Insight on a question I do not agree with

[TexHaws]

Recent test had this question on it. I personally do not think that any of the responses are correct. Teacher says option C. What do you think . . . .Please back your response up with references.

A client says, "I drink so much water every day you'd think I would have diarrhea, not constipation!" An appropriate response for the nurse to make to this client is:

A. "You're obviously not drinking enough water!"

B. "You are dehydrated."

C. "Your body only absorbs about 1 liter of water a day."

D. "Are you sure you're drinking as much as you think you are?"

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

So there are many factors are associated with the water loss and absorption, therefore we need to answer the first 2 questions and after that we can suggest the answer.....therefore the D is the right answer, which is to do assessment before coming with any suggestion, which is critical thinking in the Nursing.

D is not an assessment. An assessment would be "How much water did you drink today?" or "What did you have to drink and eat today?"

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

D is correct IMO ... you need to further assess how much they are drinking because it is their main concern that they are coming to you for. The patient talks about the amount of water as if it concerns them. Of course you question them; it's called an assessment.

Further assessment is appropriate, but D is not an assessment.

OK, so let's say you are going to use D as an assessment and you ask the patient, "Are you sure you are...?"

A. The patient answers "Yes." OK, what did you assess? Nothing.

B. The patient answers "No." OK, what did you assess? Nothing.

Not much of an assessment.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

But when we do the ATI, which is based on the NCLEX, it says consider the key terms......

when we look at the key term...it is "absorbs" in third option, which makes the answer C completely wrong......

You misidentified the key words.

The key words in the question are "appropriate response."

"Absorb" is most definitely not a key word in this question. The word absorb is being used (instead of intake, insensible losses, excretion, etc) in hopes a lay person will understand it.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

You misidentified the key words.

The key words in the question are "appropriate response."

"Absorb" is most definitely not a key word in this question. The word absorb is being used (instead of intake, insensible losses, excretion, etc) in hopes a lay person will understand it.

no matter, the answer is still wrong.....

[TexHaws]

When I saw this it made me think of the "therapeutic communication" questions when studying for the NCLEX.

A. Is confrontational and non-therapeutic

B. You do not have enough evidence to know if this is correct.

D. Is a non-therapeutic yes/no question that is also confrontational.

C. Is therapeutic because it gives the patient information. Whether this information is correct, I have absolutely no idea.

see i guess that is what bothers me . . . the idea that "who cares if the information is correct" mindset. . .

[TexHaws]

I think it's a crappy question! Yes as nurses we are supposed to therapeutically communicate BUT we shouldn't give incorrect information. Patient teaching is important as well!

I agree. . . If we are telling them false information is that really "therapeutic". Like I said I don't ever really argue questions, but this one is really messed up.

[TexHaws]

OP, your logic doesn't work though, if what you are saying is that "D would be correct if it were worded differently." It's NOT worded differently, therefore it is not the answer. I don't see how you're going to win this one.

Sorry, though, I do not have references to provide you.

I am not saying that D is really correct. I am saying that C is wrong. . . big difference. C would also be correct if it were worded differently . . . but it is NOT.

[TexHaws]

Thanks for all your input guys. . . just seeing what others thought. . . I know it does no good to argue over questions and as I said I don't normally do this, and this one question will have no bearing on my grade. Simply seeing what the thought process was. Teacher was not able to tell me why C was correct (she did not write the test of course). In fact when I initially asked her about C she said "obvious misprint" only to go back on that. The only reason she gave me for not giving me credit was that over half the class did not miss the question. Annoying, but as it has been said. . . . you can't fight it!

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

see i guess that is what bothers me . . . the idea that "who cares if the information is correct" mindset. . .

I agree. . . If we are telling them false information is that really "therapeutic". Like I said I don't ever really argue questions, but this one is really messed up.

I am not saying that D is really correct. I am saying that C is wrong. . . big difference. C would also be correct if it were worded differently . . . but it is NOT.

You are assuming that the information in C is incorrect. It's not a matter of "who cares if it is"....the question is about communicating with the patient, it's not a physiology question. It probably IS correct, and you're not being asked to determine whether or not it is. You are reading way too much in to both the question and the answers, and that will KILL you both on tests in school and on the NCLEX.

[sameyjaney]

see i guess that is what bothers me . . . the idea that "who cares if the information is correct" mindset. . .

I know! It is a method of test taking. Kaplan teaches you these kind of skills and I must admit these strategies will come very much in handy when taking the NCLEX.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

Thanks for all your input guys. . . just seeing what others thought. . . I know it does no good to argue over questions and as I said I don't normally do this, and this one question will have no bearing on my grade. Simply seeing what the thought process was. Teacher was not able to tell me why C was correct (she did not write the test of course). In fact when I initially asked her about C she said "obvious misprint" only to go back on that. The only reason she gave me for not giving me credit was that over half the class did not miss the question. Annoying, but as it has been said. . . . you can't fight it!

I found frustrating debates and agonizing over test questions very helpful. It's part of how you learn to take those blasted nursing school tests.

The truth is that "NCLEX-style" question writers LOVE this type of question. Students get so flabbergasted over the word "absorb" they start picking wrong answers on purpose. The writer tried to trap you and in many cases succeeded. You have a choice here: 1. you can learn from this and not make the same mistake or 2. you can bemoan how stupid your teacher and NCLEX questions are.

Through experience, you will eventually find that questions like the one you posted are easy to pick out.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I found frustrating debates and agonizing over test questions very helpful. It's part of how you learn to take those blasted nursing school tests.

The truth is that "NCLEX-style" question writers LOVE this type of question. Students get so flabbergasted over the word "absorb" they start picking wrong answers on purpose. The writer tried to trap you and in many cases succeeded. You have a choice here: 1. you can learn from this and not make the same mistake or 2. you can bemoan how stupid your teacher and NCLEX questions are.

Through experience, you will eventually find that questions like the one you posted are easy to pick out.

It has been a long time since I took NCLEX...paper and pencil days......I just can't imagine out right misinformation would purposefully be on there. The question under discussion here, no correct answer has been provided.