ER Quiz

MATH QUIZ FOR EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT STAFF

1. You are assisting a primary nurse with charcoal administration
down an orogastric tube. The room measures eight feet by twelve
feet. The patient starts to retch before the tube is pulled. Knowing
that charcoal can spew out of a tube in a five foot radius (even with
a thumb over the opening) and the stretcher is two feet wide, how many
feet per second do you have to back up to get less charcoal on you
than the primary nurse?

2. Doctor A picks up a chart out of the rack. S/he finds that it is
a repeat patient with abdominal pain. Doctor A puts the chart back.
Doctor B picks up the chart five minutes later and also returns it
to the rack. Doctor A leaves the nurses' station heading south at
three miles per hour. Doctor B leaves the nurses station for the
doctors' lounge at five miles per hour. How long before the patient
is at equal distance from Doctor A and Doctor B?

3. You were assigned two large treatment rooms and the gynecologic
room. By the end of the day you have cared for ten patients. Four
patients were female over the age of 80, all complaining of weakness.
Two patients were male, ages 72 and 50. The last four were female,
between the ages of 24 and 40, all complaining of abdominal pain.
It is 3:00 p.m. and time to restock the rooms. How many bedpans
will you need?

4. You are the primary nurse for an elderly patient with
congestive heart failure. The IV stick was exceptionally
difficult, but you are able to start an 18 gauge catheter
on the second attempt. You leave the room to check on another
patient. A relative thinks that the IV has stopped dripping
and opens the clamp. How much IV fluid will infuse before
you return?

5. You are sent for your morning coffee break. You need to
use the restroom but can't find one unoccupied and have to
walk down to the lobby. The coffee pot is dry and you have
to make more. When you get to the cafeteria, the line extends
ten feet into the hallway. You can't remember exactly when
your break began. How much time do you have left?

6. You are the primary nurse taking care of a particularly
shy female in the gynecology room. Her private physician
arrives to see her, but you can see that he is not in a
particularly good mood. After much coaxing, the patient
agrees to a pelvic exam. How many people will open the
door during the exam?

7. An elderly man arrives in the Emergency Department by
rescue squad. Twenty minutes later his wife arrives and
registers him. She is shown the entrance to the department
and slowly shuffles in. How many rooms will she walk into
before she finds him?

8. You are assigned to the EENT room. You have a patient to
be checked for a peritonsillar abscess. The ENT physician has
been paged and expects to arrive in 45 minutes. Three hours
later, he arrives and is at the patient's side, asking for
a flashlight. Lightly jogging at 22 miles per hour, how many
rooms will you have to search before you find one?

9. You have been asked to cover a coworker's rooms during her
break. One of her patients is an elderly, confused male with
an enlarged prostate. A catheter has been inserted and his
physician is coming to see him. Somehow he manages to get
off the stretcher. The drainage bag is firmly hooked to the
side rail. Knowing that the catheter is 16 inches long and
the drainage tubing is three feet long, will he be able to
reach the door before pulling out the catheter?