Logical Reasoning

PT152 · S4 · Q2 Edgar: Nurses who have been specially trained

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Edgar: Nurses who have been specially trained in administering anesthetics should be allowed to anesthetize patients without having to do so under a doctor’s supervision.

Edgar's Claims

1. Nurses can be specially trained in administering anesthetics.

2. Those nurses should be allowed to anesthetize patients without having to do so under a doctor’s supervision.

3. Anesthesia has gotten remarkably safe in recent decades.

Janet's Responses

1. agrees 2. Disagrees 3. no comment

Evaluate

Janet doesn't explicitly state that nurses should not be allowed to anesthetize patients without a doctor’s supervision. But we can infer that from her comment that only doctors—not nurses—have the training needed to handle emergencies that might arise.

Goal

We'll look for an answer that addresses claim #2.

2.

The dialogue provides the most support for the claim that Edgar and Janet disagree over whether

  1. nurses should ever be allowed

    Too Strong

    This answer looks good at first glance, and the LSAT is trying to trick us by making this the first answer. Janet isn't claiming that nurses should never anesthetize patients. Her comments only indicate that she believes they should be supervised by a doctor when doing so.

    4% picked this

  2. emergencies that can develop from

    Both Agree

    Janet states that emergencies are rare. Edgar describes anesthesia as remarkably safe, which is consistent with the idea that emergencies are rare.

    0% picked this

  3. nurses should be given more

    Out of Scope

    Neither person indicates that nurses should receive more training. Janet indicates that the training they currently receive doesn't enable them to handle emergencies the way doctors can. But she might or might not believe than nurses need more training. She might think that it's appropriate to let doctors handle these emergencies.

    0% picked this

  4. the safety of anesthesia has

    Half Scope Both Agree

    Edgar states this. Janet says that emergencies are rare. Strictly speaking, we don't know if she agrees that safety has improved in recent decades. Even if we infer that from her statements, this would then be something they agree about, not a point of disagreement.

    1% picked this

  5. Correct

    the administration of anesthetics by

    Why this is right

    Edgar states that nurses should be allowed to anesthetize patients without being supervised by a doctor. Janet indicates that doctors need to supervise these nurses in order to handle emergencies that might arise.

    Skill tested: Agree/Disagree · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

    95% picked this

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