Critical Care Registered Nurse (CCRN) Practice Exam

What activity may a patient perform during an evoked potential study?

1. Reading a book

2. Listening to music

3. Gazing at a checkerboard pattern

4. Performing arithmetic problems

The correct answer is: Gazing at a checkerboard pattern

During an evoked potential study, patients are typically instructed to engage in a specific activity that can help elicit the required neural responses for analysis. Gazing at a checkerboard pattern is an effective task because it stimulates visual processing pathways, allowing the healthcare provider to measure the brain's electrical response to visual stimuli. This is particularly relevant in studies focused on the optic nerve and visual pathways, where the visual cortex's reaction can provide valuable diagnostic information. Choosing activities such as reading a book or listening to music may not produce the same targeted responses since they do not specifically assess visual processing in the same manner as a checkerboard, which provides a clear and defined visual stimulus. Similarly, performing arithmetic problems may overly engage cognitive functions rather than visual pathways, which is not the primary focus of an evoked potential study. Thus, gazing at a checkerboard pattern aligns perfectly with the study's objective of recording and evaluating specific neural responses to visual input.