TEST BANK FOR THE PRACTICE OF NURSING RESEARCH 7TH EDITION BY BURNS AND GROVE ALL CHAPTERS

1. Nurses with a bachelor’s degree in nursing can participate in the implementation of evidencebased protocols in practice. This means that the BSN nurse

a. Develops evidence-based guidelines

b. Designs research studies, on which protocols may be based

c. Evaluates and revises evidence-based protocols

d. Contributes practice wisdom when applying protocols in patient settings

e. Mentors PhD researchers in the clinical setting during protocol development

ANS: D

Nurses with a BSN degree have knowledge of the research process and skills in reading and

critically appraising studies. They assist with the implementation of evidence-based

guidelines, protocols, algorithms, and policies in practice. This implies that nurses provide

their point of view, from the clinician’s vantage, when new protocols are being put into

practice, and continue to provide feedback, regarding the positive and negative aspects of

those protocols.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Analysis REF: Page 4

2. Research is designed to test the idea of providing companion dogs to elders in a major

hospital, in order to determine the effect upon the elders’ level of orientation. (The dogs’ level

of orientation will not be a focus of the research.) This type of study can do which of the

following?

a. Control

b. Describe

c. Explain

d. Predict

ANS: A

Control is the ability to manipulate the situation to produce the desired outcome. Description

involves identifying and understanding the nature of nursing phenomena and, sometimes, the

relationships among them. Explanation clarifies the relationships among phenomena and

identifies the reasons why certain events occur. The ability to estimate the probability of a

specific outcome in a given situation in nursing practice is known as prediction. The

researcher’s focus is on predicting what is likely.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 13

3. A researcher wants to find out whether children with autism who are hospitalized on a

pediatric ward will require more hours of nursing care than average children when the parents

or caregivers are not present. What type of research outcome does this provide?

a. Control

b. Description

c. Explantation

d. Prediction

ANS: D

Control is the ability to manipulate the situation to produce the desired outcome. Description

involves identifying and understanding the nature of nursing phenomena and, sometimes, the

relationships among them. Explanation clarifies the relationships among phenomena and

identifies the reasons why certain events occur. The ability to estimate the probability of a

specific outcome in a given situation in nursing practice is known as prediction. The

researcher’s focus is on predicting what is likely.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 16

4. A researcher who desires to determine the cause-and-effect relationship between requiring

that all children under the age of 8 will ride in special care harnesses and the subsequent rate

of children’s spinal cord injury will consequently utilize which form of nursing research?

a. Descriptive research

b. Outcomes research

c. Qualitative research

d. Quantitative research

ANS: D

Quantitative research, the most frequently used method, is a formal, objective, systematic

methodology to describe variables, test relationships, and examine cause-and-effect

interactions. Quantitative research includes experimental research, which is the method for

testing cause-and-effect relationships between and among specific variables. Qualitative

research methods are used for explaining meanings and describing experiences in context.

Descriptive research involves identifying and understanding the nature of phenomena and,

sometimes, the relationships among them. Outcomes research examines the end result of care

in huge populations, most often retrospectively, using a database.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 3

5. Despite the presence of an intraventricular drain, the intracranial pressure of an ICU neuro

patient remains increased. The nurse recalibrates the machine, makes sure the monitor is on

the same level as the drain, checks all connections, and then notifies the physician, who comes

to the unit and inserts a new drain. What type of reasoning prompts the nurse to recalibrate,

ensure proper placement, and check connections?

a. Abstract reasoning

b. Concrete thinking

c. Logistic reasoning

d. Reality testing

ANS: C

Logistic reasoning is used to break a whole into parts that can be carefully examined.

Concrete thinking is oriented toward and limited by tangible things or by events that are

observed and experienced in reality. Abstract reasoning is oriented toward the development of

an idea without application to, or association with, a particular instance. Reality testing is used

to validate what is observed in the empirical world.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 6

6. A nurse with considerable clinical expertise develops a policy for managing agitated patients

in the emergency department. The resultant policy emanates from

a. Abstract reasoning

b. Concrete thinking

c. Logistic reasoning

d. Reality testing

ANS: A

Abstract reasoning is oriented toward the development of an idea without application to, or

association with, a particular instance. Concrete thinking is oriented toward and limited by

tangible things or by events that are observed and experienced in reality. Logistic reasoning is

used to break a whole into parts that can be carefully examined. Reality testing is used to

validate what is observed in the empirical world.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 7

7. A nurse with considerable clinical expertise develops a policy for managing agitated patients

in the emergency department. The type of reasoning the nurse uses to do this is _____

reasoning.

a. Problematic

b. Operational

c. Logistic

d. Inductive

ANS: D

Inductive reasoning involves reasoning that moves from the specific to the general, whereby

particular instances are observed and then combined into a larger whole or general statement.

Problematic reasoning involves (1) identifying a problem and factors influencing it, (2)

selecting solutions to the problem, and (3) resolving the problem. Operational reasoning

involves the identification of and discrimination among many alternatives and viewpoints.

Logistic reasoning is used to break the whole into parts that can be carefully examined, as the

relationships among the parts can also be.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Synthesis REF: Page 7

8. What is the best explanation of intuition that forms a legitimate source of knowledge in

nursing?

a. It is based on knowledge thoroughly incorporated into thought but seldom

articulated.

b. It is based on a gift from the universe and should be honored when it arrives.

c. It is never inaccurate.

d. It is a revisiting of old knowledge, accompanied by deep reflection.

ANS: A

Intuition is the revisiting of old knowledge accompanied by deep reflection.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 5

9. Why is operational reasoning necessary for research?

a. Abstract concepts are of no use to nursing.

b. Standard interventions are obtained from operational reasoning.

c. It allows the researcher to measure the concepts studied.

d. It facilitates the researcher’s rapport with families.

ANS: C

Operational reasoning involves the identification of and discrimination among many

alternatives and viewpoints. It focuses on the process (debating alternatives) rather than on the

resolution. Nurses use operational reasoning to develop realistic, measurable health goals.

Thus, operational reasoning takes abstract concepts and makes them focused, concrete, and,

therefore, researchable.

DIF: Cognitive Level: Application REF: Page 6

MULTIPLE RESPONSE

1. What are the connections between evidence-based practice and nursing research? (Select all

that apply.)

a. Evidence-based care cannot be provided to patients without the nurse

understanding something of research.

b. A synthesis of current research within an area of nursing is used to improve care in

that area.

c. All patients with a given diagnosis should be cared for based solely on research

knowledge.

d. Nursing diagnosis and management depend on a practitioner’s exploration of best

research evidence.

e. Nursing research provides evidence that allows us each to practice with the same

style and capability.

ANS: A, B, D

Evidence-based practice in nursing requires a strong body of research knowledge that nurses

must synthesize and use to promote quality care for their patients, families, and communities.

In order to synthesize and use research appropriately, a nurse must understand it. A nurse

must explore the best research evidence about a practice problem before using his or her

clinical expertise to diagnose and manage an individual patient’s health problem. Not all

patients are treated in the same way, however. Because reality can vary with perception, and

because the facts can be relative, nurses do not impose their views on patients. Rather, nurses

help patients seek health from within the patients’ worldviews. This is a critical component of

evidence-based practice.