Question 1

Nurses who engage in infighting,seek physician support against nursing colleagues,and avoid membership in nursing organizations
A) refuse to believe that they are acting like members of groups that suffer socioeconomic oppression.
B) do not understand how their failure to exercise power can limit the power of the whole profession.
C) purposefully choose to exercise their power in the workplace through indirect means.
D) suffer from learned helplessness as a result of abuse by powerful nurse executives.

Accepted Answer

Lack of understanding about the appropriate exercise of power affects internal and external relationships.

Question 2

Which of the following interactions is most consistent with the idea of networking?
A) Meeting with the same colleagues daily to have coffee and to share concerns about the workplace and stories about colleagues
B) Joining an online workplace forum to gain ideas about how to handle workplace conflict
C) Suggesting that you and a new team member meet after work for coffee to review unit guidelines
D) Joining a nurse executive informal lunch meeting to meet other executives for support and for sharing ideas of expertise

Accepted Answer

Successful networking involves sharing similar ideas and maintaining relationships with individuals who serve as sources of information,advice,and support.

Question 3

The workgroup on unit NU23 is marked by apathy toward the unit's patients,high rates of absenteeism,open conflict among team members,and high turnover of personnel,including managers.The behaviours in this situation are caused by feelings of
A) powerlessness.
B) anger.
C) apathy.
D) oppression.

Accepted Answer

Emotions such as anger and apathy result from a workplace in which powerlessness is experienced.

Question 4

A nurse manager is encountering poor staff morale on her unit.While participating in a baccalaureate course,the nurse manager had learned that one of the reasons nurses lack power today is probably because of the past.In the early decades of the profession,nurses lacked power because
A) nurses freely chose to defer to physicians and administrators with more education.
B) women were not socialized to exert power.
C) the first nursing licensure laws prohibited nurses from making most decisions.
D) nurses astutely recognized the risks of grabbing too much power too soon.

Accepted Answer

Nurses' lack of involvement in politics is sometimes associated with their discomfort with acknowledging and using power.Nursing has been a predominantly female profession,and women traditionally were not socialized to exert power.

Question 5

Politics is usually
A) confined to legislatures.
B) seen in dysfunctional workplaces.
C) found in all social organizations.
D) a representation of self-interest.

Accepted Answer

Politics involves social interaction among organizations and,as such,politics occurs in all social organizations.

Question 6

Tomas,a new RN,is finding it difficult to practice because he is encountering,on a daily basis,differences between his learned ideals and what he is witnessing as nursing practice on the unit.This situation is an example of
A) the theory-to-practice gap.
B) transition shock.
C) an inadequately prepared nurse.
D) ethical distress.

Accepted Answer

Entry into the workplace can cause a significant clash between learned ideals and actual nursing practice: reality shock was the term originally coined,but the clash is now referred to as transition shock.

Question 7

Lucy,head nurse on the surgical unit,works with her staff to find ways in which they can work together with members of other disciplines to provide more effective care for patients on the unit.Lucy probably knows her power is
A) limited, thereby necessitating involvement of other nurses in implementing ideas.
B) restricted, which necessitates finding alternative means to achieve strong patient outcomes.
C) directly and primarily toward the nurses who are subordinate to her.
D) of unlimited capacity when shared with other nurses.

Accepted Answer

Nurses who share power,like Lucy,tend to be strong collaborators and see power as an unlimited quantity when shared.

Question 8

A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a job search for a middle-management position.Which of the following actions is least likely to expand her job-searching network?
A) Reviewing her address book or card file for names and phone numbers of former colleagues who are now in middle-management positions
B) Making an appointment to meet with a former instructor from her graduate program in nursing administration
C) Making a long overdue return call to a former colleague who is now a chief nurse executive
D) Attending a state-level conference for nurse managers and executives and attending informal luncheons and receptions

Accepted Answer

Networking is the result of identifying,valuing,and maintaining relationships with a system of individuals who are sources of information,advice,and support.In this situation,the chief nurse executive and the nurse may not have a close or valued relationship,in view of the length of time since their last communication,and so the executive may not be in the best position to provide support or advice.

Question 9

A nurse belongs to several professional organizations,serving on a provincial-level committee of one group and on two task forces at work.The nurse is committed to a range of health issues.This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nursing?
A) Gladiator
B) Buy-in
C) Self-interest
D) Political sophistication

Accepted Answer

The nurse recognizes that influence occurs at many levels and that public policy and politics shape what nurses do as nurses-from nursing practice acts that allow licensure to policies that drive reimbursement.

Question 10

The institution in which you are a nurse manager has resisted the adoption of new document management software,citing cost as a concern.You meet with other nurse managers who are in favour of the software and prepare a proposal to take to the senior executive with the goal of persuading the executive to adopt the software.This is an example of
A) collaboration.
B) a coalition.
C) networking.
D) policy building.

Accepted Answer

Groups formed temporarily to achieve particular goals are known as coalitions.

Question 11

Literature on oppression in nursing has
A) verified the presence of behaviours associated with oppression within nursing.
B) suggested that nurses are oppressed because of the actions of other groups.
C) failed to establish that oppression is present in nursing groups.
D) indicated that nurses use oppression negatively.

Accepted Answer

Matheson and Bobay's (2007)review of literature indicates that oppression is present in nursing but is not clearly linked to external factors.

Question 12

During orientation of new nurse managers,the chief nursing officer stresses strategies that help nurse managers to achieve a powerful image.Which groups of behaviours best contribute to a powerful image for the nurse manager?
A) Greeting patients, families, and colleagues with a handshake and a smile; listening carefully when problems arise
B) For men, no facial hair, always wearing a suit and tie; for women, always wearing a suit and high-heeled shoes
C) Maintaining a soft voice during times of conflict; making unbroken eye contact during interactions
D) Smiling all the time; always wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase; for women, wearing no jewellery

Accepted Answer

A powerful and positive approach is communicated through confident behaviours such as greeting other people,smiling,and showing respect for the opinions of other people through listening.

Question 13

A manager relies on his director of nursing (immediate supervisor)for advice about enrolling in graduate school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive.The director may exercise what kinds of power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?
A) Expert, coercive, and referent
B) Reward, connection, and information
C) Perceived, expert, and connection
D) Reward, referent, and connection

Accepted Answer

Because the director is in a leadership role,he comes with knowledge or expertise that is required to assume a leadership role,giving him perceived and expert power.He has connection power inasmuch as an expert registered nurse (RN)is probably well networked or connected to other professionals in the unit,facility,and organization.

Question 14

A nurse is participating in a baccalaureate course.One assignment is to attend the legislative session regarding the new role of physician assistants.Nurses should be involved in shaping public policy primarily because
A) involvement will enable nurses to take over the health care system at some point in the future.
B) other health care professions are less concerned about the essential needs of patients.
C) such activities are important career builders for nurses who seek top-level executive positions.
D) they are closest to the front line of health care and see how it affects patients and families.

Accepted Answer

Participation in the legislative process concerning health care through membership in professional organizations and through personal contact with public officials is critical because these processes affect the lives of patients and the advancement of the profession.

Question 15

During a unit meeting,you notice that the unit manager,Vivian,presents the current scheduling problems and listens attentively when Yoon,an RN,is speaking and offers support and advice when Yoon presents new ideas to the group that may alleviate current scheduling problems.You are surprised because Vivian has often confided that she does not like Yoon.Vivian's behaviour is best described as
A) insincere.
B) networking.
C) politically sophisticated.
D) facilitating participatory decision-making.

Accepted Answer

Vivian is using the leader-empowering behaviour of fostering participatory decision-making by presenting the facts surrounding the current scheduling problem,asking for staff input,and attentively listening to staff ideas.

Question 16

A staff nurse asks the nurse manager for a few days off for personal reasons.The nurse manager turns in the request to the human resources office with a note indicating that the staff nurse has demonstrated excellent working skills and is a valued employee.The nurse manager has used the influence of her position to help this staff member.Influence is the process of
A) using power.
B) empowering others.
C) understanding power.
D) moving past apathy.

Accepted Answer

Influence involves the use of power to effect certain outcomes: in this situation,to arrange days off for a valued employee.

Question 17

Your colleague Vanessa,a recent graduate,announces one day that she intends to leave nursing in 3 to 4 months to pursue a position in marketing.While at your agency,she plans to give patients excellent care and to learn as much as she can,because "Who knows? Nursing is a great job with a great pay and I may return someday." Vanessa's statements most accurately exemplify which orientation to the concept of nursing?
A) Nursing as a profession
B) Nursing as an occupation
C) Nursing as a flexible discipline
D) Nursing as a career with off and on ramps

Accepted Answer

Concern with nursing as potentially one in a series of possibly well-paid jobs reflects a view of nursing as an occupation,or a job.

Question 18

Which of the following accurately represents the concept of political activism?
A) Meghan, an emergency room supervisor, encourages staff to write letters to the local health board to protest closure of the emergency room and the loss of 30 full-time jobs.
B) Sarah refuses involvement in her professional organization but is heavily involved in the Little League organization to which her son belongs.
C) Because of her influential contributions to position papers on health care, Roberta is asked to let her name stand for election as chair of the local organization of gerontology nurse practitioners, who are lobbying for increased certification standards.
D) Sondra volunteers to run for office with her professional nursing association because of her concern about the underrepresentation of expertise from her area of nursing practice.

Accepted Answer

In this situation,Sondra is engaged in professional activism at the provincial and/or national level and therefore,exemplifies the highest level of political activism.Roberta exhibits activism at the level of political sophistication,which involves holding office,for example,at the provincial or national level.

Question 19

One day,at coffee,your co-worker suggests that you and she sit with unit members of the hospital research committee.She suggests that this would be an excellent way to get to know people who share her interest in research.Her actions are an example of
A) mentorship.
B) politics.
C) networking.
D) empowerment.

Accepted Answer

Meeting individuals outside the usual workgroup to share ideas and obtain support and encouragement is an example of networking.

Question 20

A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit.Which approach should the manager use to empower the staff of the unit most effectively?
A) Discuss the guidelines for the budget cuts with the staff, making the decisions with those who participate in the discussion.
B) Inform the staff of the budget cuts in a series of small group meetings, and accept their ideas in writing only.
C) Provide the staff with handouts about the budget cuts, and let them make recommendations in writing.
D) Hold a series of mandatory meetings on the budget cuts, asking staff for ideas on the cuts.

Accepted Answer

Empowerment involves valuing the ideas and opinions of other people and involving them in the decision-making process.It means releasing authority and allowing other people to assume accountability as well.

Quiz 11: Power,Politics,and Influence

Nurses who engage in infighting,seek physician support against nursing colleagues,and avoid membership in nursing organizations

Which of the following interactions is most consistent with the idea of networking?

The workgroup on unit NU23 is marked by apathy toward the unit's patients,high rates of absenteeism,open conflict among team members,and high turnover of personnel,including managers.The behaviours in this situation are caused by feelings of

A nurse manager is encountering poor staff morale on her unit.While participating in a baccalaureate course,the nurse manager had learned that one of the reasons nurses lack power today is probably because of the past.In the early decades of the profession,nurses lacked power because

Politics is usually

Tomas,a new RN,is finding it difficult to practice because he is encountering,on a daily basis,differences between his learned ideals and what he is witnessing as nursing practice on the unit.This situation is an example of

Lucy,head nurse on the surgical unit,works with her staff to find ways in which they can work together with members of other disciplines to provide more effective care for patients on the unit.Lucy probably knows her power is

A nurse manager recognizes the need to expand her professional network as she begins a job search for a middle-management position.Which of the following actions is least likely to expand her job-searching network?

A nurse belongs to several professional organizations,serving on a provincial-level committee of one group and on two task forces at work.The nurse is committed to a range of health issues.This nurse exemplifies which level of political activism in nursing?

Literature on oppression in nursing has

During orientation of new nurse managers,the chief nursing officer stresses strategies that help nurse managers to achieve a powerful image.Which groups of behaviours best contribute to a powerful image for the nurse manager?

A manager relies on his director of nursing (immediate supervisor) for advice about enrolling in graduate school to prepare for a career as a nurse executive.The director may exercise what kinds of power in the relationship with the manager in this advisory situation?

A nurse is participating in a baccalaureate course.One assignment is to attend the legislative session regarding the new role of physician assistants.Nurses should be involved in shaping public policy primarily because

Which of the following accurately represents the concept of political activism?

One day,at coffee,your co-worker suggests that you and she sit with unit members of the hospital research committee.She suggests that this would be an excellent way to get to know people who share her interest in research.Her actions are an example of

A nurse manager must implement a 2% budget cut on the nursing unit.Which approach should the manager use to empower the staff of the unit most effectively?