Chapter 7: Legal Dimensions of Nursing Practice

Which of the following is an example of certification?

A nurse who demonstrates advanced expertise in a content area of nursing through special testing.

Which of the following clinical events is addressed by the provisions of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)?

A client believes that the health care team is withholding information about her diagnosis and wishes to read her medical chart.

Which process evaluates and recognizes educational programs as having met certain standards?

Accreditation

A nurse exits the room of a confused patient without raising the side rails on the bed. The failure to raise the side rails would be which of the following elements of liability related to malpractice?

Breach of duty

A nurse fails to communicate a change in the client's condition to the physician. Which element related to proving malpractice has been met?

Breach of duty

A client informs the nurse that he wants to discontinue his treatment and go home. Later, the nurse finds the client dressed to leave. What action should the nurse take in this situation?

Let the client go after signing a document stating he is going against medical advice

A client is scheduled for a colonoscopy. The nurse realizes immediately after administering medications to induce conscious sedation that the client has not signed the informed consent. If the nurse has the client sign the informed consent at this point, which element of informed consent would be violated?

Competence

A nurse assesses a client with psychotic symptoms and determines that the client needs vest restraints. However, the client asks the nurse not to put on vest restraints. What would be the best nursing action?

Contact the physician and obtain necessary orders.

A client states that his recent fall was caused by the fact that his scheduled antihypertensive medications were mistakenly administered by two different nurses, an event that is disputed by both of the nurses identified by the client. Which measure should the nurses prioritize when anticipating that legal action may follow?

Document the client's claims and the events surrounding the alleged incident

An HIV-positive client discovers that his name is published in a research report on HIV caer prepared by his nurse. He is hurt and files a lawsuit against her. Which of the following offenses has that nurse committed?

Invasion of privacy

A malpractice case involving an incident in the operating room has entered litigation. A scrub nurse has been asked to present her firsthand knowledge of the incident based upon recollection and documentation in the client record. The nurse's role in this malpractice case is what?

Nurse as a fact witness

Which of the following situations is an example of battery that the nurse may experience while performing her nursing duties at the health care facility?

Performing a surgical procedure without getting consent

Injuries related to lifting or transferring patients occur in the health care setting and may be considered a work-related injury. Which law was intended to reduce work-related injuries and illnesses?

The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

A registered nurse has had her license suspended after being convicted of being impaired at work. What governing body has the authority to revoke or suspend a nurse's license?

The State Board of Nurse Examiners

Which of the following is an area of potential liability for the nurse? Select all that apply.

The nurse documents that the client's blood pressure has increased from 118/72 to 188/98 and decides to retake the blood pressure in an hour. The nurse fails to document refusal by the client to ambulate following surgery.

A client is brought to the emergency department in an unconscious state with a head injury. The client requires surgery to remove a blood clot. What would be the appropriate nursing intervention in keeping with the policy of informed consent prior to a surgical procedure?

The nurse ensures that the client's family signs the consent form.

A client is unhappy with the health care provided to him. He approaches the nurse and informs her that he is leaving the facility. The client has not been discharged by the physician. The nurse finds that the client has dressed and is ready to go. What would the nurse's action be in this situation?

The nurse should call the nursing supervisor and inform her about the situation.

After reporting to work for a night shift, the nurse learns that the unit will be understaffed because two RNs called out sick. As a result, each nurse on the unit will need to provide care for an additional four acute clients in addition to his or her regular client assignment. Which of the following statements is true for this nurse when working in understaffed circumstances?

The nurse will be legally held to the same standards of care as when staffing levels are normal.

Two nurses meet at their home, where one of the nurses discusses a client who had been physically abused. The next day, the client is shifted to another nursing unit after a surgical procedure and becomes the care of the second nurse who had been a part of the discussion. Nurse No. 2 asks the client about the physical abuse. The client discovers that his original nurse revealed the information and is hurt. What would be the charges if the client files a suit?

The nurses could be charged for slander.

A nurse is caring for a client who has undergone coronary angioplasty. The cardiac monitor is showing abnormal ECG waves, indicating arterial fibrillation. The nurse does not recognize the importance of the sign; as a result, the client's condition deteriorates and the client has to be taken up for an emergency procedure. Which of the following describes the nurse's legal liability?

Tort

A family member sues the nurse for malpractice based on the claim that a client was injured because of a medication error. This case would be considered as which of the following?

Unintentional tort

Nurses are occasionally asked to witness a testator's (person who makes the will) signing of his or her will. Which of the following guidelines is true regarding a nurse's role is witnessing a testator's signature?

Witnesses to a signature do not need to read the will.

A post-anesthesia nurse is reporting about a client to the intensive care unit nurse in the elevator. There are staff members and visitors in the elevator. The post-anasthesia nurse is doing what?

breaching the client's confidentiality

During the admission assessment of 40-year-old female patient with a suspected mandibular fracture, the patient discloses to the nurse that her injury came as a result of her husband hitting her. Which of the following actions should the nurse prioritize when responding to this disclosure?

reporting the abuse to the appropriate authorities