Ch.6 Values, Ethics, and Advocacy PrepU
A nurse working in a long-term care facility has an elderly male client who is very confused. What ethical dilemma is posed when using restraints in a long-term care setting?
It threatens autonomy.
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 patient still receives a reasonable amount of time, attention, and care during the course of the shift. Which of the following is the nurse attempting to enact?
Justice
A parent of a high school student age 17 years is allowing the child to make the decision on the college he will attend. When the child requests direction from the parent in making this decision, the parent responds by informing him that he will need to make this decision on his own. This is an example of which type of value transmission?
Laissez-faire
A client with five children suspects that she is pregnant again. She is also going through a financial crisis and asks the nurse for a medicine to cause abortion. The nurse is under obligation to promote family planning but feels the need to save the unborn fetus. What value is the nurse considering more important?
Respect for life
A nurse has a duty of nonmaleficence. Which of the following would be considered a contradiction to that duty?
Refuse to administer pain medication as ordered.
How are values converted from knowledge into messages which can then be processed as information?
Religion
An ethical conflict exists around a female client's expressed desire to have a neighbor make her treatment decisions. This neighbor is an individual who the client's children characterize as a predator. Place in the correct order the steps that the nurse should follow in resolving this ethical conflict.
-Gather relevant data about the situation -Clearly identify the ethical problem -Identify the different options -Apply ethical principles to the situation -Make and evaluate a decision
A patient who stopped smoking 3 years ago has not resumed smoking and actively encourages other family members to stop smoking. This patient is demonstrating which step in the process of valuing?
Acting
A nurse is caring for a client who is a practicing Jehovah's Witness. The physician orders two units of packed cells based on his low hemoglobin and hematocrit levels. The nurse states to the surgeon that it is unethical to go against the patient's beliefs even though his blood counts are very low. What is the best description of the nurse's intentions?
Acting in the patient's best interest
Which of the following words is best described by the following: the protection and support of another's rights?
Advocacy
A nurse has completed four hours of his eight-hour shift on a medical-surgical unit when he receives a phone call from the nursing supervisor. The nursing supervisor informs him that he needs to give a report to the other two nurses on the medical-surgical unit and immediately report to the telemetry unit to assist with staff needs on that unit. The nurse informs the supervisor that he has been busy with his client assignment and feels this will overwhelm the nurses on the medical-surgical unit. The supervisor informs the nurse that the need is greater on the telemetry unit. This is an example of which type of ethical problem?
Allocation of scarce nursing resources
Which of the following best describes feminist ethics?
An approach critiquing existing patterns of oppression and domination in society.
A client age 46 years 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?
Autonomy
A woman age 83 years who has suffered a cerebrovascular accident and is unable to swallow refuses the insertion of a feeding tube. This is an example of what ethical principle?
Autonomy
Which of the following ethical principles is related to the idea of self-determination?
Autonomy
To practice ethically, the nurse should
Avoid allowing her judgment to guide practice
A nurse is caring for a woman 28 years of age who has delivered a baby by Cesarean section. She describes her pain as a 9. The nurse medicates her for pain. This is an example of which of the following ethical frameworks?
Beneficence
Which ethical principle refers to the obligation to do good?
Beneficence
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?
Care-based ethics
A nurse is caring for a client who is a celebrity in the area. A person claiming he is a family member inquires about the medical details of the client. The nurse reveals the information but later comes to find out that the person was not a family member. The nurse has violated which of the following?
Confidentiality
What is the function of the American Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Nurses?
Delineates nurses' conduct and responsibilities
When a nurse refuses to compromise a client's right to privacy, even when the nurse is threatened, the nurse is expressing an ethical framework termed what?
Deontologic
A nurse working on a critical care unit was informed by a client with multiple sclerosis that she did not wish to be resuscitated in the event of cardiac arrest. The client is no longer able to express her wishes, and the family has informed the physician that they want the client to be resuscitated. Aware of the client's wishes, the nurse is involved in a situation that may involve what?
Ethical distress
A nurse is providing homecare to a client with a diabetic foot ulcer who needs daily insulin injections. The family caregivers do not possess the technical skill to inject insulin. Which of the following should the nurse keep in mind?
Evaluating
Using the nursing process to make ethical decisions involves following several steps. Which step is the nurse implementing when he or she reflects on the decision-making process and the role it will play in making future decisions?
Evaluating
A parent teaches his or her children not to drink and drive; however, the parent does drink and drive. This action causes
Failure to reflect own values
A client rings the call bell to request pain medication. Upon performing the pain assessment, the nurse informs the cliient that she will return with the pain medication. The nurse's promise to return with the pain medication is an example of which principle of bioethics?
Fidelity
A home care nurse visits a client who is confined to bed and is cared for by her daughter. The daughter is known to suffer from chemical dependence. The home is cluttered and unclean. During the assessment the nurse notes that the client is wet with urine and has dried feces on her buttocks, and demonstrates signs of dehydration. After caring for the client, the nurse contacts the physician and reports the incident to Adult Protective Services. This is an example of which ethical framework?
Nonmaleficence
A home health nurse who performs a careful safety assessment of the home of a frail elderly patient to prevent harm to the patient is acting in accord with which of the following, a principle of bioethics?
Nonmaleficence
A male client age 56 years is experiencing withdrawal from alcohol and is placing himself at risk for falls by repeatedly attempting to scale his bedrails. Benzodiazepines have failed to alleviate his agitation and the nurse is considering obtaining an order for physical restraints to ensure his safety. The nurse should recognize that this measure may constitute what?
Paternalism
A client who is scheduled for abdominal surgery gives informed consent. While reviewing the client's medical record, the nurse identifies the consent form, interpreting it as most reflective of which of the following?
Patient's Bill of Rights.
During adolescence, values are primarily formed from
Peers
A client with a diagnosis of colorectal cancer has been presented with her treatment options, but wishes to defer any decisions to her uncle, who acts in the role of a family patriarch within the client's culture. By which of the following is the client's right to self-determination best protected?
Respecting the client's desire to have the uncle make choices on her behalf
When individuals or groups use utilitarianism to make ethical decisions, which of the following do they consider?
Rightness or wrongness depends on consequences.
What would be an example of the nurse practicing fidelity? The nurse:
Stays with the patient during his or her death as promised
A client who is mentally incapacitated is scheduled to undergo surgery. The nurse demonstrates understanding of the principle of autonomy and checks the client's medical record to ensure that consent has been obtained from which person?
Surrogate decision maker
The children of a female client 78 years of age with a recent diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease are attempting to convince their mother to move into an assisted living facility, a move to which the client is vehemently opposed. Both the client and her children have expressed to the nurse how they are entrenched in their position. Which of the following statements expresses a utilitarian approach to this dilemma?
The decision should be made in light of consequences.
Nursing students in an ethics class have been asked to define "ethics". What would be the best definition of ethics?
The formal, systematic study of moral beliefs.
A nurse is providing homecare to a client with a diabetic foot ulcer who needs daily insulin injections. The family caregivers do not possess the technical skill to inject insulin. Which of the following should the nurse keep in mind?
The nurse needs to be creative in integrating the technical and relational aspects of care
A group of nurse researchers has proposed a study to examine the efficacy of a new wound care product. Which of the following aspects of the methodology demonstrates that the nurses are attempting to maintain the ethical principle of nonmaleficenc
The nurses are taking every reasonable measure to ensure that no participants experience impaired wound healing as a result of the study intervention.
A group of nurse researchers has proposed a study to examine the efficacy of a new wound care product. Which of the following aspects of the methodology demonstrates that the nurses are attempting to maintain the ethical principle of nonmaleficence?
The nurses are taking every reasonable measure to ensure that no participants experience impaired wound healing as a result of the study intervention.
Which of the following is a characteristic of the care-based approach to bioethics?
The promotion of the dignity and respect of clients as people
A nurse in a physician's office has noted on several occasions that one of the physicians frequently obtains controlled-drug prescription forms for prescription writing. The physician reports that his wife has chronic back pain and requires pain medication. One day the nurse enters the physician's office and sees him take a pill out of a bottle. The doctor mentions that he suffers from migraines and that his wife's pain medication alleviates the pain. What type of nurse-physician ethical situation is illustrated in this scenario?
Unprofessional, incompetent, unethical, or illegal physician practice
When the nurse voices preference for the funding of services that assist many clients in his community over services that assist a small group in the community, this is a:
Utilitarian framework
Which ethics theory focuses on ends or consequences of actions?
Utilitarian theory
What are standards for decision making that endure for a significant time in one's life?
Values
What is the term for the beliefs held by the individual about what matters?
Values
Values are known to affect a person's functional health. Which of the following values may be related to the perception of health? Select all that apply.
• Responsibility • Discipline • Cooperation
A nurse states to the client that she will keep her free of pain. However, her family wishes to try a treatment to prolong her life that may necessitate withholding pain medication. This factor will cause an ethical dilemma for the nurse in relation to which ethical principle?
Fidelity
A dying client tells the nurse that he doesn't want to see his family because he doesn't want to cause them more sadness. Which action by the nurse is most appropriate?
Help the patient clarify his values.
A client with cancer of the stomach tells the nurse, "I cannot bear the pain anymore. Please give me something to end all my suffering and this agonizing pain." The nurse faces a value conflict. Which of the following would be most important for the nurse to keep in mind in this situation?
Human need may affect the values conflict.
A hospital owned by a Catholic order of nuns will not allow tubal ligations to be performed. This is considered to be
Institutional policy
In the delivery of care, the nurse acts in accordance with nursing standards and the code of ethics and reports a medication error that she has made. The nurse is most clearly demonstrating which of the following professional values?
Integrity
Which organization first adopted an international code of ethics in 1953?
International Council of Nurses
Upon entering the hospital system, the nurse discusses the patient's rights and responsibilities that he is entitled to in the institution. The information the nurse discusses is commonly referred to as:
Patient's Bill of Rights.
A nurse believes that abortion is an acceptable option if a pregnancy results from a situation of rape. What is the best description of this belief?
Personal morality
A nurse is of the Catholic faith and votes pro-life. He is considered to have
Personal values
