Deck 20: Ethical and Legal Principles and Issues

Question 1

By maintaining patient confidentiality, nurses demonstrate veracity toward them.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

To be a truly autonomous decision it must be truly informed and truly voluntary.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Malpractice occurs when there is a deviation from the standard of care and harm occurs to the patient.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

What piece of legislation was enacted to reduce the risk that life would be shortened or prolonged against the wishes of the individual?

A) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
B) The Patient Self-Determination Act of 1990
C) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
D) The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act

Question 5

What document supersedes all other general legal designations for decision makers?

A) Living will
B) Advance directive
C) Durable power of attorney
D) Physician orders for life-sustaining treatment

Question 6

Competence must be present for persons to exercise what ethical principle and their right to decide?

A) Justice
B) Advocacy
C) Veracity
D) Autonomy

Question 7

In most states, intentionally aiding a person in death is considered to be what type of crime?

A) Assault
B) Battery
C) Murder
D) Manslaughter

Question 8

What type of law, sometimes called case law, is based on prior decisions of the court and provides historical references that may be used during argument of a case in court or during settlement negotiations?

A) Common law
B) Statutory law
C) Constitutional law
D) Administrative law

Question 9

Refusal to participate in some aspect of patient care on moral or religious grounds is referred to as which of the following?

A) Negligence
B) Malpractice
C) Conflict of interest
D) Conscientious objection

Question 10

Which of the following occurs when a person believes he or she knows the right thing to do but is limited in doing so by organizational or societal constraint?

A) Moral distress
B) Moral dilemma
C) Moral uncertainty
D) Moral sensitivity

Question 11

Nursing, by its nature, is a moral enterprise and value conflicts are inevitable in a society in which there are multiple points of view.

Question 12

Fidelity is particularly important in the care of geriatric patients because of the amount of trust they place in the healthcare system and in the nurses who care for them.

Question 13

A patient can express personal perspectives on quality and sanctity of life in an advance directive document.

Question 14

Truthfulness is grounded in what ethical principle toward and respect for the patient as a person deserving the truth?

A) Justice
B) Veracity
C) Beneficence
D) Autonomy

Question 15

The concept of rights forms the basis of many of our laws and is indeed the basis for the foundation of what document?

A) ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses
B) U.S. Constitution
C) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
D) Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

Question 16

What organization has published a document addressing patient rights and hospital responsibility, entitled The Patient Care Partnership: Understanding Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities, in an effort to define these rights and to hold hospitals and patients accountable to them?

A) The Joint Commission
B) American Nurses Association
C) American Medical Association
D) American Hospital Association

Question 17

The use of which of the following can decrease conflicts between family members and allows the designated decision maker to perform in roles negotiated in advance with the patient?

A) Living will
B) Advance directive
C) Informed consent
D) Durable power of attorney

Question 18

Inherent in what ethical principle is the right to choose, the right to be informed, and the right to refuse treatment, including whether to participate in research?

A) Justice
B) Autonomy
C) Fidelity
D) Veracity

Question 19

What type of laws are ones enacted by federal, state, and local legislation and may include things as reporting abuse or communicable disease?

A) Common laws
B) Statutory laws
C) Constitutional laws
D) Administrative laws

Question 20

The ANA published a position statement on which of the following in 1994 that still applies today, stating that it is a violation of the Code of Ethics for Nurses?

A) Assisted suicide
B) Mercy killing
C) Active euthanasia
D) Passive euthanasia