C7 Nursing
A nurse is caring for a client following endotracheal intubation. Before applying soft wrist restraints to prevent the client from pulling out the endotracheal tube, what is the most appropriate action of the nurse?
Obtain a medical order.
While a client admitted to the medical-surgical unit is in the radiology department, a visitor claiming to be the client's cousin arrives on the medical-surgical unit and asks the nurse to provide a brief outline of the client's illness. Which response by the nurse would be most appropriate, both legally and professionally?
"I cannot give you that information due to client confidentiality."
The nurse attempts to notify a health care provider about a client's elevated temperature but does not get a response. Which statement, if documented by the nurse, would indicate that the nurse is following proper protocol for nursing documentation?
1300: Client temperature elevated. Telephoned health care provider's service 3 times without a response. Tepid sponge bath given and nursing supervisor notified.
Which scenario is an example of certification?
A nurse who demonstrates advanced expertise in a content area of nursing through special testing
A client is in a persistent vegetative state. The client has no immediate family and is a ward of the state. Under these circumstances, who will speak on this client's behalf?
A surrogate decision maker
Which process evaluates and recognizes educational programs as having met certain standards?
Accreditation
Which action constitutes battery?
An older adult client refuses an intramuscular injection, but the nurse administers it.
A nurse threatens to restrain a verbally abusive client if the abuse continues. Which legal tort has the nurse committed?
Assault
An RN enters a client's room and observes the unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) forcefully pushing a client down on the bed. The client starts crying and informs the UAP of the need to go to the bathroom. What action is the RN witnessing that should be immediately reported to the supervisor?
Battery
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
Having recently completed a specialty nursing program in neonatal care, a nurse is now preparing to leave the medical unit and begin providing care in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The nurse has completed which process of credentialing?
Certification
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 nurse who obtains a license to practice nursing through self-misrepresentation is guilty of what tort?
Fraud
A nurse working on a busy medical-surigcal unit does not take the vital signs of client who is preparing for discharge but instead documents the same vital signs obtained for this client earlier in the morning. For which tort would the nurse be potentially liable?
Fraud
A nurse talks with family members about an AIDS client from the clinic where the nurse works. Which tort has the nurse committed?
Invasion of privacy
A client informs the nurse that the client wants to discontinue treatment and go home. Later, the nurse finds the client dressed to leave. Which action should the nurse take in this situation?
Let the client go after signing a document stating that the client is going against medical advice.
A nurse is preparing a presentation for a group of staff nurses about the rules affecting nursing practice and the parties involved. When describing the role of different sources for the rules, which issue would the nurse identify as being addressed specifically by state legislation? Select all that apply.
Scope of practice Educational requirements of nurses
A client who is scheduled for hernioplasty needs clarification regarding the procedure. The nurse calls the physician at the client's insistence. The physician, who is in a bad mood, is overheard telling the client that the nurse does not know anything. Which legal tort has the physician committed?
Slander
A nurse, while off-duty, tells the physiotherapist that a client who was admitted to the nursing unit contracted AIDS due to exposure to sex workers at the age of 18. The client discovers that the nurse has revealed the information to the physiotherapist. With what legal action could the nurse be charged?
Slander
A nurse witnesses a traffic accident and dresses the open wounds sustained by a child. Later, in the hospital, the child develops complications from an infection in the wound. The family holds the nurse responsible for the complications and attempts to file a lawsuit. Which statement is true regarding how the Good Samaritan law applies to this case?
The Good Samaritan law will provide legal immunity to the nurse.
Injuries related to lifting or transferring clients 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
What governing body has the authority to revoke or suspend a nurse's license?
The State Board of Nurse Examiners
A nurse and the facility have been named as defendants in a malpractice lawsuit. In addition to the nurse's attorney, whom else would be appropriate for the nurse to talk with about the case?
The agency's risk manager
Which best exemplifies malpractice?
The nurse administers amoxicillin to a client with known allergies to penicillin. The client has a seizure with resulting respiratory arrest.
On finding multiple bruises on a client's arms and back, the nurse suspects that the client is being abused by a daughter who lives with the client. When questioned, the client denies any abuse. Despite the client's denial, the nurse should report the suspected abuse on the basis of which rationale?
The nurse has a legal and ethical responsibility to report the suspected abuse.
Which are examples of a nurse appropriately protecting a client's privacy? Select all that apply.
The nurse moves the client from the emergency department waiting room to a private area to collect assessment data. With the client's permission, the nurse explains the client's diagnosis to the client's spouse.
A student nurse is assisting an older adult client to ambulate following hip replacement surgery when the client falls and reinjures the hip. Who is potentially responsible for the injury to this client?
The student nurse, the nurse instructor, and the hospital
A nurse enters the client's room and finds the client lying on the floor experiencing a seizure. After stabilizing the client, the nurse informs the physician. The physician advises the nurse to prepare an incident report. What is the purpose of an incident report?
To evaluate the quality of care provided and assess the potential risks for injury to the client
Nurses complete incident reports as dictated by the agency protocol. What is the primary reason nurses fill out an incident report?
To improve quality of care
Professional regulations and laws that govern nursing practice are in place for which reason?
To protect the safety of the public
A client was admitted to a postoperative nursing unit after undergoing abdominal surgery. During this time, the nurse failed to recognize the significance of abdominal swelling, which significantly increased during the next 6 hours. Later, the client had to undergo emergency surgery. The lack of action on the nurse's part is liable for action. Which legal term describes the case?
Tort
A nurse is caring for a client who has undergone coronary angioplasty. The cardiac monitor is showing abnormal electrocardiogram waves, indicating atrial 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 describes the nurse's legal liability?
Tort
A legal document that states a client's health-related wishes — such as a preference for pain management if the client becomes terminally ill — and also allows the client's adult child to direct the client's care, is:
an advance directive.
A client states that the client's recent fall was caused by his scheduled antihypertensive medications being 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 the client's name is published in a research report on HIV care prepared by the client's nurse. The client is hurt and files a lawsuit against the nurse. Which offense has the nurse committed?
Invasion of privacy
When talking with family over dinner, the nurse shares about a client with infertility at the hospital, identifying the person by name. Which tort has the nurse committed?
Invasion of privacy
A client is unhappy with the health care provided and informs the nurse that the client 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 should the nurse's action be in this situation?
the nurse should call and inform the nursing supervisor of the situation
