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Question 1Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

Under the CPA Code of Professional Conduct, the conceptual framework approach requires a member to:

  1. identify, evaluate and address threats to an acceptable level Correct answer.
  2. obtain the client's written approval of the engagement terms
  3. apply a fixed list of prohibited relationships issued each year
  4. refer every potential threat to the regulator before starting

Explanation

The conceptual framework requires a member to identify threats to compliance with the fundamental principles, evaluate their significance, and address them by eliminating the threat or applying safeguards that reduce it to an acceptable level. It is principles-based and is applied in the specific circumstances of each engagement rather than through a checklist.

Question 2Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

Which of the following is one of the five fundamental principles of the CPA Code of Professional Conduct?

  1. Technical excellence
  2. Objectivity Correct answer.
  3. Commercial competitiveness
  4. Client advocacy

Explanation

The five fundamental principles are integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality, and professional behaviour. Objectivity requires a member to be free of bias, conflict of interest and undue influence of others.

Question 3Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member may disclose confidential client information without the client's consent when the disclosure is:

  1. required by law or by a regulatory or disciplinary body Correct answer.
  2. likely to help the member win a new engagement
  3. convenient for training new staff in the firm
  4. requested informally by a competitor of the client

Explanation

The confidentiality principle permits disclosure where it is required by law, permitted by law with the client's authority, or where there is a professional right or duty to disclose, such as in a regulatory investigation or disciplinary proceeding. Disclosure for the member's own commercial advantage is never permitted.

Question 4Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

Under the CPA Code, advertising by a member is acceptable provided that the advertising is:

  1. approved in advance by the provincial body
  2. restricted to print and broadcast media
  3. not false, misleading or deceptive Correct answer.
  4. paid for personally by the member

Explanation

Members are permitted to advertise and solicit business, but the content must be truthful, must not be false or misleading, and must comply with the profession's bylaws on marketing. Prior approval by the regulator is not part of the regime.

Question 5Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A fee that varies with the outcome of the work is prohibited for which of the following engagements?

  1. Litigation support quantifying damages
  2. Business valuation for a matrimonial dispute
  3. Audit of a company's financial statements Correct answer.
  4. Preparation of an individual's income tax return

Explanation

Contingent fees create a self-interest threat because the member's compensation depends on the outcome, which is incompatible with the objective reporting required in an assurance engagement such as an audit. For non-assurance work they may be acceptable if the threat is evaluated and disclosed to the client.

Question 6Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

The right to use the CPA designation in a Canadian province is granted by:

  1. the employer, where the employer is a public accounting firm
  2. any Canadian university offering an accounting degree
  3. CPA Canada alone, upon payment of the annual fee
  4. the provincial CPA body that has admitted the individual to membership Correct answer.

Explanation

Professional bodies regulate the right to use the designation, and it is the provincial CPA body that admits members and grants the licence to practise. CPA Canada supports the profession nationally, but it does not itself confer practising rights.

Question 7Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member who receives a commission from a third party because a client followed the member's recommendation must:

  1. disclose the commission to the client Correct answer.
  2. remit the commission to the provincial body
  3. decline the commission in every case
  4. keep the commission if it is immaterial in amount

Explanation

Where a member receives a commission or other benefit for recommending a product or service to a client, the member must inform the client of the arrangement so that the client can judge whether the advice may be influenced by the payment. Undisclosed commissions compromise objectivity and transparency.

Question 8Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

The principle of objectivity requires a member to:

  1. avoid advising clients on matters outside the member's specialty
  2. accept any accounting treatment that management can defend
  3. remain free of bias, conflict of interest and undue influence Correct answer.
  4. set fees at levels charged by other local firms

Explanation

Objectivity is the obligation to exercise independent judgement and to be free of bias, conflict of interest and the undue influence of others. It applies to every professional service, not only to assurance work.

Question 9Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

During an audit, the client's controller offers the engagement partner two tickets to a playoff game worth about $700. The partner should:

  1. accept them and reciprocate with a gift of similar value
  2. decline them, because a gift of this size creates a self-interest threat Correct answer.
  3. accept them, because hospitality strengthens the client relationship
  4. accept them and note the value in the audit file as a safeguard

Explanation

Gifts and hospitality must be trivial and inconsequential; a benefit of this size is not, and accepting it creates a self-interest threat to objectivity and independence that cannot be adequately safeguarded. The appropriate response is to decline or, where declining would cause embarrassment, to ensure the client keeps the benefit.

Question 10Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

An audit partner on a listed entity obtains a mortgage from the client, which is a chartered bank. The mortgage is on normal commercial terms and is not material to the partner's net worth. Independence is:

  1. impaired unless the client's board approves the loan in writing
  2. not impaired only if another partner negotiates the mortgage
  3. impaired, because any loan from an audit client is prohibited
  4. not impaired, because the loan is on normal lending terms and immaterial Correct answer.

Explanation

Loans to or from a client that is a bank or similar lender do not impair independence where they are made under normal lending procedures, terms and conditions and are immaterial to the borrower's wealth. Other loans involving an audit client are treated as creating an unacceptable self-interest threat.

Question 11Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm keeps the books and records for a private company and is now asked to audit its financial statements. The most significant threat created is:

  1. a familiarity threat from long association with the client
  2. an advocacy threat from promoting the client's position
  3. a self-review threat, because the firm would audit its own work Correct answer.
  4. an intimidation threat from management's control of the fee

Explanation

Auditing records the firm itself prepared means the firm would be evaluating its own work, which is a self-review threat. For a private company, safeguards such as using separate engagement teams and ensuring management takes responsibility may reduce the threat to an acceptable level; for a listed entity the combination is generally prohibited.

Question 12Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm is asked to advise two competing retailers on the same acquisition target. The firm should:

  1. evaluate the threat, disclose the conflict and obtain consent, with confidentiality safeguards Correct answer.
  2. decline both, because a firm may never act for two competitors
  3. accept both without disclosure because the advice in each case is routine
  4. accept both engagements and rely on separate engagement teams alone

Explanation

An actual or perceived conflict of interest creates a threat that must be evaluated and, where the engagements can proceed, managed through disclosure to both parties, their consent, and safeguards such as separate teams and strict information barriers. If consent cannot be obtained, the firm must decline or withdraw from one engagement.

Question 13Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A CPA employed as controller discovers that the CEO is diverting company funds. A report to the audit committee brings no response. The controller's next step should be to:

  1. escalate to the board, or to the appropriate authority where the law requires Correct answer.
  2. report the matter directly to the company's customers
  3. post the details on an industry forum to force action
  4. resign quietly and take no further action

Explanation

Confidentiality is owed to the employer, but a member must escalate a serious matter through the governance structure and, where internal channels fail and the law requires or protects disclosure, report to the appropriate authority. Public or third-party disclosure outside those channels is not permitted.

Question 14Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A sole practitioner is offered an engagement to value a complex derivative portfolio, an area outside the practitioner's experience. The practitioner should:

  1. accept and add a limitation paragraph to the report
  2. accept, since competence requirements apply only to assurance work
  3. accept, because the client has agreed to the proposed fee
  4. decline unless competence can be attained through training or consultation Correct answer.

Explanation

Professional competence and due care require a member to undertake only work the member can perform with sufficient skill, or to obtain the necessary knowledge and expertise before accepting. Where competence cannot be achieved in time, the engagement must be declined or referred elsewhere.

Question 15Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member holds funds belonging to a client pending completion of a property transaction. The member must:

  1. hold the funds until all outstanding fees have been paid
  2. invest the funds and retain the investment income earned
  3. keep the funds in a separate trust account and use them only as directed Correct answer.
  4. deposit the funds in the firm's general operating account

Explanation

Money held for others must be kept separate from the member's own funds, typically in a designated trust account, and used only for the purpose for which it was entrusted. Commingling client money with firm money is a serious breach of the Code.

Question 16Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member wants to describe a difficult engagement on a professional networking site. To comply with the Code, the member should:

  1. post only within a closed group of professional colleagues
  2. post only after the engagement has been formally completed
  3. post only if the client's name is shortened to initials
  4. avoid disclosing any client-identifying information without permission Correct answer.

Explanation

The duty of confidentiality continues indefinitely and applies to all media, including informal online commentary. Details that would allow a client to be identified must not be published without consent, even if the client is not named directly.

Question 17Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member pays a fee to an unlicensed marketing firm that introduced a client for a tax planning engagement. Under the Code, the member must:

  1. obtain the provincial body's approval before paying the fee
  2. record the fee in the engagement letter only
  3. refuse to pay, because referral fees are prohibited
  4. disclose the referral arrangement to the client Correct answer.

Explanation

A referral fee or commission paid to obtain a client must be disclosed to the client, so that the client knows the introducing party benefits from the engagement. Undisclosed payments compromise the appearance of objectivity.

Question 18Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A small firm derives roughly 40% of its annual revenue from a single audit client. The primary ethical concern is:

  1. a familiarity threat caused by a long audit tenure
  2. an intimidation threat arising from the client's lenders
  3. a self-interest threat arising from dependence on the client's fees Correct answer.
  4. a self-review threat, because the firm reviews its own work

Explanation

Heavy dependence on one client's revenue creates a self-interest threat because the firm may be reluctant to act against the client's wishes. Safeguards include an independent engagement quality review, external consultation and monitoring, and disclosure of the situation to those charged with governance.

Question 19Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

While auditing a client, a member learns that the client will soon announce a takeover of a supplier. The member buys shares in the supplier before the announcement. The member has:

  1. acted properly if the shares are held in a registered retirement plan
  2. breached the Code by using confidential information for personal gain Correct answer.
  3. breached the Code only if the gain exceeds a material amount
  4. acted properly, because the information will soon be public

Explanation

Confidential client information may not be used for the member's own benefit, and doing so may also amount to insider trading under securities law. The duty of confidentiality and the principle of integrity both prohibit trading on information acquired through a professional engagement.

Question 20Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member notices client transactions that appear designed to avoid anti-money-laundering reporting requirements. The member should:

  1. resign from the engagement and treat the matter as confidential
  2. make the report required by law and avoid tipping off the client Correct answer.
  3. confront the client and demand an explanation before deciding
  4. inform the client's competitors so that the market is protected

Explanation

Where anti-money-laundering legislation applies, the member must file the required report with the financial intelligence unit and must not disclose that a report has been made, since tipping off is itself an offence. Confidentiality is overridden by the statutory reporting duty.

Question 21Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm audits a private company and is also asked to act as its advocate in a tax dispute material to the company's financial statements. Which statement is correct?

  1. The engagement is acceptable if a separate partner signs the tax submissions
  2. The engagement is acceptable if the tax work is billed at a fixed fee
  3. The engagement is acceptable because advocacy threats arise only in audits of listed entities
  4. The advocacy threat is too significant for the firm to act as advocate while it audits the client Correct answer.

Explanation

Acting as an advocate in a dispute that is material to the financial statements creates an advocacy threat that cannot be reduced to an acceptable level while the firm remains the auditor. The firm must choose between the advocacy role and the audit.

Question 22Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A partner retires from a firm and, six months later, becomes CFO of one of the firm's audit clients. Which statement best reflects the Code?

  1. The firm must resign as auditor in every case of this kind
  2. The firm must assess the resulting threats and apply safeguards or end the engagement Correct answer.
  3. Independence is unaffected, provided the individual has no access to client data
  4. Independence is unaffected, because the individual has left the firm

Explanation

A former partner joining an audit client creates familiarity and self-interest threats, particularly where the individual still has financial or personal ties to the firm. The firm must evaluate those ties and apply safeguards such as severing financial arrangements and removing the individual from firm decisions; where the threat cannot be reduced, the firm must resign or decline the engagement.

Question 23Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

An audit partner's retirement savings plan holds units in a diversified mutual fund that in turn holds shares of an audit client. The partner has no say in the fund's investment decisions. Independence is:

  1. impaired, because any financial interest in a client impairs independence
  2. impaired unless the holding is disclosed to the client's board
  3. not impaired, because the interest is indirect and the partner cannot influence the investment decisions Correct answer.
  4. not impaired, because retirement savings are exempt from independence rules

Explanation

An indirect financial interest, such as a unit in a diversified fund whose manager decides what to buy, does not impair independence where the member has no control over the investment decisions and the interest is not material. Direct financial interests and indirect interests the member controls are treated differently.

Question 24Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm's largest client threatens to leave unless the auditor withdraws a proposed material adjustment. The auditor should:

  1. withdraw the adjustment, because the client is responsible for its own financial statements
  2. reduce the scope of the audit to preserve the relationship
  3. withdraw from the engagement immediately without further communication
  4. recognize an intimidation threat, document the matter and resolve it on the merits Correct answer.

Explanation

A threat by a client to end the relationship over an accounting disagreement creates an intimidation threat, reinforced by fee dependence. The auditor documents the matter, consults as needed and reaches a conclusion based on the applicable standards, regardless of the commercial consequences.

Question 25Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member learns that another CPA signed an audit report without performing any audit procedures. The member should:

  1. report the matter only if the client consents in writing
  2. raise it informally with local chapter members and go no further
  3. take no action, since the report is the other member's responsibility
  4. report the matter to the provincial CPA body that regulates the other member Correct answer.

Explanation

Self-regulation depends on members bringing serious breaches by other members to the attention of the provincial body, which has the authority to investigate and discipline. Raising the matter with the member or with the firm may be appropriate first steps, but the conduct described must be reported to the regulator.

Question 26Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A CPA is at a neighbourhood barbecue when a neighbour asks whether the CPA's firm's client, a local manufacturer, is about to be sold. The CPA knows the rumour is accurate. Under the Code of Professional Conduct, the CPA should:

  1. Disclose the information because the sale will be public within a few weeks
  2. Confirm the rumour because the neighbour is not a shareholder
  3. Decline to comment and change the subject Correct answer.
  4. Share the information if the neighbour promises to keep it confidential

Explanation

Confidentiality applies to all information acquired through a professional relationship and continues after the engagement ends; disclosure requires the client's consent or a clear legal or professional duty. A recipient's promise of secrecy does not authorize disclosure, and an expected public announcement does not permit the member to disclose ahead of the client.

Question 27Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

While preparing a client's current-year tax return, a CPA discovers that a deduction claimed on the prior-year return, which the CPA also prepared, was not supportable. The CPA should:

  1. Quietly correct it if this year's refund offsets the error
  2. Wait for the CRA to raise the issue before mentioning it
  3. Report the error to the Canada Revenue Agency without telling the client
  4. Advise the client and recommend correcting the prior return Correct answer.

Explanation

Integrity and professional competence require the member to inform the client of a material error, including one the member made, and to recommend corrective action. The decision to correct belongs to the client, and reporting to the tax authority without consent would breach confidentiality unless the law requires it.

Question 28Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A CPA's spouse owns shares in a company that the CPA's firm audits; the shares were inherited and are held in the spouse's name alone. The CPA does not work on the audit. Which statement is correct?

  1. Impaired, because the spouse holds a direct financial interest Correct answer.
  2. Impaired only if the spouse is able to influence the company's management
  3. Not affected, because the holding is immaterial to the spouse
  4. Not affected, because the member does not work on the audit

Explanation

A direct financial interest held by the member or an immediate family member in an assurance client impairs independence, and no materiality test is applied to a direct interest. The member's own role on the engagement does not change that conclusion.

Question 29Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm's draft website states: "Our tax team consistently obtains the largest refunds in the province -- guaranteed." Under the Code of Professional Conduct, the claim is:

  1. Not acceptable, because it is unverifiable and likely to mislead Correct answer.
  2. Acceptable if the word "guaranteed" is removed from the slogan
  3. Acceptable, because advertising by CPA firms is not restricted
  4. Acceptable if the firm can show at least one client received a large refund

Explanation

Advertising and marketing must be truthful, factual and not misleading, and comparative claims that cannot be verified are prohibited. Removing one word would not make the remaining unverifiable superiority claim acceptable.

Question 30Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm is asked to perform an assurance engagement -- a review of a company's greenhouse gas statement -- for a fee payable only if the firm issues an unmodified conclusion. Under the Code, the firm should:

  1. Decline, because contingent fees are not permitted for assurance engagements Correct answer.
  2. Accept, if the fee is not material to the firm
  3. Accept, because the engagement is not a financial statement audit
  4. Accept, if the fee arrangement is disclosed in the report

Explanation

A fee contingent on the outcome of an assurance engagement creates self-interest and advocacy threats so significant that no safeguard can reduce them to an acceptable level. The Code therefore prohibits charging a contingent fee for an audit or any other assurance engagement, regardless of materiality.

Question 31Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A CPA is asked to replace another firm as the auditor of a private company. The company refuses to let the CPA contact the predecessor firm. The CPA should:

  1. Consider declining, because the predecessor cannot be consulted Correct answer.
  2. Contact the predecessor firm without the client's permission
  3. Accept, but perform extra procedures to compensate for the missing information
  4. Accept, since the client's refusal is a normal commercial precaution

Explanation

Before accepting an appointment, the successor is expected to communicate with the incumbent auditor, with the client's permission, to learn whether there are circumstances such as disagreements or unresolved issues that should cause the successor to decline. If permission is refused, the successor should weigh the reason for the refusal and normally should not accept the engagement.

Question 32Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm audits a listed company and is asked to take over and operate the client's internal audit function, reporting to management. Under the Code, the firm should:

  1. Accept, if the internal audit reports are reviewed by the client's audit committee
  2. Accept, provided the engagement is staffed by professionals outside the audit team
  3. Decline, because operating the function assumes a management responsibility Correct answer.
  4. Accept, because internal audit is a control function rather than a management responsibility

Explanation

Directing and taking responsibility for an audit client's internal audit function is a management responsibility; performing it creates self-review and management-participation threats that no safeguard can reduce to an acceptable level. For a listed audit client, providing such a service is prohibited outright.

Question 33Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A partner has led the audit of a listed client for many years and has close personal relationships with the client's CFO and audit committee chair. Which response best addresses the threat to independence?

  1. Take no action, because long association improves audit quality
  2. Have the partner sign an undertaking to remain objective
  3. Rotate the partner off the engagement and strengthen the engagement quality review Correct answer.
  4. Disclose the relationships in the notes to the financial statements

Explanation

Long association and close personal relationships create a familiarity threat that must be addressed through safeguards such as rotating the individual off the engagement and applying an engagement quality review. For listed clients, mandatory rotation of key engagement personnel exists precisely because familiarity erodes objectivity over time.

Question 34Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A client asks its audit firm to promote the client's shares to prospective investors and to help market a new share offering. Which threat to independence does this engagement primarily create?

  1. Self-review threat
  2. Advocacy threat Correct answer.
  3. Intimidation threat
  4. Self-interest threat

Explanation

Promoting a client's securities means the firm is advocating the client's position, which creates an advocacy threat to objectivity and independence. Self-interest arises from a financial stake in the client, self-review from re-evaluating the firm's own work, and intimidation from pressure or threats.

Question 35Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member wants to use a third-party cloud provider to store client files for an engagement. Under the Code, the member should:

  1. Rely on the provider's standard terms of service as an adequate safeguard
  2. Assess the provider's safeguards and obtain client consent before transferring Correct answer.
  3. Avoid cloud storage entirely, because storing client files off-site always breaches confidentiality
  4. Inform the client after the files have been transferred

Explanation

Using a service provider is permitted if the member protects confidentiality, for example by assessing the provider's security and controls, restricting access to the files, and obtaining the client's consent where required. Confidentiality is breached by inadequate protection or unauthorized disclosure, not by the storage medium itself.

Question 36Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A CPA's spouse owns 40% of a company that is negotiating a major supply agreement with one of the CPA's clients. The CPA has no personal involvement in the company. The CPA should:

  1. Disclose the interest to the firm and the client, and consider safeguards Correct answer.
  2. Require the spouse to sell the shares before the agreement is signed
  3. Do nothing, because the interest belongs to the spouse and is unrelated to the engagement
  4. Resign from the client immediately when negotiations begin

Explanation

A conflicting interest of the member or a close family member must be disclosed to the firm and to the affected client, and the member should determine whether safeguards such as removing the member from the engagement are sufficient or whether the engagement should be declined. Automatic resignation or forced divestment is not the required response.

Question 37Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm's audit client has not paid last year's audit fee, which is now significantly overdue, and the firm is asked to continue as auditor. The overdue fee most likely:

  1. Has no effect, because fees are a commercial matter between firm and client
  2. Creates an advocacy threat to independence
  3. Requires the firm to resign from the engagement in all circumstances
  4. Creates a self-interest threat that may impair independence Correct answer.

Explanation

Unpaid fees create a self-interest threat because the firm may be reluctant to challenge a client that owes it money, and the receivable can amount to an interest in the client. If the threat cannot be reduced -- for example, where the fees remain unpaid before the next audit report is issued -- the firm should not issue that report.

Question 38Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member engaged to value a business relies on a geologist's report on ore reserves to estimate the value of a mining property. Under the Code, the member should:

  1. Rely on the report without further review, since the geologist is professionally qualified
  2. Require the geologist to sign a joint engagement letter with the client
  3. Confirm the geologist's competence and assumptions, and own the conclusion Correct answer.
  4. Disclaim responsibility in the report for the reserve figures

Explanation

Professional competence and due care require the member to assess the qualifications, objectivity and scope of work of a specialist whose work is used, and to consider whether the specialist's assumptions are reasonable. The member remains responsible for the conclusion in the report and cannot shelter behind the specialist or a disclaimer.

Question 39Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A member faces a significant ethical conflict over an engagement and cannot resolve it within the engagement team. According to the Code, the member should next:

  1. Follow internal procedures and, if unresolved, consult the provincial body Correct answer.
  2. Seek direction from the client's external legal counsel
  3. Document the conflict and follow the engagement partner's direction
  4. Resign and report the matter to the client's audit committee

Explanation

The Code sets out a conflict resolution process: gather the facts, identify the ethical issues and the relevant fundamental principles, consider established internal procedures and alternative courses of action, and consult others in the firm. If the conflict remains unresolved, the member consults the provincial CPA body.

Question 40Professional Responsibilities and Ethics

A firm's engagement partner is invited to join the board of directors of an audit client, a charitable organization, on an unpaid basis. Under the Code, the partner should:

  1. Accept, because the role is unpaid
  2. Accept, if another partner is appointed as engagement partner
  3. Accept, if the partner does not attend board meetings where audit matters are discussed
  4. Decline, because serving as a director of an audit client impairs independence Correct answer.

Explanation

A member of the audit team, and the firm, must not assume a management or governance role with an audit client, because doing so creates self-review and self-interest threats that cannot be reduced to an acceptable level. The prohibition applies whether or not the position is paid.

Question 41Communication and Collaboration

Which behaviour best demonstrates active listening during a patient interview?

  1. Writing notes continuously while the patient speaks
  2. Changing the subject whenever the patient pauses
  3. Restating the patient's main concern in your own words Correct answer.
  4. Finishing the patient's sentences to save time

Explanation

Active listening means giving full attention and then reflecting back the content or feeling you heard so the patient can confirm or correct it. Paraphrasing shows the patient you are engaged and checking accuracy rather than assuming. The other behaviours either divide attention or cut the patient off.

Question 42Communication and Collaboration

In an SBAR handover, which information belongs in the 'A' component?

  1. The patient's age, past medical history, and allergies
  2. Your interpretation of the patient's condition based on the findings Correct answer.
  3. The specific treatment or response you are requesting
  4. The patient's vital signs and chief complaint

Explanation

SBAR stands for Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation. The Assessment element is the clinician's synthesis of the findings, not the raw data themselves. Vital signs and history belong to Background, and the request belongs to Recommendation.

Question 43Communication and Collaboration

Which of the following is an open-ended question?

  1. Does the pain spread into your arm?
  2. Is the pain worse when you breathe in?
  3. Can you describe what the pain feels like? Correct answer.
  4. Are you having chest pain right now?

Explanation

Open-ended questions invite a narrative answer and cannot be satisfied with yes or no. Asking the patient to describe the pain gathers richer detail than a closed question. The other three items are closed questions that restrict the response.

Question 44Communication and Collaboration

During transport, a patient's neighbour approaches and asks what happened to the patient. What is the most appropriate response?

  1. Explain that you cannot discuss the patient's information Correct answer.
  2. Confirm only that the patient is stable
  3. Tell the neighbour to ask the patient directly
  4. Provide a brief summary because the neighbour is concerned

Explanation

Health information is confidential and may only be shared with the patient's consent or as permitted by privacy legislation. Even confirming that someone is a patient or is stable can disclose personal health information. The appropriate response is a polite refusal that does not confirm or deny anything.

Question 45Communication and Collaboration

Which statement conveys empathy to a distressed patient?

  1. It sounds like this has been frightening for you. Correct answer.
  2. I know exactly how you feel.
  3. You shouldn't worry; we see this all the time.
  4. At least it isn't as bad as it could have been.

Explanation

Empathy names and acknowledges the patient's experience without judging it or claiming to share it. Reflecting the emotion back invites the patient to elaborate and builds trust. Minimising or claiming certainty about someone else's feelings blocks communication.

Question 46Communication and Collaboration

When transferring care in the emergency department, what should you do before leaving the patient?

  1. Document the report in the ePCR and depart without speaking to staff
  2. Leave the written report on the stretcher for the nurse to read later
  3. Verbally report to the receiving nurse and confirm it was received Correct answer.
  4. Hand the report to housekeeping to pass along to the staff

Explanation

Transfer of care is complete only when accountability has passed to a receiving clinician who has acknowledged the report. A verbal report allows the receiver to ask questions and clarify findings. Leaving paperwork or an electronic record does not confirm that anyone has accepted responsibility.

Question 47Communication and Collaboration

An older adult with significant hearing loss does not respond to your questions. What is the best first step?

  1. Continue at a normal volume without writing anything down
  2. Speak louder while facing away to protect your voice
  3. Reduce background noise and face the patient while speaking clearly Correct answer.
  4. Skip the history and rely on the family's account

Explanation

Hearing loss is often worsened by background noise and by speakers who turn away or cover their mouths. Facing the patient, speaking clearly at a moderate pace, and reducing ambient noise are first-line measures. Visual cues and lip reading depend on the patient seeing your face.

Question 48Communication and Collaboration

A patient speaks only a language you do not share, and an interpreter service is available. What should you do?

  1. Use the patient's 12-year-old child to translate the history
  2. Rely on gestures and proceed without an interpreter
  3. Ask a bystander in the lobby to interpret for you
  4. Contact the interpreter service and speak directly to the patient Correct answer.

Explanation

Trained interpreters provide accurate, confidential communication and remove the child or bystander from a role they should not carry. You should still address your questions and eye contact to the patient, not to the interpreter. Accuracy and privacy both require a proper interpreting resource.

Question 49Communication and Collaboration

An agitated patient is pacing and shouting in a confined space. Which approach is most appropriate initially?

  1. Speak in a calm, low tone and give the patient space Correct answer.
  2. Match the patient's volume so you can be heard
  3. Leave the scene immediately without a word
  4. Stand close and speak firmly to establish control

Explanation

De-escalation begins with reducing stimulation: a calm tone, a non-threatening distance, and an exit route for both parties. Invading space or raising your voice escalates the situation. Preparing to withdraw safely is reasonable if risk rises, but silently abandoning the patient is not.

Question 50Communication and Collaboration

During a resuscitation you ask your partner to apply the defibrillator pads. What completes closed-loop communication?

  1. Your partner repeats the request back and confirms when it is done Correct answer.
  2. You repeat the request every 30 seconds until it happens
  3. Your partner applies the pads without replying
  4. You document the request in the ePCR afterwards

Explanation

Closed-loop communication requires a receiver to acknowledge the message and later confirm completion, so the sender knows the task is owned. Without the verbal echo, a request can be missed or duplicated. Documentation after the call does not close the loop in real time.