When to not read too much into the question.....and answers

[HelloM1M1]

So I ran into a question today while doing NCLEX 4000...

Basically the question asks which situation displays lack of understanding by parents of a 2-y.o about child safety

1. safety latches on kitchen cabinets

2. toy chest in front of a second-story, locked window

3. pot handles turned toward the back of the stove

4. hot water heater temp set at 120 F or below

So even though 120 F or below to me sounds good, but I gotta pick it because all the other options are safe as well

However, the rationale is because toddlers are able to climb on low furniture and open windows that may not always be locked, especially the summer.

So am I supposed to read that much into the question and answers. I thought if the answer states that it is locked, it should be locked and do not think otherwise. Am I supposed to analyze that it may not always be locked especially in the summer???

However, I do agree that it is a better answer, since the key is a little toddler who likes to explore and climb everywhere... but I just don't know when I should think beyond the given information. Help?!?

[jabalos]

Well a water heater isn't something that can be knocked off the stove as some may imagine.... if you google water heater... it's a big appliance that heats water and is padded and usually isn't very warm to touch at all. Furthermore, 212 degrees F is the boiling point of water, so about half of that may be lukewarm.

[jabalos]

also, the fact that it does emphasize that it's locked... i think it's a signal word to remember the growth/dev or a 2 y.o. ... also "second-story"

[Busyme10]

When it comes to questions I always wished someone would remind me about this one thing. NCLEX world is the perfect world, do not go beyond what you have in front of you. The way the question is worded the last answer does not mention if it padded or anything but remember if it is a perfect world it will be in the best location, covered, etc. Hope this helps a little! Everyone looks at questions differently but always pick the BEST answer. Good Luck!

[Jolie, BSN]

2 year olds can get anything open. If you doubt that, just hand one a child safety pill bottle. There should never be anything in front of a window that encourages climbing or enables a child to reach the lock. The other choices are standard safety practices taught to parents.

[digitiminimi]

What's important here is that there's only one answer that shows a lack of understanding of teaching by the parents and could be a safety risk. Having safety latches on cabinets, pot handles turned to the back of the stove, and water heater set at 120 degrees or below are all common household safety guidelines that we teach parents. The only one that is NOT a guideline is having a toy chest in front of a window (and it's the only one that could be dangerous). You really don't have to read into anything to answer this question

[sandyfeet]

I agree that it is a weird answer, but by the process of elimination the other three answers are obviously geared toward child safety. You could think that even if the window is locked, it is still on the second story of the house--could a child break and fall through the window while spending a lot of time in that area? It's a stretch, I know...

[Cannary22, BSN]

Ah, yes the process of elimination, cross out what's obviously is incorrect and sometimes test takers actually know the answer but they over analyze the question and therefore leads to confusion and end up choosing the wrong the answer. So we need to read and not question the question. Good luck to all.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I am a very experienced nurse -- and a good test taker. This one seems easy to me.

Answers A and C are clearly incorrect because they definitely keep the child safe and don't demonstrate a LACK of understanding. That leaves B and D.

Keeping the water heater temperature on the low side reduces the likelihood that the child would be burned if he/she turns on the hot water tap. (That's the main reason for the water heater concern, not because the child might tip it over. It would be dangerous if it fell on top of him regardless of the water temp.) So keeping the water at a reasonable temp makes burning less likely. So ... knowing not to have the water temp too high is a sign that the parents ARE concerned about safety -- which eliminates D as the answer.

As for B, giving the kid something to climb on in front of the window is just not a good idea. Bad things can happen. The window could break if he/she is pounding on it with a toy and shattered glass would be a danger. He/she could fall out by falling through the glass. (Up on the chest, lose balance, fall towards window, break through window, etc.) There are lot of possible bad possibilities there -- and the beest way to avoid it would be to not put the chest there.

So, yep. B is the best answer ... and it has nothing to do with reading or not reading too much into the question. It's just going through the possible answers one at a time and asking yourself, "Does this action make the child more safe or less safe than its opposite?" Keeping the water cooler is safer than making it hotter. Turning the pot handles away is safer than turning them outward. etc. Giving him/her something to climb on in front of a window does not make him/safer, it adds danger.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

i'd think about possible outcomes. sure, burns from hot water or a pulled-down cooking pot or poisoning from getting into meds could be dangerous, but not necessarily fatal because they are all treatable if discovered promptly, which is likely with a 2-year-old under normal conditions. a fall from a second-floor window, on the other hand, can happen in the blink of an eye and is very likely to be fatal or cause very severe, life-threatening injury.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I respectfully disagree with your reasoning, GrnTea. The severity of the possible injuries has nothing to do with the correctness or incorrectness of the responses. Test-takers need to focus on the question being asked -- not other aspects of the situation. In this case, the B answer places the child in danger while answers A, C, and D protect the child -- and it is that reasoning that determines the correct response to the test question. And that kind of reasoning is what the students need to learn to consistently do well on tests.

If the amount of possible danger in response B were small, but still constituted a danger ... and the actions in either A, C, or D protected the child from dying, B would still be the correct answer. It's not the amount of danger possible in each possible answer that matters, it's whether or not the actions taken by the parent expose the child to more risk or less risk from a possible household hazard. Are they protecting the child by doing that ... or are they exposing the child to more danger?

[fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN]

1, 3, and 4 are all correct measures that are taught to parents. however, if you didn't know that, i would think the window and toybox would stand out anyway. it doesn't matter that the window is locked- glass is not impenetrable. if the kid were to stand on the toybox and fall into the glass, he would go through.