CELBAN Telephone Communication in Healthcare 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient's family member calls the unit demanding to know the patient's diagnosis. The nurse should:
- Ask if the patient has given consent for information to be shared with them before disclosing anything (Correct answer)
- Share the diagnosis since family always has the right to know
- Transfer the call to the charge nurse without speaking to the caller
- Tell them to visit in person instead
Correct answer: Ask if the patient has given consent for information to be shared with them before disclosing anything
Confirming whether the patient has authorized information sharing protects patient privacy and complies with Canadian health privacy legislation.
Question 2: When calling a pharmacy to clarify a prescription, a nurse should provide all of the following EXCEPT:
- The nurse's personal home phone number (Correct answer)
- Patient name and date of birth
- The prescribing physician's name
- The specific medication concern
Correct answer: The nurse's personal home phone number
A nurse's personal home phone number is not relevant or appropriate to share; professional contact through the hospital system is required.
Question 3: A physician gives a verbal order over the phone that the nurse believes may be a dangerous dose. The nurse should:
- Question the order respectfully, stating the concern, and request clarification before proceeding (Correct answer)
- Administer the dose because the physician is the authority
- Ignore the order and document it as not received
- Hang up and call the charge nurse without saying anything to the physician
Correct answer: Question the order respectfully, stating the concern, and request clarification before proceeding
Nurses have a professional and ethical duty to advocate for patient safety by questioning orders that appear unsafe before they are carried out.
Question 4: Which SBAR element should a nurse deliver LAST during a telephone consultation?
- Recommendation (Correct answer)
- Situation
- Background
- Assessment
Correct answer: Recommendation
In SBAR, 'Recommendation' comes last and represents the nurse's specific request or suggested action for the patient.
Question 5: A nurse is calling a lab to follow up on urgent bloodwork. The most effective opening is:
- 'This is Nurse Torres from 3 South. I'm following up on urgent CBC results for patient John Smith, DOB March 12, 1958.' (Correct answer)
- 'Hi, did the blood come back yet?'
- 'I need results immediately — this is an emergency.'
- 'Someone called about bloodwork earlier, I'm not sure who.'
Correct answer: 'This is Nurse Torres from 3 South. I'm following up on urgent CBC results for patient John Smith, DOB March 12, 1958.'
Identifying yourself, your unit, and the specific patient with identifiers helps the lab locate the correct results quickly and accurately.
Question 6: When putting a caller on hold during an urgent call, a nurse should:
- Ask permission to place them on hold, give an estimated wait time, and return promptly (Correct answer)
- Simply press hold without warning
- Transfer the call to avoid the wait
- Tell the caller to call back in an hour
Correct answer: Ask permission to place them on hold, give an estimated wait time, and return promptly
Asking permission before placing someone on hold and communicating an expected wait time demonstrates professionalism and respects the caller's time.
Question 7: A nurse receives a call about a patient who has been transferred to another unit. The correct response is:
- Provide the caller with the name of the new unit and offer to transfer the call there (Correct answer)
- Say you don't know where the patient went
- Give out the patient's new room number to any caller
- Hang up and leave the caller to figure it out
Correct answer: Provide the caller with the name of the new unit and offer to transfer the call there
Directing the caller to the correct unit and offering to transfer the call ensures continuity of communication without violating privacy beyond what is appropriate.
CELBAN Telephone Communication in Healthcare 2
A patient's family member calls the unit demanding to know the patient's diagnosis.
The nurse should: