Exam 13: Principles of Leadership and Management

Which objective best indicates that a vice president for nursing services has a good understanding of methods to decrease staff turnover rate?

Select the statement by a unit manager to the vice president for nursing during a budget meeting that would be most effective in decreasing the staffing ratio on her unit from one nurse for every nine clients to one nurse for every seven clients. "This proposed change will ____."

Identify a typical response for a manager who uses the laissez-faire approach to leadership when faced with a difficult decision.

During a staff meeting, an elderly physician is very negative and disagrees with any proposals for change, directing belittling statements at the unit manager, such as, "No wonder this hospital is such a mess. You generation-X nurses have no commitment to working hard!" How can the unit manager most appropriately deal with this situation?

A manager who always achieves the tasks given to him or her, uses verbal putdowns and poor performance evaluations to motivate employees, and expects all orders to be carried out without question is using which style of leadership?

Select an important principle that guides managers who use the democratic leadership style of management.

A unit manager is preparing the time schedule for the summer holiday season. Approximately one half of the staff has requested 1 to 2 weeks' vacation. Granting all the requested time will lead to severe staffing shortages. What is the nurse manager's primary consideration in developing this schedule?

A hospital administrator has decided to turn an underused medical surgical unit into a rehabilitation unit. What will be necessary to implement this strategic decision?

The oxygen saturation for a client with acute infective bronchitis drops to 84%, and the client develops severe dyspnea. There is a standing order for a handheld nebulizer (HHN) treatment PRN (as needed) for shortness of breath. The respiratory therapy department is designated to give all respiratory treatments in the facility. When the nurse calls the respiratory therapist, he states that he has several more treatments to give but he should be there in 10 or 15 minutes. Select the action by the nurse that would be most appropriate at this time.

A leader with a low relationship/low task orientation presents a leadership style that is most similar to which leadership approach?

The nurses on the 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. shift have been complaining to the head nurse that the nurses on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift have not been doing the ordered client daily weights, and the physicians are very upset when they make their early morning rounds. Identify the initial action the head nurse should take to resolve this conflict.

What is the first action the nurse manager should take when changing a procedure for the distribution of cardiac telemetry units when there are more clients than units available?

A leader who is paternalistic and attempts to include the group's feelings and concerns in making a final decision about how to accomplish a task is best identified as using which approach?

Select all items from the list below that are characteristics of effective managers.

A newly appointed nurse manager observes that the unit she is supervising functions in a manner that suggests the previous manager used a laissez-faire approach to supervision. Select the practice that indicates that more direction is required in the leadership style.

Based on a task-oriented philosophy, ____________________ requires each person to perform a specific job that is narrowly defined according to the needs of the unit.

After her first week working on a busy medical/surgical unit, a new charge nurse notes that the individual nurses are highly competent but seem to be unable to function productively as a team. Select the action by the charge nurse that would best facilitate team building among the staff.

Identify the element that would be considered a needs motivator or satisfier in Herzberg's motivation hygiene theory.

A proposed change in the management structure of the nursing unit is explained during a staff meeting, and several nurses express antagonistic comments about the proposed changes to the nurse manager. Identify the best response by the nurse manager.

A nurse terminates employment without giving the facility the required 2-week notice. One month later, the nurse manager receives a call from the personnel director at a different hospital requesting a reference for this nurse. How can the nurse manager best respond to this request?