PNC Treatment Planning & Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A parish nurse is caring for a congregant with heart failure who lives alone. Which community resource referral is most critical to include in the treatment plan?
- Grief support group
- Home health aide services (Correct answer)
- Financial counseling services
- Nutrition cooking classes
Correct answer: Home health aide services
A congregant with heart failure living alone requires home health support to assist with daily monitoring, medication management, and safety.
Question 2: When prioritizing nursing diagnoses for treatment planning, the parish nurse should address which problem first?
- Spiritual distress related to illness
- Risk for falls related to dizziness from antihypertensives (Correct answer)
- Deficient knowledge related to new diagnosis
- Social isolation related to limited mobility
Correct answer: Risk for falls related to dizziness from antihypertensives
According to Maslow's hierarchy, safety needs—such as fall prevention—take priority over psychological and knowledge needs.
Question 3: A parish nurse notices a congregant with depression is refusing all referrals for mental health services. The nurse's best response is to:
- Document the refusal and close the case
- Force the congregant to attend a counseling session
- Maintain regular contact and gently revisit the subject over time (Correct answer)
- Report the situation to the congregant's family without consent
Correct answer: Maintain regular contact and gently revisit the subject over time
Maintaining a trusting relationship while respecting autonomy allows the parish nurse to continue supporting the congregant until they are ready to accept help.
Question 4: In treatment planning for a congregant with multiple chronic conditions, which strategy best prevents care fragmentation?
- Let each specialist develop their own separate care plan
- Coordinate care among all providers and share a unified plan (Correct answer)
- Focus only on the most recent diagnosis
- Allow the congregant to manage provider communication independently
Correct answer: Coordinate care among all providers and share a unified plan
Care coordination among all providers ensures consistency, prevents conflicting treatments, and supports holistic management of multiple conditions.
Question 5: Which documentation element is essential when recording a parish nursing treatment plan?
- The nurse's personal opinions about congregant choices
- Generalized goals applicable to all congregants with similar diagnoses
- Individualized goals, interventions, and expected outcomes with timelines (Correct answer)
- Only a list of referrals made
Correct answer: Individualized goals, interventions, and expected outcomes with timelines
Individualized documentation with clear goals, interventions, and timelines ensures accountability, continuity, and legal protection in parish nursing practice.
Question 6: A parish nurse is developing a treatment plan for a pregnant congregant with gestational diabetes. Which intervention has the highest priority?
- Enroll the congregant in a parenting class
- Educate on blood glucose monitoring and dietary management (Correct answer)
- Arrange for a doula to assist at delivery
- Schedule weekly prayer sessions for stress reduction
Correct answer: Educate on blood glucose monitoring and dietary management
Blood glucose control through monitoring and diet management is the cornerstone of gestational diabetes management to prevent maternal and fetal complications.
Question 7: When working with a congregant who has cultural health beliefs that conflict with recommended treatments, the parish nurse should:
- Insist the congregant follow only evidence-based medical advice
- Ignore the cultural beliefs to avoid conflict
- Explore the cultural beliefs and find common ground within the care plan (Correct answer)
- Defer the case to a culturally matched provider and withdraw
Correct answer: Explore the cultural beliefs and find common ground within the care plan
Culturally competent care requires understanding and integrating the congregant's values and beliefs while providing evidence-informed guidance.
PNC Treatment Planning & Management 3
A parish nurse is caring for a congregant with heart failure who lives alone.
Which community resource referral is most critical to include in the treatment plan?