A nurse manager who is employed by a community hospital is asked to implement critical pathways on the medical-surgical unit

Question

When educating the staff nurses about critical pathways, which primary reason for their use with the nurse manager include in the teaching session?
A) "Critical pathways are used to evaluate care provided to clients with certain medical conditions."
B) "Critical pathways direct care provided to clients with certain medical conditions."
C) "Critical pathways track care provided to clients with certain medical conditions."
D) "Critical pathways direct, track, and evaluate care provided to clients with certain medical conditions."

Answer 1

Answer: D

Critical pathways are a disease-specific or diagnosis-specific tool used by case managers to direct, track, and evaluate expected client outcomes and care strategies.