ATI LPN
Brunner & Suddarth's Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing 14e (Hinkle 2017)
Chapter 3 : Critical Thinking, Ethical Decision Making and the Nursing Process Questions
Question 1 of 5
During report, a nurse finds that she has been assigned to care for a patient admitted with an opportunistic infection secondary to AIDS. The nurse informs the clinical nurse leader that she is refusing to care for him because he has AIDS. The nurse has an obligation to this patient under which legal premise?
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: The ethical obligation to care for all patients is clearly identified in the first statement of the ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses. The Good Samaritan Act relates to lay people helping others in need. The NIC is a standardized classification of nursing treatment that includes independent and collaborative interventions. The Patient Self-Determination Act encourages people to prepare advance directives in which they indicate their wishes concerning the degree of supportive care to be provided if they become incapacitated.
Question 2 of 5
An emergency department nurse is caring for a 7-year-old child suspected of having meningitis. The patient is to have a lumbar puncture performed, and the nurse is doing preprocedure teaching with the child and the mother. The nurses action is an example of which therapeutic communication technique?
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Informing involves providing information to the patient regarding his or her care. Suggesting is the presentation of an alternative idea for the patients consideration relative to problem solving. This action is not characterized as expectation-setting or enlightening.
Question 3 of 5
The nurse, in collaboration with the patients family, is determining priorities related to the care of the patient. The nurse explains that it is important to consider the urgency of specific problems when setting priorities. What provides the best framework for prioritizing patient problems?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Maslows hierarchy of needs provides a useful framework for prioritizing problems, with the first level given to meeting physical needs of the patient. Availability of hospital resources, family member statements, and nursing skill do not provide a framework for prioritization of patient problems, though each may be considered.
Question 4 of 5
A medical nurse is caring for a patient who is palliative following metastasis. The nurse is aware of the need to uphold the ethical principle of beneficence. How can the nurse best exemplify this principle in the care of this patient?
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Beneficence is the duty to do good and the active promotion of benevolent acts. Enacting the patients wishes around visitors is an example of this. Each of the other nursing actions is consistent with ethical practice, but none directly exemplifies the principle of beneficence.
Question 5 of 5
The care team has deemed the occasional use of restraints necessary in the care of a patient with Alzheimers disease. What ethical violation is most often posed when using restraints in a long-term care setting?
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: Because safety risks are involved when using restraints on elderly confused patients, this is a common ethical problem, especially in long-term care settings. By definition, restraints limit the individuals autonomy. Restraints are not without risks, but they should not normally limit a patients safety. Restraints will not affect the course of the patients underlying disease process, though they may exacerbate confusion. The use of restraints is closely legislated, but they are not illegal.