Ethics

A nurse is administering evening medications and notices that a medication was omitted during the day shift. Which of the following statements demonstrates the principle of accountability? a) Administering the medication with the other evening medications b) Telling the client that the medication will be given the following morning c) Filling out an occurrence report and notifying the health care provider d) Documenting a narrative note in the chart about the occurrence

C. Filling out an occurrence report and notifying the health care provider Explanation: When an untoward occurrence occurs, the nurse will be considered to be accountable when the proper actions are taken. In this instance, an occurrence form is filled out for follow-up, and the provider is notified. The other choices are incorrect actions

Several times, family members have asked you to share personal prescriptions when they were in need of pain medication or antibiotics. Which type of rules or standards should govern your moral decision? a) Common law b) Civil law c) Administrative law d) Ethics

D. Ethics Explanation: Although all of the options may affect your decision, moral decisions are guided by ethics (moral principles and values that guide the behavior of honorable people). Ethical standards dictate the rightness or wrongness of human behavior. Laws are written rules for conduct and actions. They are binding for all citizens and ensure the protection of rights.

A nurse who works on a palliative care unit has participated in several clinical scenarios that have required the application of ethics. Ethics is best defined as: a) The laws that govern acceptable and unacceptable behavior. b) Moral values are considered to be universal. c) The relationship between law and culture. d) The principles that determine whether an act is right or wrong.

D. The principles that determine whether an act is right or wrong. Explanation: Ethics involves moral or philosophical principles that direct actions as being either right or wrong. Laws are often rooted in ethics, but the two terms are not synonymous. Similarly, morals and values are closely associated with ethics but these do not constitute the definition of ethics. Ethics are not universally agreed upon, as many different applications exist.

A nurse is caring for a client with multiple sclerosis. The client informs the nurse that a lawyer is coming to prepare a living will and requests the nurse to sign as witness. Which of the following actions should the nurse take? a) Note that the nurse caring for the client cannot be a witness. b) Inform the physician about the living will. c) Arrange for other colleagues to sign as a witness. d) State that the physician will be a witness.

A. Note that the nurse caring for the client cannot be a witness Explanation: A living will is an instructive form of an advance directive. It is a written document that identifies a person's preferences regarding medical interventions to use in a terminal condition, irreversible coma, or persistent vegetative state with no hope of recovery. Employees of the health care facility should not sign as witnesses; therefore, the nurse cannot sign as witness. Refusing a client may not be a good communication method; instead, the nurse could politely indicate the reason for declining. Calling for a physician or asking another colleague to sign is an inappropriate action

When the nurse informs a patient's employer of his autoimmune deficiency disease, the nurse is committing the tort of a) Battery b) Assault c) Invasion of privacy d) Breach of contract

C. Invasion of privacy Explanation: Nurses have access to information recorded in the medical record, information shared or observed through care or interactions with friends and family, and through access to the patient's body. A loss of privacy occurs if others inappropriately use their access to a person

A mentally incapacitated client is scheduled for surgery. Considering the principle of autonomy, who should give the consent for surgery?

Surrogate decision maker. Explanation: A surrogate decision maker should be identified to give consent for the mentally incapacitated client. Infants, young children, people who are severely mentally handicapped or incapacitated, and people in a persistent vegetative state or coma do not have the capacity to participate in decision making about their healthcare. For such people, a surrogate decision maker must be identified to act on their behalf. The surgeon and the nurse are not eligible to give consent for the client

Which ethical principle refers to the duty to do good? a) Beneficence b) Nonmaleficence c) Veracity d) Fidelity

A. Beneficence Explanation: Beneficence is the duty to do good and the active promotion of benevolent acts. Fidelity refers to the duty to be faithful to one's commitments. Veracity is the obligation to tell the truth. Non-maleficence is the duty not to inflict, as well as to prevent and remove, harm; it is more binding than beneficence

A nurse is discussing principles in healthcare ethics with the nursing students. Which of the following would be an appropriate example of nonmaleficence? a) To protect clients from a chemically impaired practitioner. b) To preform dressing changes to promote wound healing. c) To administer pain medications to a client in pain. d) To provide emotional support to clients who are anxious.

A. To protect clients from a chemically impaired practitioner Explanation: Protecting clients from a chemically impaired practitioner is an appropriate example of nonmaleficence,

When assessing if a procedural risk to a client is justified, the ethical principle underlying the dilemma is known as which of the following? a) Pro-choice b) Nonmaleficence c) Self-determination d) Informed consent

B. Non-malefeicence

A client is brought to the emergency department (ED) by the son who states, "I am unable to care for my mother anymore." The nurses identifies this son's ethical problem as being which of the following?

Distress Explanation: Ethical distress is when someone wants to do the right thing but is not able to. The son brings the mother to the ED to maintain her safety, although he needs to take care of her. The other choices may be part of the son's decision, however the immediate problem is one of distress.

Ethics

Ethics is the formal, systematic study of moral beliefs

Fidelity

Fidelity is promise keeping

Morality

Morality is the adherence to informal personal values

Non-maleficence

Principle of creating no harm. It refers to preventing or minimizing harm to an individual.

Veracity

The obligation to tell the truth and not to lie or deceive others

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) Code of Ethics for Nurses (2005) has which of the following elements? Select all that apply. a) Co-workers b) Practice c) Family d) People e) Profession

• People • Practice • Profession • Co-workers Explanation: The International Code of Ethics is based on the tenets of people, practice, profession, and co-workers and the relationship among them. Family, although important, is not included in those elements

A 46-year-old patient has been diagnosed with cancer. He has met with the oncologist and is now weighing his options to undergo chemotherapy or radiation as his treatment. This patient is utilizing which ethical principle in making his decision? a) Confidentiality b) Autonomy c) Justice d) Beneficence

B. Autonomy Explanation: Autonomy entails the ability to make a choice free from external constraints. Beneficence is the duty to do good and the active promotion of benevolent acts. Confidentiality relates to the concept of privacy. Justice states that like cases should be treated alike.

Which of the following theories of ethics most highly prioritizes the nurse's relationship with patients and the nurse's character in the practice of ethical nursing? a) Utilitarianism b) Care-based ethics c) Principle-based ethics d) Deontology

B. Care-based ethics

The nurse notes that a placebo has been ordered when a client requests pain medication. Which of the following statements is most accurate about the use of placebos in the client's plan of care? a) Placebos may be used whenever the nurse believes the client is not really experiencing pain. b) It is appropriate to substitute placebos when the client requests frequent doses of pain medication. c) The use of placebos violates the client's right to ethical care. d) Placebos should be used when it is suspected that the client is addicted to the pain medication.

C. The use of placebos violates the client's right to ethical care. Explanation: Pain is what the client says it is