Take: Nursing as a Profession Quiz
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LATEST Attempt 1 14 minutes 40 out of 50
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Question 1
10 / 10 pts
Which principles best describe Florence Nightingale's beliefs about the nursing
profession? Select all that apply.
Caring
Lifelong learning
Improved conditions for clients
Curriculum based on theory only
Nursing instructors should be volunteers only
Physicians should have final authority over nursing curriculum
Rationale: Florence Nightingale believed nurses should spent their time caring for clients, not
cleaning. She believed nurses must continue their learning throughout their lifetimes, so they do
not become “stagnant” in their nursing knowledge, skills, and practice. Nightingale’s early
quality improvement efforts were to improve basic hygiene in the army hospitals including
cleanliness, wholesome food, light & fresh air, and safe sanitation measures. She made
significant reforms in nursing education including integrating theory and practice in nursing
education and hiring qualified paid nursing instructors. Nightingale believed nursing schools
should be associated with medical schools so nurses and doctors could work collaboratively in
the int best interest of the clients; however, the school matron (chief nurse at the school) should
have final determination and authority over nursing curriculum.
IncorrectQuestion 2
0 / 10 pts
Which one statement most accurately describes the overall development of a definition
for nursing?
Historical researchers have identified the exact point in history when nursing emerged.
Nursing is pursued primarily through theoretical concepts
Nurses cannot agree on a single definition of nursing
Nurses have evolved to be the medical provider's assistance
Rationale: Over the years, nurses have tried to write a single definition for nursing; however,
nurses have not agreed on any single definition. The difference in opinions among nurses is in
part due to the opinions of the role of theory and practice in nursing, which further leads to
varying opinions if nursing is a skilled vocation or a profession. Ironically, there is evidence that
an integration of both theory and practice yields the best outcomes, which is one of the drivers of
increasing the number of baccalaureate nurses providing direct care to clients in hospitals.
Variations of the functions of nursing were performed as far back as ancient times, and
specialized care providers were present in many early religions and at some point caring for the
sick became an independent role rather than a responsibility of a family member of the client.
Nonetheless, because of lack of documentation, there is no specific year or years when nursing
could be identified as an independent practice
Question 3
10 / 10 pts
Which is the primary fundamental difference between nursing and medicine?
Holistic caring framework
Professional opportunities
Physicians authorize nursing practice
Opportunities for specialization
Rationale: Although nursing and medicine are highly interactive and highly interdependent with
each other, the primary difference between the two are the goals. The overarching goal of
medicine is to cure (curative treatment) where the overarching goal of nursing is achieving its
four aims through a holistic caring framework (promoting health, preventing illness, restoring
health, and facilitating coping with disability and death). A common and incorrect stereotype is
nurses work for the physicians or that physicians authorize nursing practice. Authorization to
practice as a registered nurse comes from each’s nurse’s state nursing practice act. You will learn
more about the legal aspects of nursing in NUR 302A). Nurses actually work for the agencies
and follow nurse-authorized procedures and protocol. Providers write orders for the client.
Nurses use their specialized skills to help the clients carry out the orders. Nurses also help clients
understand the purpose of the orders. However, nurses should look at a client’s health in much
broader terms (holistic caring). Nurses and providers both have numerous opportunities to
advance their practice and to specialize. There are opportunities for nurses to work in formal
leadership roles; to achieve and obtain certifications for specialty areas to care for a specific
client population (oncology, newborns, emergency, critical care, cardiology, wound, ostomy, and
continence [WOCN], etc.); to work as nurse education in the academic or clinical setting; to
work as a nurse research, or to work in informatics or quality assurance.
Question 4
10 / 10 pts
Which factors most directly influence the need for a unique and special language for the nursing
profession? Select all that apply.
Making evidence-based client care decisions
Decreasing costs of client data storage
collecting information about the history of nursing
comparing clinical outcomes across settings
retrieving data for nursing research and quality assurance
Rationale: The development of a unique and specialized language for nursing documentation
allows for the structured collection of data about nursing activities, which are not directly tracked
in the medical language systems. These data are collected for purposes of making evidencebased client care decisions, comparing clinical outcomes across settings, collecting data for
quality assurance and nursing research, and managing nursing intervention data in an electronic
format. If the specific work done by nursing is tracked, nursing will have hard data to use to
justify staffing increases, salary increases, and other changes needed to improve client outcomes
and the work environment. Client charts and other client documentation are client-specific, so
this might not be the most direct or effective approach to gathering historical information about
nursing. If additional data are stored, there could be an increase rather than a decrease in data
storage costs.
Question 5
10 / 10 pts
Nursing-specific nomenclature and classification systems most directly support which one of the
seven criteria of a profession?
Possession of a specialized body of knowledge
Service to the public
A code of ethics
Nursing as a lifetime commitment
Rationale: Nursing researchers have developed an organized body of knowledge unique to
nursing along with a specialized language of nursing. This meets the possession of a specialized
body of knowledge criterion in table 1.6 in Stegen & Sowerby (2019).