ATI LPN
Timby's Introductory Medical-Surgical Nursing Thirteenth, North American Edition
Chapter 5 : Legal and Ethical Issues Questions
Question 1 of 5
A client has designated a family member as a person to make healthcare decisions for the client if the client is not able to do so. What type of advance directive is this considered?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: A client may designate another person to be the DPOA for healthcare or healthcare proxy. This person has the authority to make healthcare decisions for the client if the client is no longer competent or able to make these decisions. A general power of attorney does not give that designated person the ability to make healthcare decision. In a DNR order, the client wishes to have no resuscitative action taken in the event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest. A living will is a document that states a client's wishes regarding healthcare if the client is terminally ill.
Question 2 of 5
A client who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer states wanting no further treatment and also informs the physician of not wanting any resuscitative action taken if the client experiences a cardiac or respiratory arrest. What type of order does the nurse anticipate the physician will write?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: DNR orders are written when clients wish to have no resuscitative action taken if they experience cardiac or respiratory arrest. Intubation, mechanical ventilation, emergency medications, and do everything but resuscitate are measures that are against the client's wishes.
Question 3 of 5
The nurse has a client who is confused and disrupting the unit by screaming obscenities and making a lot of noise. The client has been medicated as prescribed but is not responding to the sedation. The other clients on the unit are reporting agitation. The nurse makes the decision to move the client to a location further down the hall where there are fewer clients. What theory of ethics is the nurse demonstrating?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Utilitarianism is an outcome-oriented approach for decision making. There are two important principles: 'the greatest good for the greatest number' and 'the end justifies the means.' Deontology argues that consequences are not the only important consideration in ethical dilemmas. The idea of rights and the obligation of duty are not theories.
Question 4 of 5
The nurse is caring for a client who has been intubated and on a mechanical ventilator and has been restrained with soft wrist restraints. The client no longer requires the restraints, so the nurse removes them. What type of ethical decision making does the nurse display?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Beneficence is the duty to do good for the clients assigned to the nurse's care. The nurse has a duty to remove wrist restraints whenever possible (removing a harm) and to help the client regain independence (promoting and doing good). Fidelity is the duty to maintain commitments of professional obligations and responsibilities. Autonomy refers to a client's right to self-determination or the freedom to make choices without opposition. Nonmaleficence is the duty to do no harm to the client.
Question 5 of 5
The nurse is to administer a potassium supplement to the client. The nurse does not check the potassium level prior to administering the medication and later finds that the potassium level was at a critical high. What principle has this nurse violated?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Nonmaleficence is the duty to do no harm to the client. For instance, if a nurse fails to check a prescription for an unusually high dose of insulin and administers it, the nurse has violated the principle of nonmaleficence. Beneficence is the duty to do good for the clients assigned to the nurse's care. The nurse has a duty to remove wrist restraints whenever possible (removing a harm) and to help the client regain independence (promoting and doing good). Fidelity is the duty to maintain commitments of professional obligations and responsibilities. Autonomy refers to a client's right to self-determination or the freedom to make choices without opposition.