2.7 Integrating Information and Interpreting Graphics

What Integration Means

The TEAS rarely lets you answer a hard question from one sentence. Integration of Knowledge and Ideas (15 scored questions) often pairs a passage with a second source—another paragraph, a table, a graph, a map, or a labeled diagram—and asks for a conclusion that neither source states by itself. This mirrors nursing, where you combine a patient's chart, lab printout, and medication guide before acting.

A Disciplined Way to Read Any Graphic

Most integration errors come from reading the data before reading the labels. Use this fixed five-step order for every chart, table, map, or diagram:

1. Title — What is this graphic about?
2. Labels — What does each axis (graph) or column/row header (table) measure?
3. Units — Percent? Milligrams? Years? Patients? Units change everything.
4. Legend (key) — What do the colors, line styles, or symbols stand for?
5. Data & trend — Only now read the values, looking for the overall direction (rising, falling, flat) and any outliers.

Graphic Types You May See

Reading a Small Data Set

Consider this table of handwashing compliance on a hospital unit over three quarters.

Applying the five-step read: the title is compliance over time; the labels are two shifts; the units are percentages; the legend distinguishes day from night; the trend is that both shifts improved, but night shift stayed consistently lower. A correct integration statement might be: "Compliance rose every quarter for both shifts, yet night shift trailed day shift by 12–18 percentage points throughout." Notice that this conclusion uses both columns—neither column alone tells the whole story.

Following Multi-Step Directions

The TEAS also tests whether you can follow directions exactly—a skill that maps directly to administering medication or running a protocol. The rules:

• Do the steps in the order given; do not jump ahead.
• Honor conditional words: if, unless, except, before, after, only when.
• Watch for negatives ("do not proceed until…").
• Re-read the final step to confirm you produced what was asked for.

Example: "Record the patient's temperature. If it is above 100.4 °F, notify the charge nurse before giving any medication. Otherwise, document the reading and continue." A temperature of 99.1 °F means you skip the notification and go straight to documenting—because the condition ("above 100.4") was not met. Misreading the conditional would create a needless interruption.

Reconciling Conflicting Sources

When a passage and a graphic seem to contradict each other, do not assume one is wrong. Most apparent conflicts dissolve once you:

1. Re-check the units (a passage in milligrams, a chart in grams).
2. Re-check the labels (you read the wrong row or series).
3. Check the time frame or population (different years, different patients).
4. Look for a qualifier you skipped ("among adults," "per shift").

If a genuine conflict remains, weigh the more credible, more current source.

Worked Example

Passage: "The unit launched a new handwashing campaign at the start of Q2."

Table: the compliance table above.

Step 1 — Read each source: The passage gives a timed event (campaign began Q2); the table gives compliance figures by quarter and shift.

Step 2 — Connect them: Compliance was already climbing from Q1 to Q2, then kept rising into Q3 after the campaign.

Step 3 — Synthesize carefully: A supported statement is "Compliance continued to improve after the Q2 campaign." An unsupported leap is "The campaign caused the improvement"—the data can't separate the campaign from the rising trend that started before it. Choosing the supported statement over the tempting causal one is exactly what integration questions reward.