ch 6 values, ethics, and advocacy
An illegal immigrant with no health insurance sustained life-threatening injuries in an automobile accident. Which action in this case demonstrates the ethical principle of justice?
Airlifting the client to a local trauma center for emergency surgery
What would be an example of the nurse practicing fidelity? The nurse:
stays with a client during death as promised
What is the term for the beliefs held by the individual about what matters?
values
Which best defines value clarification?
a process by which people come to understand their own values and value systems
A nurse reports to the charge nurse that a client medication due at 9 am was omitted. Which principle is the nurse demonstrating?
integrity
In the delivery of care, the nurse acts in accordance with nursing standards and the code of ethics and reports a medication error that the nurse has made. The nurse is most clearly demonstrating which professional value?
integrity
The foundation for decisions about resource allocation throughout a society or group is based on the ethical principle of:
justice
Which example best describes feminist ethics?
An approach critiquing existing patterns of oppression and domination in society
A charge nurse has implemented staff education on nursing values. The nurse would determine that further education is required when which statement(s) are overheard? Select all that apply.
"I can't believe the client is giving that precious baby up for adoption." "The gonorrhea test was positive. That's what the client gets for sleeping around." "If that was my mother, I sure wouldn't agree to a no-code."
The nurse has an ethical dilemma and is using the ethical decision-making steps to guide to a correct decision. Place in order the steps the nurse uses in this process.
1. Gather data and assess the situation. 2. Identify the ethical problem. 3. Identify and weigh the alternatives. 4. Implement the decision. 5. Evaluate the decision.
A nurse practices the ethical principle of autonomy when providing nursing care for clients. Which nursing actions best describe the use of this value? Select all that apply.
A nurse reads The Patient Care Partnership to a visually impaired client. A nurse asks the surgeon to further explain details of a surgery to a client before obtaining informed consent.
A nurse volunteers to serve on the hospital ethics committee. Which action should the nurse expect to take as a member of the ethics committee?
Assist in decision making based on the client's best interests.
Which ethical principle refers to the obligation to do good?
Beneficence 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. Nonmaleficence is the duty not to inflict, as well as to prevent and remove, harm; however, there will be times when the action may cause "harm" to promote the "good" such as chemotherapy being used to treat and eliminate cancer, but it causes various adverse effects while trying to reach the ultimate goal..
Which nursing situation is an example of an ethical dilemma?
Deciding whether to perform cardiac compressions against a client's wishes
Nursing practice consistent with the Code of Ethics for Nurses includes which actions? Select all that apply.
Delivering culturally safe care Acknowledging that the client is the focus and center of care and remains a part of the treatment team Protecting the client's right to confidentiality and privacy
Which nursing action demonstrates the principle of fidelity?
Filing an incident report after making a medication error
The nurse is managing the care for a postoperative client. How does the nurse demonstrate advocacy?
Limiting visitors due to the client reporting pain
Which action most clearly demonstrates a nurse's commitment to social justice?
Lobbying for an expansion of healthcare resources and benefits to those in poverty
A client has been diagnosed with a debilitating neuromuscular disease that has left the client tired, confused, and in pain. Which action(s) will the nurse choose to advocate for this client in planning future care? Select all that apply.
Provide education about treatments. Facilitate involvement of people essential to the decision. Explain laboratory and radiology findings.
Which is the best definition of ethics?
The formal, systematic study of moral beliefs Ethics is a formal, systematic inquiry into principles of right and wrong conduct, of virtue and vice, and of good and evil as they relate to human conduct and human flourishing. "Morals" usually refers to personal or communal standards of right and wrong.
Which nursing actions best describe the use of the professional value of human dignity? Select all that apply.
The nurse includes the client in developing the plan of care. A nurse provides privacy for an older adult client. A nurse plans individualized nursing care for clients. A nurse refuses to discuss a client with a curious friend.
Which traits are examples of virtues that can exemplify character and conduct as a professional nurse? Select all that apply.
Trustworthiness Humility Compassion
When examining values, a nurse notes that one country allows physician-assisted suicide and another outlaws it, making it punishable by imprisonment. Which factors best explain the differences in values between these two countries?
cultural
A nurse is caring for an older adult who has cancer and is experiencing complications requiring a revision of the plan of care. The nurse sits down with the client and the family and discusses their preferences while sharing the nurse's own judgments based on the nurse's expertise. Which type of healthcare decision making does this represent?
shared decision making
The focus of the unit where a nurse works is changing. The nurse has deeply held moral and religious objections to procedures that will be commonly performed on clients on this new unit. Which action(s) should the nurse take? Select all that apply.
Discuss the situation with the unit nurse manager. Do not compromise the nurse's own personal moral standards.
The nurse beginning practice would like to access the standards for ethical practice. Which organization should the nurse research for these standards?
International Council of Nurses
Using the nursing process to make ethical decisions involves following several steps. Which step is the nurse implementing when reflecting on the decision-making process and the role it will play in making future decisions?
evaluating
A female client is brought to the emergency room with matted hair, bruising, and malnutrition. The nurse suspects physical abuse and neglect. The nurse states, "This happens to many women." Which type of ethical approach is the nurse exhibiting?
feminist
A parent of a 17-year-old high school student is allowing the child to decide which college the child will attend. When the child requests direction from the parent in making this decision, the parent responds by stating, "You will need to make this decision on your own." What type of value transmission is the parent displaying?
laissez-faire
The nurse has identified an ethical dilemma that has the potential to interfere with a client receiving optimal care. The nurse discussed this issue with the charge nurse on the unit. What action should the nurse choose next?
monitor for resolution of the problem
A nurse is caring for a client with a complete spinal cord injury that has caused paraplegia. The client is very distraught and asks the nurse, "Are they sure, even with therapy, I will never walk again?" Which statement made by the nurse demonstrates veracity?
"You have a complete injury, which results in a total loss of movement and sensation below the level of injury."
A nurse is providing care for a client with cancer. The client's spouse requests that the client not be told that the client is terminal. The nurse complies with this request. The nurse's action is a breach of which ethical principle?
fidelity
A nurse is providing care for three clients on a medical unit, two of whom are significantly more acute than the third. The nurse is making a concerted effort to ensure that the less acute client still receives a reasonable amount of time, attention, and care during the course of the shift. Which ethical principle is the nurse attempting to practice?
justice
Ethical distress is:
knowing the correct action but being unable to perform it due to constraints.
A client is brought to the emergency department by an adult child, who states, "I am unable to care for my parent anymore. Although I would like to, financially and physically I cannot do it anymore." What ethical problem is the adult child experiencing?
moral distress
Which statement by the nurse is an example of deception?
"This injection of procaine will feel like a little pinch."
A client rings the call bell to request pain medication. On performing the pain assessment, the nurse informs the client that the nurse will return with the pain medication. After a few moments, the nurse returns with the pain medication. The nurse's returning with the pain medication is an example of which principle of bioethics?
fidelity
A nurse is providing care to a client with end-stage cancer. After weighing the alternatives, the client decides not to participate in a clinical trial offered and is requesting no further treatment. The nurse advocates for the client's decision based on the understanding that the client has the right to self-determination, interpreting the client's decision as reflecting which ethical principle?
autonomy
Which theory of ethics prioritizes the nurse's relationship with clients and the nurse's character in the practice of ethical nursing?
care-based ethics
Which is a characteristic of the care-based approach to bioethics?
The promotion of the dignity and respect of clients as people
Nurses who value client advocacy follow what guideline?
They give priority to the good of the individual client rather than to the good of society in general.
A client tells the nurse that the client does not want to have a painful procedure. By respecting and supporting the client's right to make decisions, the nurse is demonstrating:
advocacy
A nurse is preparing a client for discharge from the cardiac unit and observes cigarettes in the client's belongings. The nurse asks the client to consider the client's health and that of the client's spouse. This is an example of:
values clarification
