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Nursing QUESTION #9198
Question 1
A Charge Nurse reads a study reporting Sensitivity = 95% and Specificity = 60% for a new screening tool. What does this mean?
  • The tool correctly identifies 95% of true negatives and 60% of true positives
  • The tool correctly identifies 95% of true positives and 60% of true negatives✔️
  • The tool has a 95% positive predictive value and 60% negative predictive value
  • The tool is 95% accurate overall with a 60% error rate
Correct Answer Explanation
Correct Answer: B

Sensitivity and Specificity Definitions:
MeasureFormulaMeaning
Sensitivity\(\frac{TP}{TP + FN}\)% of true positives correctly identified (rules OUT disease if negative — SnNOut)
Specificity\(\frac{TN}{TN + FP}\)% of true negatives correctly identified (rules IN disease if positive — SpPIn)
In this case:
  • 95% sensitivity: The tool correctly identifies 95% of patients who have the condition
  • 60% specificity: Only 60% of those without the condition are correctly identified as negative — meaning a high false positive rate (40%)
A high-sensitivity, low-specificity tool is useful for screening where missing a case is dangerous.