EAQ Chapter 3 Legal and Ethical Aspects of Nursing

The nurse is teaching a group of students about legal terms and definitions. Which statement made by a student indicates a need for additional teaching?

"A defendant is a minor legally considered an adult."

Before a blood transfusion, a patient is worried about signing the consent form and inquires if the procedure will be harmful. What is the best response by the nurse?

"It is a safe procedure and blood will be given intravenously."

The nursing instructor is interacting with the only student nurse in the classroom. Which statement by the nurse would indicate sexual harassment of the student?

"Let's meet for dinner tonight to discuss your case study."

A nurse is caring for a patient with a bacterial infection. After administering an antibiotic, the nurse realizes that the wrong dose was given. The nurse immediately informs the patient and the primary health care provider. Which principle of the nursing code of ethics has the nurse followed

Accountability

The nurse is caring for a postoperative patient who is drowsy due to morphine. The patient refuses to receive any injection from the nurse. Which is the most appropriate nursing action in this situation?

Administer the injection.

The nurse is caring for a patient in a hospital. Which action by the nurse would be considered a violation of the patient's rights?

Administering prescribed medications without the patient's consent

A primary health care provider has prescribed medication for a patient. While caring for the patient, a nurse finds that the patient is allergic to this medication. The nurse informs the primary health care provider, and the provider prescribes a new medication. Which principle of the code of ethics has the nurse followed? Choose the best answer.

Advocacy

Which action of the trainee nurse is acceptable when updating the chart of a patient with renal failure in the emergency department?

Allows the patient to access the chart

The nurse is caring for a patient with stage III liver cancer who wants to leave the health care facility. Which is the most appropriate nursing action in this situation?

Ask the patient to sign an against medical advice (AMA) form.

The nurse is assessing a postsurgical patient who is in acute pain. The patient is not willing to position for x-rays. The nurse tells the patient that a sedative injection will be administered if the patient does not cooperate for the procedure. Which tort is this indicative of?

Assault

A newly admitted psychiatric patient refuses an intravenous injection, and two nurses forcibly hold the patient down to administer the medication. What kind of violation is this called?

Battery

The nurse is caring for a patient who is extremely irritable and agitated. The nurse first transfers the patient forcefully to an isolated room to avoid disturbing other patients in the ward. The nurse then sedates the patient by giving a morphine injection. Which torts has the nurse performed? Select all that apply.

Battery False imprisonment

An unconscious patient with life-threatening injuries is brought to the hospital after a motor vehicle accident. The immediate family or relatives cannot be contacted to sign the consent form. What is the immediate nursing action in this case?

Begin the prescribed treatment without the patient's consent.

The nurse is caring for a patient who underwent cardiac surgery, and the patient is experiencing stroke. Which is the most appropriate nursing action in this situation?

Check for a do-not-resuscitate (DNR) order.

The nurse is caring for a postsurgical patient. What does the nurse include in the patient's plan of care to ensure safety? Select all that apply

Check medication labels before administering the medications. Evaluate test results in a timely manner to avoid delays in treatment. Use two ways to identify the patient before administering medications. Document administered medicines in the medication administration record.

There are seven key steps in the resolution of an ethical dilemma. Which step involves distinguishing among fact, opinion, and values?

Clarifying values

The nurse knows that informed consent may be given by which one of these individuals?

Competent 19-year-old who has just taken Tylenol.

A code of ethics is a set of guiding principles that all members of a profession are held accountable for. Under which ethical principle is the patient's personal health information protected? Choose the best answer.

Confidentiality

The nurse is teaching students about laws. The nurse is talking about violation of public law. What term does the nurse use to refer to a violation of public law?

Crime

Which type of law deals with a wrong against society?

Criminal

The nurse is caring for a patient with depression who has been admitted to the psychiatric ward for attempting suicide. The patient does not wish to be admitted and is upset with his parents for admitting him. What is the most appropriate nursing action in this situation?

Detain the patient for 3 days and then discharge the patient.

The nurse is interacting with the parents of a child with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). What should the nurse do while discussing the child's illness with the parents?

Discuss with the parents in a closed room.

The nurse is caring for a respiratory patient. The nurse has already received a do-not-resuscitate order from the physician. What action does the nurse take when the patient is in respiratory distress?

Does not initiate resuscitation

Health care institutions establish ethics committees to process ethical dilemmas. What are the purposes of ethics committees? Select all that apply

Education Case consultation Policy recommendation

The licensed nurse is delegating a task to an unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP). What precautions does the nurse take before delegating the task? Select all that apply.

Ensures that the task is appropriately delegated Ensures that the person has the skills, knowledge, and training to perform the task Ensures the task is within the scope of practice of the unlicensed person

The student nurse is administering an injection to a patient for the first time. What precautions does the student nurse take? Select all that apply.

Ensures that there is no harm to the patient while injecting Consults the instructor if the patient's condition is changing Ensures that the prescribed drug is administered to the patient

The nurse is caring for a patient with prostate cancer who is receiving chemotherapy. The patient refuses to undergo further chemotherapy. Which action is appropriate in such a situation?

Explain why the chemotherapy is important.

A postsurgical patient with abdominal sutures demands an early discharge against the prescribed hospital stay. The nurse has discussed the risks of early discharge with the patient. The patient has verbalized understanding and remains determined to leave. What is the immediate action of the attending nurse?

Get the release form signed by the patient before discharge.

Which of these is one of the most common charges brought against nurses?

Incompetence

A patient is prescribed chemotherapy to treat breast cancer. What action should the nurse take before beginning the procedure? Select all that apply.

Inform the patient about the treatment risks. Obtain an informed consent from the patient.

A patient provides informed consent to the nurse for wrist surgery to be performed the next day. An hour before the surgery, the patient withdraws consent. The nurse obtains the reasons for refusal and then informs the surgeon. What is the next appropriate action by the nurse?

Inform the patient that the surgeon cancelled the surgery.

Following the nursing assessment, a patient asks to review his medical record. The patient then informs the nurse the birth details in the medical record are inaccurate. What action does the nurse take?

Instructs the patient to change the inaccurate details

The nurse is caring for a patient with diarrhea. During a phone call, someone asks the nurse about the patient's condition. The nurse reveals everything about the patient's condition without verifying if it's a family member on the call. What term is used to describe such a situation?

Invasion of privacy

The nurse is teaching students about laws. The nurse talks about cases in which a lower court's decision is challenged and the judge affirms or reverses the decision. What type of law is the nurse talking about?

Judicial law

A licensed practical nurse (LPN) may supervise which of the following? Select all that apply.

LPNs Nursing assistants (NAs) Nurse technicians

The nurse has to take care of multiple patients throughout the day. Due to fatigue and stress, the nurse may make clinical errors which can cause legal risks. What precautions does the nurse take to prevent this? Select all that apply.

Learns nursing skills thoroughly Establishes rapport with patients Uses therapeutic communication techniques Obtains adequate sleep and exercises regularly

The nurse has passed the licensing examination and started working as a licensed nurse. What actions does the nurse take to ensure safety while working in any nursing situation? Select all that apply.

Learns to use new technology Attends educational programs Reads current nursing journals

The nurse is teaching a group of students about litigation and liability. The students correctly identify which term as the "responsibility to compensate another for loss or injury due to negligence"?

Liability

The nurse suspects that the primary health care provider is having an illicit affair and reports it to the media. A local newspaper publishes the rumor. What term is used to describe the newspaper's action?

Libel

The nurse is teaching students about licensed practical nurses (LPNs). Who is at par with an LPN?

Licensed vocational nurse (LVN)

The nurse is administering narcotics to a patient, but fails to repeat the medication as prescribed. What term is used to describe this situation?

Negligence

The nurse notices another nurse perform an inappropriate procedure. The nurse ignores the inappropriate procedure. What is this situation called?

Negligence

The parents of a child tell the student nurse that their child often engages in fights with other children and has multiple bruises on different parts of the body. On further assessment of the child, the student finds bruises near the child's private parts. What immediate action does the student nurse take?

Notifies the nursing instructor

A confused elderly patient is brought to the hospital by neighbors. The neighbors inform the nurse that the patient's relatives live in another town. What action does the nurse take to obtain consent for treatment?

Obtains consent from the relatives over the phone

The nurse knows that which is true regarding assisted suicide?

Participation in assisted suicide is a violation of the American Nurses Association (ANA) Code for Nurses.

The nurse is caring for a patient with chronic liver failure who experiences cardiac arrest. Which nursing action is the most appropriate in this situation?

Perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The patient talks to a nurse about a recent event in which a federal court reversed the ruling of a lower court, made in a lawsuit against a hospital. What term does the nurse use to explain this to the patient?

Precedent

Nurses work in situations that give them professional permission that is not normally permitted in other circumstances. This is consistent with which legal term?

Privilege

The nurse is given rights over a patient's body, permission to do what is usually not permitted in other circumstances. What is this called?

Privilege

The nurse is caring for a patient who has been in an accident and has lost large amounts of blood. The patient is unconscious and is not in a state to make any decisions. Which is an appropriate nursing action?

Provide treatment to the patient without consent.

The nurse needs to give an intramuscular injection into a child's buttocks. However, the child is embarrassed. Which is the most appropriate action?

Remove the pants so as to expose only the part of the buttocks to inject.

The nurse learns that another nurse in the health care facility is smoking marijuana. Which is the most appropriate action?

Report the nurse who is smoking marijuana to the authorities.

The nurse is caring for a child who is admitted into the health care facility. The child has bruise marks on the back. Which is the most appropriate nursing action in such a situation?

Report to the authorities regarding the child.

The nurse is caring for a patient who has been diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and who was recently engaged. Which is the most appropriate nursing action in this situation?

Reveal the patient's condition to the family members with consent from the patient.

The nurse knows which is a true statement?

Sexual harassment is illegal when it interferes with job performance.

A nurse has been verbally accused of providing inadequate care to a patient by another nurse. The nurse has received laurels in the past for providing quality care to the patients. Which tort is this indicative of?

Slander

A medical assistant makes sexually provocative comments in the presence of a nurse. Which is the most appropriate action?

Tell the medical assistant that the comments are offensive.

The nurse is caring for a patient who is preparing for heart surgery. Which is the most appropriate way to get consent from the patient?

Tell the patient only about the benefits having the surgery.

The dayshift nurse is providing a 'handoff' communication to another nurse at shift change. What does the nurse include in the communication? Select all that apply.

The background of the patient The name and age of the patient Recommendations for interventions The details of the patient assessment

The nurse is administering a subcutaneous injection to a patient. Which action by the nurse indicates causation?

The nurse administers the injection in the muscular layer.

The nurse is documenting a patient's health status in a medical record. What actions does the nurse take to protect the patient's information? Select all that apply.

The nurse covers the patient's information with a sheet on the clipboard. The nurse does not discuss the patient's details with other colleagues. The nurse does not use the patient's name during case discussions.

The nurse is caring for an elderly patient who is immobile. Which action by the nurse is an invasion of the patient's privacy?

The nurse discloses the patient's condition over the telephone.

A patient is admitted to the hospital for a chronic illness. What is included in the plan of care for this patient? Select all that apply.

The nurse discusses the treatment plan with the patient. The nurse provides a clean and safe environment to the patient. The nurse informs the patient what medications are administered.

The nurse performs various nursing actions to meet a patient's health care needs. Which action illustrates accountability on the part of the nurse?

The nurse documents the interventions in the medication administration record.

The nurse is preparing to administer medication to a patient. The patient refuses the medication. What is an ethical nursing action in this case?

The nurse does not administer the medication to the patient.

A patient is prescribed catheterization for urinary retention. The patient refuses the procedure even after the staff nurse explains that it is very important for the patient's health. The nurse listens to the patient's reasons for refusal and then informs the charge nurse. The charge nurse meets with the patient and discusses the issue. What is the next immediate action by the staff nurse?

The nurse obtains a release from liability.

The nurse needs to observe professional discipline while caring for patients. Which action by the nurse indicates professional discipline?

The nurse teaches the patient's family members about patient care.

A nurse is preparing to give cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to a patient with cardiac arrest. The health care provider orders the nurse and code team to avoid resuscitating the patient. What is the most appropriate reason for this?

The patient has given a do not resuscitate (DNR) order.

The nurse is engaged in a case discussion with a senior nurse. What patient details does the nurse divulge in the discussion? Select all that apply.

The patient's age The patient's illness The patient's medical history

The student nurse is learning about ethical principles used in nursing practice. In what way are ethical principles differentiated from the laws or legal standards of nursing practice?

There is no punishment for violating ethical codes.

The nursing instructor advises a student nurse to pursue further learning on laws related to nursing practice and codes of ethics. The study of nursing practice and codes of ethics influences the student in which areas of the nursing practice? Select all that apply.

To practice safely To safeguard patients' rights To safeguard coworkers' rights

The nurse knows that psychiatric patients can be held against their will in which situation?

Unable to provide for their basic needs

An unexpected patient care occurrence that results in death or serious injury to the patient is called __________.

sentinel event.

The nurse knows that which statement is true regarding advance directives?

A living will is a type of advance directive.