The patient who had a colonoscopy one hour ago suddenly experiences bright red rectal bleeding, becomes diaphoretic, and is short of breath. The nurse decides to implement standing emergency orders and initiates oxygen per mask and increases the patient's IV rate, while a colleague contacts the patient's physician. Which critical element of nursing is this nurse demonstrating? Select all that apply.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

1. Autonomy in clinical decision-making occurs whenever a nurse makes an independent judgment about the presence of a clinical issue and then provides the resolution. This nurse identified that the patient was experiencing distress and made the clinical judgment to use emergency orders. The nurse could have also made a clinical judgment not to use them.
2. This nurse was entrusted with a particular function, in this case, caring for a post-op patient.
3. There is no indication that the nurse delegated care of this patient to anyone.
4. Accountability is the acceptance of responsibility of the outcomes of care.
5. This term is not one of the critical elements of nursing.

The Patient Who Had a Colonoscopy One Hour Ago Suddenly