ATI LPN
Timby's Introductory Medical-Surgical Nursing Thirteenth, North American Edition
Chapter 5 : Legal and Ethical Issues Questions
Question 1 of 5
The nurse is assigned to care for a client who is admitted to the medical unit with an infection after having an abortion. The nurse is uncomfortable caring for this client because the religious beliefs of the nurse are very firm on the issue of abortion. What first step can the nurse make in order to solve the ethical dilemma?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The first step in the ethical dilemma decision-making process is to obtain as much information as possible to understand the situation. Evaluating the decision in terms of effects and results is the fifth step in the process. Making the decision and following through is the fourth step of the process, and listing all possible options is the second step in the process.
Question 2 of 5
The nurse is caring for a terminally ill client in the intensive care unit that is on life support measures. The family members are opposed in their decision to take the client off of life support. What option does the nurse discuss with the nurse manager?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: The ethics committee may be called on to act as an advocate for clients who no longer are mentally capable of making their own decisions. Ethics committees are a valuable resource for reviewing difficult cases and helping ensure a careful and unbiased decision. The nurse is not practicing within the scope of practice by taking the client off of life support. The nurse does not mandate to the health care provider decisions that should be made. It is nontherapeutic for the nurse to ask the family to go out and make a decision.
Question 3 of 5
A client jumped out of a window on the second floor of the hospital and sustained a spinal cord injury that resulted in the inability to have upper and lower extremity sensation. What type of documentation by the nurse would be appropriate in this situation?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The documentation in which the nurse describes observing the client on the window ledge, asking the client to come down and entering the room, and the client jumping through the class is objective, accurate, and concise. The other choices were judgmental, subjective, and vague.
Question 4 of 5
The nurse is assigned to a group of clients on the medical floor. A client at the hospital has a neighbor visit who asks the nurse what is wrong with the client. The nurse checks the client's electronic medical record (EMR) and proceeds to inform the visitor about the client's diagnosis. What federal guideline has the nurse violated?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: The client has the right to request restrictions and confidential communications concerning protected health information, which is an overview of the major client protections provided by HIPAA. The nurse may also have violated the hospital's policy and/or an agency's standards of practice, depending on their verbiage, and the Nurse Practice Act, but the federal guideline violated is HIPAA.
Question 5 of 5
The nurse must choose between two undesirable alternatives involving a client the nurse is caring for. The client wants to be told about the prognosis, and the family member does not want the client to know. What type of situation is the nurse in?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: An ethical dilemma is a situation in which an individual must choose between two undesirable alternatives, and it often involves examining rights and obligations of particular individuals. A bioethical dilemma is an ethical question surrounding life and death questions and concerns regarding quality of life as it relates to advanced technology. Values are ideals and beliefs that are held by an individual or group. This does not relate to a personal dilemma because it does not affect the nurse.