Nursing education and research basics

20 Staff nurse recruitment practice questions on Nursing education and research basics, part of Nursing Management, Education and Research. The first 20 are below; the first 5 with answers and explanations (tap Show answer after you have chosen), the rest in Learn with a free account.

1. Question 1 · Easy

   The median of a set of observations is the:

   1. AValue that occurs most often in the data
   2. BMiddle value when the data are arranged in order
   3. CSum of all the values divided by their number
   4. DDifference between the largest and smallest value

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   Answer: B · Middle value when the data are arranged in order

   The median divides an ordered set of observations into two equal halves. With an odd number of values it is the middle one; with an even number it is the average of the two middle values. Because it depends on position rather than size, it is not pulled by a few extreme values. This makes it useful for skewed data such as hospital stay.

   • A: The most frequent value is the mode.
   • C: The sum divided by the number of values is the arithmetic mean.
   • D: The difference between the extremes is the range, a measure of spread.

2. Question 2 · Medium

   To teach students how to plan nursing care, a tutor gives them the full history of a real patient with burns and asks them to analyse it in groups. Which teaching method is this?

   1. ACase study
   2. BSymposium
   3. CLecture
   4. DField trip

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   Answer: A · Case study

   In the case study method, learners analyse the details of a real or realistic patient, identify problems and plan care. It builds problem-solving and decision-making skills and links theory with practice. The tutor guides the discussion rather than giving the content directly. A lecture, in contrast, is mainly one-way delivery of information.

   • B: A symposium is a series of short expert talks on aspects of a topic.
   • C: A lecture is one-way presentation by the teacher, without student analysis of a case.
   • D: A field trip takes learners to a place outside the classroom to observe.

3. Question 3 · Medium

   The main limitation of television and radio as methods of health education is that they:

   1. ACannot be used to give information about health at all
   2. BGive one-way communication with little chance of feedback
   3. CAre always more costly per person than individual talks
   4. DReach only a small number of people at any one time

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   Answer: B · Give one-way communication with little chance of feedback

   Mass media reach very large numbers of people quickly and cheaply per head, so they are good for creating awareness. Their weakness is that communication is one-way: the audience cannot ask questions, and the educator cannot check understanding or deal with local doubts. For this reason they rarely change behaviour on their own. They work best when combined with group and individual approaches.

   • A: Mass media are widely used to give health information, such as immunisation messages.
   • C: Per person, mass media are usually cheaper than individual counselling.
   • D: Reaching large numbers at once is the strength of mass media, not a limitation.

4. Question 4 · Medium

   A frequency polygon is drawn by joining with straight lines the:

   1. AUpper limits of each class against cumulative frequency
   2. BMid-points of the tops of the histogram bars
   3. CIndividual values of two variables plotted as points
   4. DLeft-hand corners of the tops of the histogram bars

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   Answer: B · Mid-points of the tops of the histogram bars

   A frequency polygon is made by plotting each class's frequency at the mid-point of its interval and joining the points with straight lines, closing the figure on the baseline at each end. It can be drawn from a histogram by joining the mid-points of the bar tops. Because it is a line, two or more distributions can be compared on the same graph. Plotting cumulative frequencies against class limits gives an ogive instead.

   • A: Cumulative frequency against upper class limits gives an ogive.
   • C: Paired values of two variables plotted as points form a scatter diagram.
   • D: Points are placed at class mid-points, not at the corners of the bars.

5. Question 5 · Medium

   In a ward, most patients stay three to five days but a few stay for several weeks. In this positively skewed distribution, the mean length of stay is usually:

   1. ASmaller than the median
   2. BSmaller than the mode
   3. CEqual to the median
   4. DGreater than the median

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   Answer: D · Greater than the median

   In a positively (right) skewed distribution, a few very large values form a long tail to the right. The mean uses every value, so it is pulled towards that tail, while the median depends only on position and the mode stays at the peak. The usual order is therefore mean greater than median greater than mode. For such data the median is the better summary of a typical patient.

   • A: The mean falls below the median only in negatively skewed data with a tail of low values.
   • B: In right-skewed data the mode is the smallest of the three averages, not the largest.
   • C: Mean and median are equal only in a symmetrical distribution.

6. Question 6 · Hard

   The lengths of stay (days) of eight patients in a surgical ward are 9, 3, 14, 4, 2, 7, 3 and 6. What is the median length of stay?

   1. A4 days
   2. B5 days
   3. C6 days
   4. D3 days

   Answer and explanation in LearnFree account

7. Question 7 · Medium

   Health education differs from propaganda mainly because health education:

   1. ARelies on fixed slogans repeated without explanation
   2. BGives information quickly to large numbers of people
   3. CUses mass media rather than personal contact with people
   4. DHelps people make informed, voluntary choices about behaviour

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8. Question 8 · Medium

   The main advantage of probability sampling over non-probability sampling is that it:

   1. AIs always quicker and cheaper to carry out in a hospital setting
   2. BAllows the findings to be generalised with a known sampling error
   3. CLets the researcher choose the most informative participants
   4. DNeeds no list of the population from which to select the sample

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9. Question 9 · Hard

   A nurse researcher gives a planned teaching programme on ORS to mothers at one PHC and no programme at a second PHC, testing knowledge in both groups before and after. The mothers are not randomly assigned. Which design is this?

   1. ADescriptive cross-sectional survey design
   2. BPre-experimental, one-group pretest-post-test
   3. CTrue experimental, pretest-post-test control group
   4. DQuasi-experimental, non-equivalent control group

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10. Question 10 · Medium

    In two outpatient clinics, the mean waiting time is the same, but the standard deviation is 5 minutes in clinic A and 20 minutes in clinic B. This means that in clinic B:

    1. AWaiting times are more widely spread around the mean
    2. BWaiting times were measured less accurately than in A
    3. CMost patients wait longer than patients in clinic A
    4. DThe average waiting time is four times that of clinic A

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11. Question 11 · Easy

    The complete list of units in the population from which a sample is actually drawn is called the:

    1. ASampling unit
    2. BSampling frame
    3. CSampling error
    4. DTarget population

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12. Question 12 · Easy

    Which of the following teaching aids is a three-dimensional aid?

    1. AA poster on breastfeeding
    2. BA slide on the cardiac cycle
    3. CA plastic model of the heart
    4. DA flip chart on hand washing

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13. Question 13 · Medium

    Women of a village help decide the topics, timing and venue of the nutrition classes the health nurse will hold for them. Which principle of health education does this mainly apply?

    1. AParticipation
    2. BReinforcement
    3. CCredibility
    4. DKnown to unknown

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14. Question 14 · Easy

    The main purpose of the review of literature in a research study is to:

    1. AFind what is already known and the gaps in knowledge
    2. BChoose the statistical test for the final analysis
    3. CObtain consent from the people who will be studied
    4. DCollect the raw data from the study participants

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15. Question 15 · Medium

    A nurse records a patient's pain as mild, moderate or severe and his temperature in degrees Celsius. These are measured on which scales, respectively?

    1. AOrdinal and interval
    2. BInterval and ratio
    3. CNominal and ratio
    4. DOrdinal and nominal

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16. Question 16 · Hard

    The mean oral temperature of five patients is 37.2 degrees C. It is then found that one reading entered as 38.0 degrees C was actually 37.0 degrees C. What is the corrected mean?

    1. A37.0 degrees C
    2. B36.2 degrees C
    3. C37.1 degrees C
    4. D37.4 degrees C

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17. Question 17 · Easy

    The first step in planning a health education programme for a community is:

    1. APreparing the evaluation questionnaire
    2. BFixing the date and venue of the session
    3. CChoosing the audiovisual aids to be used
    4. DAssessing the learning needs of the group

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18. Question 18 · Hard

    A nurse has grouped the ages of patients in a medical ward and in a surgical ward into the same class intervals, and wants to compare the shape of the two age distributions on one graph. Which diagram is best?

    1. AComponent bar diagram
    2. BHistogram
    3. CPie diagram
    4. DFrequency polygon

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19. Question 19 · Easy

    In a symposium used for health education, the speakers:

    1. AAct out a real-life situation for the audience to analyse
    2. BDiscuss the topic informally among themselves before the group
    3. CEach give a short prepared talk on one aspect of the topic
    4. DShow the audience how to perform a procedure step by step

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20. Question 20 · Easy

    A simple bar diagram is most suitable for showing:

    1. ARelationship between patients' age and weight
    2. BNumber of admissions in each ward of a hospital
    3. CCumulative frequency of haemoglobin values
    4. DDistribution of patients' heights in centimetres

    Answer and explanation in LearnFree account