8. Learning Activities

Open Resources for Nursing (Open RN)

Learning Activities

(Answers to “Learning Activities” can be found in the “Answer Key” at the end of the book.  Answers to interactive activities are provided as immediate feedback.)

Sample Scenario

An 89-year-old female resident with Alzheimer’s disease has been living at the nursing home for many years. The family decides they no longer want aggressive measures taken and request to the RN on duty that the resident’s code status be changed to Do Not Resuscitate (DNR). The evening shift RN documents a progress note that the family (and designated health care agent) requested that the resident’s status be made DNR. Due to numerous other responsibilities and needs during the evening shift, the RN does not notify the attending physician or relay the information during shift change or on the 24-hour report. The day shift RN does not read the night shift’s notes because of several immediate urgent situations. The family, who had been keeping vigil at the resident’s bedside throughout the night, leaves to go home to shower and eat. Upon return the next morning, they find the room full of staff and discover the staff performed CPR after their loved one coded. The resident was successfully resuscitated but now lies in a vegetative state. The family is unhappy and is considering legal action. They approach you, the current nurse assigned to the resident’s care, and state, “We followed your procedures to make sure this would not happen! Why was this not managed as we discussed?”[1]

Reflective Questions

  1. As the current nurse providing patient care, explain how you would therapeutically address this family’s concerns and use one or more leadership styles.
  2. As the charge nurse, explain how you would address the staff involved using one or more leadership styles.
  3. Explain how change theory can be implemented to ensure this type of situation does not recur.

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Test your knowledge using this NCLEX Next Generation-style Case Study. You may reset and resubmit your answers to this question an unlimited number of times.[2]


  1. AHRQ. (n.d.). TeamSTEPPS long term care specialty scenarios. https://www.ahrq.gov/sites/default/files/wysiwyg/professionals/education/curriculum-tools/teamstepps/longtermcare/scenarios/scenarios.pdf
  2. “Chapter 4, Assignment 1” by Travis Christman for OpenRN is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0

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8. Learning Activities Copyright © by Open Resources for Nursing (Open RN) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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