NURSING TEST TAKING STRATEGY V: G. Steps of the Nursing Process - IMPLEMENTATION

V: Questions that Require Prioritizing

6. IMPLEMENTATION

a. Implementation questions address the process of organizing and managing care, counselling and teaching, providing care to achieve established goals, supervising and coordinating care, and communicating and documenting nursing interventions.

b. This examination is about nursing, so focus on the nursing action rather than on the medical action unless the question is asking you what prescription (medical order) is anticipated.

c. The only client about whom you need to be concerned is the client in the question that you are answering; remember that this client is your only assigned client.

d. Answer the questions as if the situations were textbook and ideal and the nurse had all the time and resources needed and readily available at the client’s bedside.

PRACTICE QUESTION: The Nursing Process – Implementation

A nurse is caring for a client with angina pectoris who begins to experience chest pain. The nurse administers a sublingual nitroglycerin (Nitrostat) tablet sublingually as prescribed, but the pain is unrelieved. The nurse should take which of the following actions next?

1. Contact the physician
2. Call the client’s family.
3. Administer another nitroglycerin tablet.
4. Reposition the client.

Answer: 3

Test-Taking Strategy: Implementation questions address the process of organizing and managing care. This question also requires that you prioritize the nursing actions. Note the key word next. Recalling that the nurse would administer three nitroglycerin tablets 5 minutes apart from each other to relieve chest pain will assist in directing you to option 3. Remember implementation is the fourth step of the nursing process.