beginning the process of evidence-based practice by seeking out scholarly research to inform her practice in the oncology office. This approach involves integrating the best available research with clinical expertise in the context of patient characteristics, culture, and preferences.

Question 2

Karen consults the website of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) for the distress screening ________________________________, which are the treatment protocols for evaluating the subjective distress of cancer patients.

Accepted Answer

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) provides clinical pathways or clinical practice guidelines, including those for distress screening in cancer patients, to standardize and improve the quality of care.

Question 3

Mary is team lead for the social work department of a community hospital. She is collecting the data from the caseloads of the social workers she is overseeing in order to better understand which programs should be maintained. Mary is practicing ___________________.

Accepted Answer

Program evaluation is the correct answer because Mary is analyzing data from caseloads to assess the effectiveness of different programs, which is a key aspect of evaluating the performance and outcomes of these programs to make informed decisions about their continuation or modification.

Question 4

_______________________ incorporate(s) the most efficient and effective standards of care.

Accepted Answer

Best-practice models are designed to incorporate the most efficient and effective standards of care, as they are based on the latest research and evidence to ensure the highest quality of care.

Question 5

_______________________ is a decision-making process that uses established evidence to design, select, implement, and evaluate practice interventions.

Accepted Answer

Evidence-based practice is a decision-making process that involves using current, best evidence to make decisions about the care of individual patients. This approach integrates clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research.

Question 6

Program, department, and/or agency evaluation can be done on the _____________________ level.

Accepted Answer

Program, department, and/or agency evaluation can be conducted on multiple levels: micro (individual or small group level), mezzo (community or organizational level), and macro (societal or policy level), reflecting the comprehensive scope of evaluation practices across different scales.

Question 7

Criteria for evaluating articles in journals include all except _________________________?

Accepted Answer

The criteria for evaluating articles in journals typically include whether the article is published in a peer-reviewed journal, if the author is identified, and whether the study limitations were discussed. The citation of mostly primary sources is not a universal criterion for evaluating the quality or credibility of journal articles. Quality articles can cite both primary and secondary sources depending on the context and purpose of the research.

Question 8

According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), there are ___________________ phases to clinical trials.

Accepted Answer

Clinical trials are typically divided into four phases (Phase I, Phase II, Phase III, and Phase IV) according to the National Institute of Health (NIH). Each phase has a different purpose and helps researchers answer different questions about the new treatment or drug being tested.

Question 9

Studies that have proceeded through all phases of clinical trial, including random assignment of patients to experimental and control groups, are referred to as the _________________ of medical research.

Accepted Answer

Studies that have proceeded through all phases of clinical trial, including random assignment of patients to experimental and control groups, are referred to as the "Gold standard" of medical research. This term is used because such studies are considered to provide the most reliable evidence on the effectiveness of treatments due to their rigorous methodology.

Question 10

__________________________ synthesizes and evaluates the findings of multiple research studies that address a particular problem using established criteria for judging the quality of the studies included in the analysis.

Accepted Answer

Meta-analysis is a statistical technique for synthesizing the results of various studies on a specific topic, assessing their quality, and drawing conclusions based on the collective evidence.

Question 11

Sandra is the team lead for a social work department. Recently, the hospital has had several unexpected patient deaths, which appear to be due to poor care provided by the organization. The hospital is concerned. In the past, Sandra worked at a hospital in which all staff members continually engaged in activities that evaluated and improved the quality of services. Sandra suggests to administration that they bring this same system, ___________________, to the hospital.

Accepted Answer

Sandra is suggesting a system of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) or Total Quality Management (TQM), which involves all staff members in ongoing efforts to increase the quality of services provided. This approach fits the description of continually engaging in activities to evaluate and improve service quality.

Question 12

Mary worked in a hospital in which a patient that did not speak English had the wrong leg amputated. This was a _____________________, and Mary was part of a team that worked to identify ways to ensure that this would not happen again.

Accepted Answer

A sentinel event is an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury, or the risk thereof. The wrong-site surgery, such as amputating the wrong leg, is a classic example of a sentinel event, prompting immediate investigation and response to prevent such incidents in the future.

Question 13

Following the amputation of the wrong leg of a patient, Mary lead a team of healthcare practitioners in a _______________________________ in order to analyze what went wrong and propose corrective steps that minimize or eliminate reoccurrence of those problems.

Accepted Answer

A brainstorming session is typically conducted to generate ideas and solutions around a specific problem, making it the appropriate choice for analyzing what went wrong and proposing corrective steps in the context of a medical error.

Question 14

Due to staffing shortages, the medical surgical unit had three patients injured as a result of falls in a 6-months period. This is an example of a(n) ______________________________.

Accepted Answer

An adverse occurrence refers to an unexpected event that results in injury or has the potential to cause injury, which aligns with the scenario of patients being injured due to falls.

Question 15

Keith has been asked to design a psychoeducation group for people who have been newly diagnosed with diabetes. Keith wants to ensure that the program is providing beneficial information to the group. For his pilot group, he gives them a pretest and then a posttest at the end to evaluate what changes occurred for the group members. Keith is using a ___________________ evaluation.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Keith has been asked to design a...

Question 16

A formative evaluation collects data _____________________.

Accepted Answer

Formative evaluation is conducted during the time of service or program implementation to monitor progress and to provide ongoing feedback that can be used to make improvements.

Question 17

Karen asked all the social workers in her department to verify if all the patients in their caseload had an advanced directive and, if so, whether the advance directive was on file. The social workers were to collect this data for a period of one month. This is an example of a ___________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Karen asked all the social workers in...

Question 18

________________________________ research uses large samples to gather objective, numerical data to measure relationships between variables or the impact of interventions.

Accepted Answer

Quantitative research design uses large samples to gather objective, numerical data to measure relationships between variables or the impact of interventions, focusing on quantifying the collection and analysis of data.

Question 19

Pam is the team lead for an inpatient social work department. She is concerned about the number of readmissions that arise due to patients being unable to afford their prescription medications. She would like to hire a social worker whose focus would be a medication assistance program. Pam is positive this will save the hospital money and help a lot of patients. In order to convince administration, Pam will need to do a _______________________ to show how the cost of providing this service will be offset with the financial benefit to the system.

Accepted Answer

A cost-benefit analysis will allow Pam to demonstrate the financial benefits of hiring a social worker for a medication assistance program compared to the costs, helping to make a compelling case to the administration.

Question 20

Jane is a 75-year-old patient in a community hospital. She has been hospitalized due to periods of unexplained of dizziness. She has been diagnosed as having anemia and dehydration. She has received a blood transfusion and several liters of fluids. She has been in the hospital for 24 hours and is still weak. Cindy, the case manager, has reviewed Jane's case, and Jane no longer meets criteria for hospitalization and must be discharged or pay privately to stay in the hospital. Cindy has conducted a ______________________________________ of Jane's case.

Accepted Answer

Cindy has conducted a utilization review of Jane's case, which involves evaluating the necessity, appropriateness, and efficiency of the use of healthcare services, procedures, and facilities to ensure that the patient is receiving care at the appropriate level of care according to established criteria.

Quiz 6: Practice-Based Research in Healthcare Social Work