NP Quality Control & Assurance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A nurse practitioner reviews the practice's patient satisfaction scores. Which validated tool is most commonly used to measure outpatient experience of care?
- CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey (Correct answer)
- HCAHPS Survey
- Press Ganey Inpatient Survey
- NRC Health Picker Survey
Correct answer: CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey
The CAHPS Clinician & Group (CG-CAHPS) Survey is the standardized tool used to measure patients' experiences with ambulatory care providers.
Question 2: When implementing a clinical practice guideline, which strategy best improves adherence among clinicians?
- Distributing printed copies of the guideline
- Embedding decision support alerts in the EHR workflow (Correct answer)
- Posting guidelines in break rooms
- Requiring annual guideline review signatures
Correct answer: Embedding decision support alerts in the EHR workflow
EHR-integrated clinical decision support tools that appear at the point of care have the strongest evidence for improving guideline adherence.
Question 3: A Pareto chart in a QI project on medication errors shows that 4 error types account for 80% of all incidents. This reflects:
- The law of large numbers
- The 80/20 rule (Pareto principle) (Correct answer)
- Normal distribution of errors
- Sentinel event clustering
Correct answer: The 80/20 rule (Pareto principle)
The Pareto principle holds that roughly 80% of effects come from 20% of causes, helping teams prioritize the most impactful improvement targets.
Question 4: Which type of measure assesses what actually happens to the patient as a result of care, such as mortality rate or functional status?
- Structure measure
- Process measure
- Outcome measure (Correct answer)
- Balancing measure
Correct answer: Outcome measure
Outcome measures capture the end results of care delivered to patients, including mortality, morbidity, and patient-reported outcomes.
Question 5: A QI team wants to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). The evidence-based bundle they should implement is maintained by which organization?
- The Joint Commission
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) (Correct answer)
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
- Centers for Disease Control (CDC)
Correct answer: Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
IHI developed and champions the Central Line Bundle as part of its evidence-based care bundle methodology to reduce CLABSIs.
Question 6: A nurse practitioner is asked to participate in peer review of a colleague's clinical decisions. The PRIMARY purpose of peer review is to:
- Identify providers for disciplinary action
- Improve quality of care through collegial evaluation (Correct answer)
- Fulfill malpractice insurance requirements
- Satisfy state licensing board mandates
Correct answer: Improve quality of care through collegial evaluation
Peer review is a quality mechanism where clinicians evaluate each other's practice to identify opportunities for improvement and uphold standards.
Question 7: Which statistical concept describes the degree to which a measurement consistently produces the same results under the same conditions?
- Validity
- Reliability (Correct answer)
- Sensitivity
- Specificity
Correct answer: Reliability
Reliability refers to the consistency and reproducibility of a measurement instrument or process across repeated assessments.
NP Quality Control & Assurance 3
A nurse practitioner reviews the practice's patient satisfaction scores.
Which validated tool is most commonly used to measure outpatient experience of care?