NLN CNE Exam Questions

Correct answer: Enough time must given for the group to complete its work

Collaborative assignments/projects in nursing education have been implemented as a means to teach nursing students to learn how to work collaboratively, because cooperative, collaborative practice is a mainstay of  professional nursing. The nurse educator who is developing collaborative learning assignments for her students needs to consider several important factors:

• assignments need to be meaningful and, if at all possible, designed for small groups of students
• the students need to understand the different roles of every member of the group
• the groups need to be structured heterogeneously with regard to gender, ethnicity, ability, and experience, to increase learning
• enough time must be given to the groups to complete and process their work

A group of 8-12 students is too large for a collaborative project.

The nurse educator may opt to assign roles to each member of the group, or groups may decide among themselves who will fill the specific roles. The nurse educator simply needs to ensure the students understand the role of each member of the group.

Correct answer: Role-playing and simulations

When assessing the effectiveness of student learning and the achievement of course outcomes, the nurse educator should use multiple methods of evaluation to ensure she is evaluating across all three learning domains: cognitive, affective, and psychomotor.

Role-playing and simulations are both excellent methods of evaluation, as they allow for assessment of student learning within all three domains. In addition, students are able to practice skills in a safe, nonthreatening environment; they are also able to develop problem-solving skills and critical thinking skills, learn to prioritize activities, and self-reflect on their learning.

Journals and portfolios are excellent methods of evaluating learning in the affective domain and higher levels of learning in the cognitive domain. Portfolios show evidence of student learning progress, measure program outcomes, and allow for advanced placement of students in a course. Journals allow the student to reflect on their learning; they also promote active learning, enhance critical thinking skills, and help students to improve their writing skills.

Using concept maps and audiotaping for evaluation allows for assessment of learning at all levels of the cognitive domain, as well as learning in the affective domain. Audiotapes improve communication and interview skills, and concept maps improve critical thinking, help promote understanding of complex relationships among concepts, and integrate theory into practice. 

Essays and oral presentations both allow for evaluation of learning in the affective domain as well as the cognitive domain. Essay writing reflects learning in the higher levels of the cognitive domain, and oral presentations improve critical thinking and communication skills.

Correct answer: A post-911 veteran student who has been assigned to a clinical rotation in a psychiatric emergency department.

With so many factors contributing to an at-risk status for students and jeopardizing their academic nursing success, nursing faculty need to be proactive in taking steps to provide interventions to aid their students in achieving academic success both in the classroom and in their clinical placements. Students who are considered to be English as an Additional Language (EAL) students, students with ethnically/culturally diverse backgrounds, students who are post-911 veterans, students with disabilities, and students who identify as LGBTQ all present with unique learner needs.

Students who are post-911 veterans may have experienced trauma which caused physical or psychological comorbidities and may be retraumatized/exposed through stressful clinical placements such as emergency departments, psychiatric units, burn units, etc.

EAL students benefit from being placed in teams with students who are native English speakers. Students with disabilities benefit from referrals to the Office of Disability Services for provision of necessary accommodations. LGBTQ students may not wish to "be outed" and may benefit from use of sensitive language.

Correct answer: Adequate socialization

Nurse faculty not only hold responsibility for assisting their students in gaining nursing knowledge and skill, but they also are required to assist their students in professional development and formation. Socialization in nursing, or the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable in professional nursing, is critical for the student nurse if he is to be a successful professional nurse. The nurse educator has a responsibility to provide adequate socialization to the student, helping him realize and accept the full breadth of what is expected of nurses, including acceptable behavior during educational or learning activities.

Though the student may ultimately earn an unsatisfactory evaluation, the nurse educator first needs to ensure she provides adequate socialization, as the student may not realize his behaviors are distracting and overt during this first week of nursing school. Mentoring, guided introspection, and self-reflection assignments could be utilized by the nurse educator should the student earn an unsatisfactory evaluation to assist him in taking positive steps to change his behavior.

Correct answer: A nurse educator holds a principal role on a multidisciplinary committee researching the use of digital media in the classroom

Sharing of teaching expertise with colleagues or others in the field of education is an important component of the Scholarship of Teaching as described by Boyer. The skilled teacher is able to expertly weave evidence-based teaching practices (EBTP) into their skill set and use it in the classroom.

Sharing this expertise is the next step in the Scholarship of Teaching. This can take place through multiple avenues of nursing education, and should take place regardless of years of practice and level of nursing education expertise. The novice nurse educator can share in teaching expertise by engaging in coursework to help him better understand curricular initiatives, while a more experienced nurse educator can mentor a less experienced colleague and share his unfolding synthesis of evidence-based nursing education. A nurse educator can receive certification as a nurse educator, recognizing her teaching expertise.

Participating in research is necessary for the scholarship of discovery for the nurse educator, but without sharing his research findings with his colleagues or others, he is not engaging in the sharing of expertise.

Correct answer: A group of students meets weekly to quiz each other on the course content they have memorized

When nurse educators teach students more content than is realistic for them to process and learn, the students tend to employ rote memorization of information rather than engaging in active learning and higher-level processing. Providing more and more content to students does not necessarily result in learning; there may not be any higher-level thinking going on in a classroom saturated with content, as the students are too overloaded to be able to apply critical thinking and learning skills in the learning environment. 

A lesson plan and unit objectives can be used to assist the nurse educator with cutting down on content presented without negatively impacting learning.

Correct answer: Nursing faculty advise the administration about current concerns with the increase in usage of simulation in the nursing program without securing the subsequently necessary resources for faculty development

Faculty responsibilities in curriculum development include the following:

• developing policies and procedures that affect student and faculty behavior and the curriculum
• counseling nursing administration and students on educational issues
• participating in administrative steps that affect the institution and community
• safeguarding against content and learning experiences that are not sequenced toward educational outcomes
• collecting and analyzing pertinent information related to the need for curriculum development and revision
• preparing graduates to function in the complex, dynamic health care environment
• developing strategies to assist the interchange of designs and decision-making relevant to curriculum development and revision

Nursing faculty who are developing curriculum are not required to engage in official research as part of curriculum development; they will most likely be required to engage in a review of research on many topics as they develop the curriculum. Research for pecuniary return needs to be based on an understanding with the administration of the institution prior to being engaged in.

The state's board of nursing and external accrediting bodies do not have any requirements for mandatory use of simulation in nursing curriculum. They do, however, have regulations about what percentage of simulation may be used to replace actual clinical or classroom experience.

Academic freedom allows nurse faculty to have their own voice as a citizen; however, the nurse educator must be cognizant of the fact that the general public may judge her profession and the institution where she is employed by her speech or written word, and therefore she should demonstrate restraint and respect, and ensure that she adequately communicates that she is not speaking as a voice for either her profession or the institution.

Correct answer: Success is intrinsic, not marketed

There are many models of organizational effectiveness, including these traditional models:

• Goal Model
• Systems Model
• Process Model
• Strategic Constituencies Model
• Competing Values Framework
• Baldrige National Quality Program

Many of these models possess similar characteristics or criteria for determining organizational effectiveness, including the following:

• clear, well-communicated goals
• allocation of resources to innovation and change
• satisfied faculty members
• rewarding education
• an existing plan for the future
• marketing of success

Correct answer: External frame factors

When designing nursing curriculum, nurse educators have many factors to consider, some of which are similar to the considerations of the total program design. Factors that must be considered include the following:

• the institutional philosophy and mission
  • the institution's reason for being, along with their outcome goals
  • the nursing program's philosophy and mission, which should reflect those of the parent institution
• the organizing framework
  • provides a way for faculty to conceptualize and organize knowledge, skills, values and beliefs critical to the delivery of a consistent curriculum
  • the framework smooths the way for sequencing and prioritizing of knowledge in a way that is consistent with internal beliefs
• current nursing and health care trends
  • consideration must be given to current political and economic issues that impact health care issues
• community and societal needs
  • changes in social perspectives about ageism, sexism, gender discrimination, and racism are important topics for inclusion in curriculum
  • the need for primary care practitioners and health educators in community settings
• educational principles
  • active teaching strategies for both traditional and nontraditional students should be considered
  • faculty should discuss the various educational theories prior to planning curriculum
• theory and research
  • evidence-based practice
  • all procedures must be supported by theory and research
• use of technology
  • smartphones, electronic medical records, and simulation should be part of nursing education
  • faculty need to discuss integration of technology into curriculum

Correct answer: The system is holistic, open, continuously changing, interactive and with embedded features consisting of input, transformation, and output components

There are several traditional organizational evaluation/assessment models which can be used for evaluating the effectiveness of an organization. In the Systems Model, the system is holistic, open, continuously changing, interactive and with embedded features consisting of input, transformation, and output components. Its basic principle purports that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, that the whole can determine the nature of its parts, and that the parts are dynamic and interrelated and cannot be understood apart from the whole.

The Goal Model defines effectiveness as the degree to which an organization realizes its goals, and states that an organization can be understood as a rational entity and that the organization is motivated to meet its goals.

The Competing Values Framework identifies two dimensions in an organization: differentiating an emphasis on flexibility and dynamism from an emphasis on order and control, and differentiating an internal orientation from an external orientation.

The Baldrige National Quality Program assists an organization in identifying the evidence-based elements necessary to prioritize and address, based on its unique characteristics.

Correct answer: Syncing his facial expressions and tone to those displayed by his students

While the literature strongly suggests outstanding nurse educators need to display enthusiasm and passion in the learning environment, how exactly does one do this in practice? Displaying energy and excitement for the subject matter, varying tonal inflection, and ensuring consistency between facial expressions and verbal messages all demonstrate an enthusiasm and passion for the subject. 

Syncing one's facial expressions and tone to those displayed by their students has not been identified as demonstrating enthusiasm and passion.

Correct answer: Participation in the Recovery to Practice (RTP) initiative developed by the American Psychiatric Nurses Association

Nurse educators have a responsibility to maintain active participation in professional organizations specific to their specialty, or in those more broad but with specificity to nursing or nursing education. Participation in a specific initiative for a professional organization such as the American Psychiatric Nurses Association is one way of being active in a professional organization.

Serving in leadership roles or simply participatory roles of nursing program committees, while valuable and necessary for the academic nurse educator, does not qualify as active participation in a professional organization. QSEN project participation within a professional organization, such as the American Nurses Association, rather than at the level of the nursing program, would meet criteria for active participation in a professional organization. Running for office or for roles on boards of directorships of professional organizations at the local, state, and national level are other means of maintaining active participation in a professional organization.

Correct answer: Effective feedback provides summative evaluation of students' performance in order to provide information to be used to improve their performance

In order to be effective, nurse educators must provide feedback to their students that is specific and constructive, and delivered in a timely manner. Effective feedback allows students to improve upon or modify their behavior in response to the learning environment when delivered by the nurse educator in a timely fashion. Furthermore, effective feedback highlights both strengths and areas in need of further development or improvement.

Effective feedback provides formative, not summative, evaluation of students' performance in order to provide information for the student to use to improve his or her performance. Summative evaluation delivers feedback at the end of learning or the end of a course, which does not allow the student to apply any constructive feedback to his or her behavior or performance.

Correct answer: The dean of the baccalaureate nursing program has made the decision to retire due to illness, and another candidate must be recruited and appointed

Boyer's model of scholarship, an academic model that encourages enlargement of the traditional definition of scholarship and research into four types of scholarship, is used in many nursing schools or universities to guide faculty work. It is often used in nursing education as a framework for

• appointing faculty
• evaluating faculty performance
• promoting faculty and developing guidelines for tenure
• organization of the professional portfolio

The model is not used to deal with curriculum flaws, student behavior, or mentorship.

Correct answer: Deconstructed or emancipator model

In the deconstructed or emancipator curriculum model, the focus in placed on concepts rather than on specific disease entities. These concept curricula focus on concepts useful in nursing practice, promoting the development of cognitive skills in students, transforming them into lifelong learners. When implementing concept-based curricula, recommendations have been made for decreasing attention to the content, and increasing attention to the pedagogy, making curriculum learning-centered.

The discipline or nursing theorist curriculum model is fashioned after a conceptual model of nursing, with individual courses designed to the model.

The integrated curriculum model addresses issues such as respiratory, circulatory, and orthopedics problems across the lifespan.

In the curriculum model, students learn the disciplines inherent to the profession, typically based on a medical model of care.

Correct answer: Engaging in research for pecuniary return based on an understanding with the administration of the learning institution

Individual faculty who are aiding in the development of nursing curriculum hold many responsibilities. In addition to ensuring that program outcomes are met through the curriculum, meeting both the state's board of nursing and accrediting body requirements and regulations, and developing curriculum in a manner that enables the student to incorporate the art, science, and practice of nursing, the faculty are also responsible for the following:

• developing policies and procedures that affect learner and faculty conduct and the curriculum
• advising administration and students on educational issues
• participating in administrative actions that affect the institution and community
• collecting and analyzing relevant information pertaining to the need for curriculum development and revision
• preparing graduates to function in the changing and complex health care environment
• developing strategies to facilitate the exchange of ideas and decision-making relevant to curriculum development and revision

Academic freedom entitles the nurse faculty full freedom to engage in research; research for pecuniary return needs to be based on an understanding with the administration of the nursing program. Engaging in research for pecuniary return is not a responsibility of nurse faculty who are developing curriculum.

Correct answer: Analyze

Bloom's Taxonomy identifies three learning domains through which students progress to attain the highest level of learning. The first domain is the cognitive domain, which addresses thinking at six progressively more complex levels, or hierarchies, of sophistication:

• remember
• understand
• apply
• analyze
• evaluate
• create

In order for a student to be able to apply knowledge about potassium and its association with both renal and cardiac function, she would have had to progress through the hierarchies of remember, understand, and apply. Progressing to the hierarchy of analyze would require the student to have gained mastery of the application of the knowledge of potassium and its association with both renal and cardiac function.

Correct answer: Ensuring she maintains a neutral tone while teaching

According to Caputi (2019), displaying enthusiasm while teaching is key if the ANE is to be an effective teacher. Students require passion and enthusiasm from their instructors, if they themselves are to be passionate, motivated, and enthusiastic about their studies. An ANE displays her enthusiasm for teaching and learning through the varying of tone and facial expressions (which should coincide with her tone), and by displaying energy and excitement while teaching and instructing.

Correct answer: Inform the students that their final grade will be dependent upon their participation in the study

It should be understood that engaging in ethical practice and upholding ethics as both a nurse and a faculty member in the classroom is of paramount importance. The nurse educator has a responsibility to both teach and model ethical practice to her students at all times.

Faculty hold tremendous influence over their students; because of this, the wise nurse educator will ensure that any research or inquiry she intends to embark upon within the classroom through participation of her students is thoroughly reviewed by the institution's review board. Furthermore, she must ensure that students are given the opportunity to participate or decline participation in any classroom research. Involving a research assistant, who is not part of her class, to collect consent forms and answer students' questions throughout the duration of the study ensures that their questions will be well-represented and attended to in a non-biased manner.

Informing the students that their final grade will be dependent upon their participation in the research study is unethical.

Correct answer: The requirements of the National Council of Licensure Examination (NCLEX)

When developing nursing curriculum, the faculty leader must ensure the curriculum is built in a structured way that allows students to integrate the art, science, and practice of nursing in a rational manner. Nursing program outcomes must be met through the curriculum, and the curriculum must also meet the regulations and requirements of both the state's board of nursing and external accrediting bodies.

The National Council of Licensure Examination (NCLEX) does not provide requirements for nursing curriculum; however, nursing curriculum must be shaped in such a manner as to enable nursing students to successfully pass the NCLEX exam.