Nurse Executive Test Risk Assessment & Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A nurse executive is reviewing the hospital's liability insurance coverage. Which type of malpractice insurance policy covers claims filed AFTER the policy period ends, as long as the incident occurred during the policy period?
- Occurrence-based policy (Correct answer)
- Claims-made policy with tail coverage
- Claims-made policy without tail coverage
- Umbrella liability policy
Correct answer: Occurrence-based policy
An occurrence-based policy covers any incident that occurred during the policy period, regardless of when the claim is filed, providing long-term protection without tail coverage.
Question 2: Which approach to risk management involves identifying and prioritizing risks before allocating resources to reduce the most critical threats first?
- Risk avoidance
- Risk-based prioritization (Correct answer)
- Retrospective risk analysis
- Risk tolerance acceptance
Correct answer: Risk-based prioritization
Risk-based prioritization ensures that limited resources are directed toward the highest-probability, highest-impact risks first, maximizing the safety return on investment.
Question 3: A nurse executive is reviewing a Swiss Cheese Model diagram during a risk analysis. What does each 'slice of cheese' represent?
- A different department within the hospital
- A defensive layer or barrier in the system that can fail due to latent conditions (Correct answer)
- An individual nurse's level of clinical competency
- A regulatory requirement that must be met
Correct answer: A defensive layer or barrier in the system that can fail due to latent conditions
In Reason's Swiss Cheese Model, each slice represents a safety barrier with holes (latent failures); when holes align across slices, errors pass through and reach the patient.
Question 4: Which of the following is an example of a LATENT error in a healthcare system?
- A nurse administers the wrong medication dose
- A poorly designed medication storage system that allows look-alike drugs to be stored together (Correct answer)
- A patient pulls out their IV line
- A physician writes an illegible order
Correct answer: A poorly designed medication storage system that allows look-alike drugs to be stored together
Latent errors are hidden system-level failures such as poor equipment design or inadequate protocols that create conditions for active errors to occur.
Question 5: A nurse executive wants to reduce the risk of patient elopement. Which environmental risk management strategy is MOST effective?
- Restricting all patient movement to their rooms
- Implementing door alarm systems with wanderer management protocols for at-risk patients (Correct answer)
- Stationing security guards at all exits at all times
- Requiring patients to sign a waiver upon admission
Correct answer: Implementing door alarm systems with wanderer management protocols for at-risk patients
Door alarm systems combined with individualized wanderer management protocols provide a targeted, evidence-based approach to preventing elopement in identified high-risk patients.
Question 6: Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), a breach of unsecured protected health information (PHI) requires notification to affected individuals within:
- 24 hours of discovery
- 30 days of discovery
- 60 days of discovery (Correct answer)
- 90 days of discovery
Correct answer: 60 days of discovery
HIPAA's Breach Notification Rule requires covered entities to notify affected individuals without unreasonable delay and no later than 60 days following discovery of a breach.
Question 7: A nurse executive is implementing strategies to reduce healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Which risk management concept best describes the practice of bundling multiple evidence-based interventions together?
- Defense in depth (layered safety) (Correct answer)
- Single-point intervention
- Retrospective error correction
- Herd immunity strategy
Correct answer: Defense in depth (layered safety)
Defense in depth applies multiple overlapping safety layers (bundles) so that if one intervention fails, others continue to provide protection against HAIs.
Nurse Executive Test Risk Assessment & Management 5
A nurse executive is reviewing the hospital's liability insurance coverage.
Which type of malpractice insurance policy covers claims filed AFTER the policy period ends, as long as the incident occurred during the policy period?