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nurses

by grandh01 » Mon Sep 10, 2012 3:07 pm
During periods when a large number of patients are admitted to a hospital, more qualified nurses are hired and more money is spent on nurse training than when the number of patients in a hospital is low. Thus, the average number of mistakes made by nurses should be lower during periods when there is a large number of patients in a hospital than when there is a small number of patients in a hospital and less money is available to hire qualified nurses and provide training to all nurses.

Which of the following, if true about a hospital during a period in which a large number of patients are admitted, casts the most serious doubt on the conclusion drawn above?

(A) Its nurses demand higher wages than they do at other times.
(B) Its nurses have less time to spend with each patient than they have at other times.
(C) Its staff members are less likely to lose their jobs then they are at other times.
(D) Its management provides opportunities for patients to provide feedback about their nurses.
(E) Its training program for nurses is very rigorous.

I do not have the answer.
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by vikram4689 » Mon Sep 10, 2012 4:55 pm
options are simple if you realize what you need to find.

argument says that during periods when hospital has large number of patients, since more qualified nurses are hired and more money is spent on nurse training, average number of mistakes made by nurses should be lower.

in a simplified way, (evidence -> conclusion),
more qualified nurses/more money on training -> fewer mistakes

if we want to weaken this argument, we want to show that nurses are more likely to make mistakes.

A,C,D,E -> higher wages/more security of jobs/patient feedback/rigorous training WILL lead to fewer mistakes OR have no effect
B -> But if nurses have less time to spend with each patient then they are in a hurry and may make more mistakes. REMEMBER we do not want to prove but make it more likely and B essentially does that
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by everything's eventual » Mon Sep 10, 2012 6:37 pm
Hello...Vikram has essentially given a perfect exp. I usually try and think of answers before looking at the options.

Here the conclusion states that the average number of mistakes made by nurses should be lower because there more qualified nurses and more money is spent on training when there are more patients in the hospital. In order to weaken this conclusion, the best argument you can think of is that as the number of patients increase, the time spent on each patient by the nurses decreases. Less time per patient might be equal to more number of errors. So this casts the most doubt on the conclusion.

Here you can find this argument in option B. In any case, for this particular problem options A,C,D and E don't come even close to weakening the conclusion ( I feel A,C and D are out of scope whereas E strengthens the conclusion)
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