CCS Patient Care & Support 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The primary purpose of a care plan in patient care is to:
- Provide legal protection for the facility
- Outline individualized goals and interventions for a patient (Correct answer)
- Schedule staff assignments for each shift
- Document billing codes for services rendered
Correct answer: Outline individualized goals and interventions for a patient
A care plan documents individualized patient goals, interventions, and expected outcomes to guide consistent care.
Question 2: Which technique is most appropriate when communicating with a patient who has hearing loss?
- Speak loudly into the patient's ear
- Face the patient, speak clearly at a normal pace, and use gestures (Correct answer)
- Write all communication and avoid speaking
- Use medical terminology to be more precise
Correct answer: Face the patient, speak clearly at a normal pace, and use gestures
Facing the patient and speaking clearly allows lip reading and visual cues, which greatly aid patients with hearing loss.
Question 3: When transferring a patient from bed to wheelchair, the wheelchair should be positioned:
- Directly in front of the bed at a 90-degree angle
- At a 30–45 degree angle to the bed on the patient's stronger side (Correct answer)
- At the foot of the bed facing the patient
- Behind the patient before they stand
Correct answer: At a 30–45 degree angle to the bed on the patient's stronger side
Positioning the wheelchair at 30–45 degrees on the stronger side minimizes pivot distance and uses the patient's stronger leg for support.
Question 4: A patient with a urinary catheter complains of lower abdominal pain and the urine appears cloudy. The care specialist should:
- Irrigate the catheter with sterile water
- Clamp the catheter tubing to prevent further discomfort
- Report findings to the nurse immediately (Correct answer)
- Encourage the patient to drink less fluid
Correct answer: Report findings to the nurse immediately
Cloudy urine and abdominal pain in a catheterized patient may indicate a urinary tract infection requiring prompt nursing assessment.
Question 5: What is the correct order of donning personal protective equipment (PPE) before entering an isolation room?
- Gloves, gown, mask, eye protection
- Gown, mask, eye protection, gloves (Correct answer)
- Mask, gloves, gown, eye protection
- Eye protection, gown, gloves, mask
Correct answer: Gown, mask, eye protection, gloves
The CDC recommends donning in the order: gown first, then mask/respirator, then eye protection, then gloves to prevent self-contamination.
Question 6: Which observation about a patient's wound should be reported to the nurse immediately?
- Mild pinkness around the wound edges on day two
- Yellow-green drainage with a foul odor (Correct answer)
- A small amount of clear serous drainage
- Slight swelling at the site on postoperative day one
Correct answer: Yellow-green drainage with a foul odor
Yellow-green, foul-smelling drainage indicates a likely infection requiring urgent nursing and possibly medical intervention.
Question 7: A patient who is non-verbal shows grimacing and muscle rigidity during repositioning. This most likely indicates:
- The patient needs range-of-motion exercises
- The patient is experiencing pain and needs assessment (Correct answer)
- The patient is having a seizure
- The behavior is normal during repositioning
Correct answer: The patient is experiencing pain and needs assessment
Grimacing and rigidity are nonverbal pain indicators that require reporting and assessment by a nurse.
CCS Patient Care & Support 3
The primary purpose of a care plan in patient care is to: