Welcome back. In yesterday's post we looked at knowledge and comprehension level questions.
Knowledge level questions just require you to have basic knowledge in order to answer a question. Comprehension level questions require you to understand basic knowledge.
Today let's look at application level questions.
Application Level Questions
Require you to know several pieces of information in order to answer the question.
Mr. Stevenson has CHF and will be going home on Digoxin and Lasix. Which of the following assessments would require immediate follow-up by the nurse.
a. rhonchi bilaterally
b. Na of 138 milliEquivalents/liter
c. K of 3.0 milliEquivalents/liter
d. Digoxin 1.5 nanograms per milliliter
In order to answer this question - you need to know the following pieces of information: normal blood levels of sodium, potassium, and Digoxin and if bilateral rhonchi are normal.
- Normal Na is 135-145
- Normal K is 3.5-4.5
- Digoxin is 0.8-2.0
- Rhonchi bilateraly is not normal
You would want to follow up on the assessment that indicates the patient is in the most danger or risk of harm. Normal lab values do not indicate risk - so eliminate b. and d.
Now you are left with the two abnormal assessments a low potassium and rhonchi. Neither are what you'd want for a patient - however the question is about Digoxin, Lasix, and CHF. The low potassium is the correct answer because low potassium puts the patient at increased risk for Digoxin toxicity.
In an application level question - it is not enough to have basic knowledge or to understand that knowledge. You must be able to apply your understanding of knowledge in the context of the question in order to pick the correct answer.
Our next blog will explain the differences in analysis level questions.
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