Nursing

How to Obtain Contact Hours by Reading This Issue

Instructions: 2.3 contact hours will be awarded for this activity. A contact hour is 60 minutes of instruction. This is a Learner-paced Program. Vindico Medical Education does not require submission of the quiz answers. A contact hour certificate will be awarded 4–6 weeks following receipt of your completed Registration Form, including the Evaluation portion. To obtain contact hours:

1. Read the article: “Taking Charge: Front-Line Nurse Leadership Development” on pages 154–159, carefully noting the tables and other illustrative materials that are provided to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the content.

2. Read each question and record your answers. After completing all questions, compare your answers to those provided within this issue.

3. Type or print your full name and address and your Social Security number in the spaces provided on the Registration Form. Indicate the total time spent on the activity (reading article and completing quiz). Forms and quizzes cannot be processed if this section is incomplete. All participants are required by the accreditation agency to attest to the time spent completing the activity.

4. Forward the completed Registration Form with your check or money order for $20 made payable to JCEN-CNE. Payment must be in U.S. dollars drawn on a U.S. bank. CNE Registration Forms are accepted up to 24 months from date of issue.

Vindico Medical Education is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the New Jersey State Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation. P188-6/09-12.

This activity is co-provided by Vindico Medical Education and The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing.

Objectives: After studying the article, “Taking Charge: Front-Line Nurse Leadership Development,” in this issue, the participant will:

1. Describe the role and responsibilities of the charge nurse.

2. Identify challenges that charge nurses experience in today’s health care environment.

3. Define key learning needs of charge nurses.

4. Analyze the process used by one health system in developing charge nurse education.

1. Charge nurses face many challenges today. Which of the following is a serious challenge affecting performance?

   1. Reduced average daily censuses.

   2. Staff shortages.

   3. Varied lengths of patient stay.

   4. Increased reimbursement for care.

2. Historically, nursing leadership education has focused on which of the following groups?

   1. Charge nurses.

   2. Nurse practitioners.

   3. Nurse managers.

   4. Assistant nurse managers.

3. Selection for charge nurse positions is usually based on which one of the following criteria?

   1. Strong clinical skills.

   2. Leadership experience.

   3. Length of time with the organization.

   4. Academic education.

4. To implement a charge nurse training program to be delivered across a hospital system, which of the following is a major priority for the educators designing the program?

   1. Benchmarking with other health systems.

   2. An organizational needs assessment.

   3. An evidence-based literature review.

   4. A review of vendor products.

5. Charge nurse responsibilities described in this article included all of the following except:

   1. Coordinating patient care assignments for 24-hour blocks.

   2. Monitoring core measures.

   3. Managing the budget for the unit.

   4. Taking physician orders and referring problems to the unit manager.

6. The primary goal of the charge nurse workshop was to:

   1. Strengthen the leadership skills of charge nurses.

   2. Promote teamwork among charge nurses.

   3. Provide charge nurses with time off to reflect and relax.

   4. Show appreciation to the charge nurses for their contributions.

7. A strong rationale for mixing staff from different facilities in system-wide training is to:

   1. Reduce costs.

   2. Prevent group think.

   3. Promote collegiality across the system.

   4. Encourage discussion about system benefits.

8. Chief nursing officers in this system were surprised at the level of challenge that their charge nurses experience in which of the following?

   1. Scheduling staff.

   2. Dealing with patient complaints.

   3. Interacting with physicians.

   4. Managing conflict.

9. A large part of the success of this charge nurse training program has been attributed to which of the following?

   1. The commitment of senior nursing leaders.

   2. Charge nurses have a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

   3. Participants voluntarily attend educational programs regularly.

   4. Bonuses and raises paid to successful participants.

10. As a way for charge nurses to manage conflict and deal with inappropriate behavior demonstrated by staff, the next charge nurse program is going to teach:

    1. Performance on core measures.

    2. The concept of carefronting.

    3. Use of simulation equipment to teach staff.

    4. Use of simulation equipment for patient education.