Deck 2: Ethical Issues

Question 1

The nurse is using the SFNO approach to case analysis to facilitate ethical decision making.Which question is important to ask when considering stakeholders?

A) Are there reasons to give priority to one stakeholder over another?
B) Will the stakeholders abide by the decision?
C) Will the stakeholders want to be present during the ethics consultation?
D) Do the stakeholders understand how to use the SFNO model?

Answer 1

Are there reasons to give priority to one stakeholder over another?

Question 2

The principle of respect for persons incorporates what additional concepts?

A) Confidentiality and privacy
B) Truth and reflection
C) Autonomy and justice
D) Beneficence and nonmaleficence

Answer 2

Confidentiality and privacy

Question 3

What is the difference between ethics and morals?

A) Ethics is more concerned with the "why" of behavior.
B) Ethics provides a framework for evaluation of the behavior.
C) Ethics is broader in scope than morals.
D) Ethics concentrates on the right or wrong behavior based on religion and culture values.

Answer 3

Ethics is more concerned with the "why" of behavior.

Question 4

Which statement regarding the Code of Ethics for Nursing is accurate?

A) The Code of Ethics for Nurses is usurped by state or federal laws.
B) It allows the nurse to focus on the good of society rather than the uniqueness of the patient.
C) The Code of Ethics for Nurses was recently adopted by the American Nurses Association.
D) It provides society with a set of expectations of the nursing profession.

Question 5

The nurse is using the SFNO approach to case analysis to facilitate ethical decision making.What justification criteria may be used to help explain the reasons for selection of one option over another?

A) Effectiveness
B) Usefulness
C) Legal ramifications
D) Economics

Question 6

A patient's wife has been informed by the practitioner that her spouse has permanent quadriplegia.The wife states that she does not want anyone to tell the patient about his injury.The patient asks the nurse about what has happened.The nurse has conflicting emotions about how to handle the situation.What is the nurse experiencing?

A) Autonomy
B) Moral distress
C) Moral doubt
D) Moral courage

Question 7

Which statement best describes the concept of paternalism?

A) Encouraging the patient to ambulate after surgery
B) Demanding the patient get out of bed to sit in a chair
C) Following the patient's advance directive despite family objections
D) Administering antibiotics for a viral infection

Question 8

Truth-telling is an example of what ethical principle?

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

Question 9

Which action best reflects the concept of beneficence within the critical care setting?

A) Advocating for equitable health care
B) Promoting for safe patient care
C) Ensuring equal access for those with the same condition or diagnosis
D) Confirming technologic advances are available to all in a given community

Question 10

Which situations are early signs of an ethical dilemma?

A) Disagreements among health care team members
B) Failure to discuss end-of-life issues with patient
C) Aggressive pain management
D) Belief that treatment is harmful
E) Following the patient's advance directive despite family objections
F) Providing hope to the patient's family

Question 11

Institutional ethics committees (IECs)review ethical cases that are problematic for the practitioner.What is the major function of an IEC?

A) Consultation with purely binding recommendations
B) Support and education to health care providers
C) Conflict resolution for moral dilemmas
D) Recommendations that are binding in all cases

Question 12

Which ethical principle is most important when soliciting informed consent from a patient?

A) Nonmaleficence
B) Fidelity
C) Beneficence
D) Veracity

Question 13

A practitioner is suggesting treatments to a patient that are contrary to the patient's preferences.What is this practice called?

A) Invaluable deficiency
B) Physiologic uselessness
C) Ethical futility
D) Situational insufficiency

Question 14

Which of the following is/are criteria for defining an ethical dilemma?

A) An awareness of different options
B) An issue in which only one viable option exists
C) The choice of one option compromises the option not chosen
D) An issue that has different options

Question 15

What is the first step of the ethical decision-making process?

A) Consulting with an authority
B) Identifying the health problem
C) Delineating the ethical problem from other types of problems
D) Identifying the patient as the primary decision maker

Question 16

Developing an organizational policy that supports unobstructed access to the ethics committee by health care team members is one example of a proactive approach to dealing with what issue?

A) Moral distress
B) Surrogate decision-makers
C) Paternalism
D) Patient advocacy

Question 17

By what action can critical care nurses can best enhance the principle of autonomy?

A) Presenting only the information to prevent relapse in a patient
B) Assisting with only tasks that cannot be done by the patient
C) Providing the patient with all of the information and facts
D) Guiding the patient toward the best choices for care

Question 18

A patient's wife has been informed by the practitioner that her spouse has permanent quadriplegia.The wife states that she does not want anyone to tell the patient about his injury.The patient asks the nurse about what has happened.Based on which ethical principles does the nurse answer the patient's questions?

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

Question 19

Ethical decisions are best made by performing which action?

A) Following the guidelines of a framework or model
B) Having the patient discuss alternatives with the practitioner or nurse
C) Prioritizing the greatest good for the greatest number of persons
D) Studying by the Ethics Committee after all diagnostic data are reviewed