Chapter 5: Legal and Ethical Issues - Nurselytic

Correct Answer: C

Rationale:
To protect healthcare workers from being charged with battery, clients sign a general permission for care and treatment at the time of hospitalization. They also sign a written consent before undergoing special tests, procedures, or surgery. Obtaining a signed release for recognizable photographs for publications, using initials or code numbers instead of names in written reports or research papers, and drawing bedside curtains when giving personal care are essential for protecting a client's privacy.

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: A nurse should not detain a competent client who wants to leave a hospital or long-term care facility before being discharged by the physician. If a client wants to leave the facility against medical advice, the client should sign a form that releases the healthcare facility from its responsibility. Mentally impaired, confused, or disoriented clients may be restrained if their safety or the safety of others is at risk; this does not apply to a competent client.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: A statute of limitations is the designated time for a person to file a lawsuit. The time is typically calculated from the time the incident occurred. If the injured party is a minor, the statute of limitations sometimes does not commence until the victim reaches adulthood. Good Samaritan law ensures legal immunity for rescuers who provide first aid in the case of an emergency to accident victims.

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: A living will is a document that states a client's wishes regarding healthcare if the client is terminally ill. It is not necessarily a legal consent. A client may designate another person to be the medical durable power of attorney or healthcare proxy. Do-not-resuscitate orders contain written medical prescriptions for end-of-life instructions.

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: Laws are written rules for conduct and actions. Ethical standards dictate the rightness or wrongness of human behavior. Ethics are moral principles and values. Laws do have a formal enforcement system.