Deck 8: Bioethical Issues

Question 1

Identify the two most important ethical issues that surround clients infected with HIV and those who have AIDS.

A)Confidentiality and right to care
B)Self-determination and distributive justice
C)Veracity and informed consent
D)Fidelity and option rights

Answer 1

Confidentiality and right to care

Question 2

A 16-year-old boy brought to the emergency room with a gunshot wound to the head is declared brain dead. His driver's license identifies him as an organ donor, but the hospital staff is unable to locate his family for permission to take his organs. Another client in the same hospital will die within 24 hours without a heart transplant. The tissues of both clients match sufficiently for a transplant. What is the ethical course of action in this case?

A)Take the donor's organs per permission of his driver's license.
B)The organs cannot be taken without the family's permission because the client is underage.
C)Continue to attempt to locate the client's family while preparing for the transplant.
D)Only remove organs that will not kill the client.

Answer 2

Continue to attempt to locate the client's family while preparing for the transplant.

Question 3

Which treatment modality would most likely be considered extraordinary?

A)Intravenous fluids by subclavian catheter
B)Oxygen by face mask at 60%
C)Counter-pulsating intra-aortic balloon pump
D)Chest tubes

Answer 3

Counter-pulsating intra-aortic balloon pump

Question 4

A physician writes a "do not resuscitate" order for a competent client. Which individual may give permission for this order?

A)The client's spouse
B)The client's only child
C)The client
D)Any close blood-related relative

Question 5

Identify the outcome that best demonstrates a critical care nurse's successful application of the ethical principle of veracity to the care of a client who was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer.

A)The client is aware of his or her diagnosis despite attempts of the family to withhold that information.
B)The client is beginning to be able to use simple words to express his or her needs.
C)The family has been taught the necessary skills to care for the client at home with the supervision of a home health-care nurse.
D)There is no evidence of skin breakdown on bony pressure points, and the client's shoulder and hip on the affected side remain intact.

Question 6

What conclusion can be drawn about abortion based on the Roe v. Wade decision?

A)Abortion is both moral and ethical.
B)The right to an abortion is guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.
C)The right to self-determination includes the right to have an abortion.
D)When there is a conflict between the rights of the mother and the rights of the fetus, abortion is one of the options.

Question 7

What is the practice of allowing a client to die without the use of any extraordinary measures sometimes called?

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

Question 8

What are the primary ethical issues involved in genetic research?

A)Production of mutant organisms and dangerous diseases
B)Violations of confidentiality and informed consent
C)Breeding of a "super-race" of humans because of purification of genetic material
D)Loss of control of reproduction by the human species

Question 9

Identify the two most important ethical issues surrounding organ transplantation.

A)Beneficence and nonmaleficence
B)Self-determination and distributive justice
C)Veracity and informed consent
D)Fidelity and option rights

Question 10

What ethical principles are sometimes overlooked in attempting to identify and report suspected child abuse?

A)Best interest and nonmaleficence
B)Privacy and self-determination
C)Paternalism and beneficence
D)Veracity and obligation

Question 11

A client in the intensive care unit has a "do not resuscitate" (DNR) order on his chart. What does the nurse caring for him need to recognize about DNR orders?

A)DNR orders may be given orally by the physician.
B)There is no specific time limit to DNR orders.
C)DNR orders protect the client's family from making difficult decisions.
D)DNR orders must be written by the physician.

Question 12

Identify the best method for a nurse to acknowledge a client's autonomy.

A)Follow only the instructions of the client's family.
B)Know and understand the state's laws that address living wills.
C)Use the ethical principle of "best interest" when making decisions about the client's care needs.
D)Incorporate the ethical principle of paternalism into all client care activities.

Question 13

An unresponsive 94-year-old woman who has recently had a leg amputated for terminal cancer develops renal failure. She has no living relatives. Although hemodialysis will prolong her life for several weeks to several months, her health-care team is having difficulty deciding if it should be initiated. What is the key ethical issue involved in this dilemma?

A)Distributive justice
B)Veracity
C)Fidelity
D)Nonmaleficence

Question 14

How does the teleological approach to ethics consider abortion?

A)It is ethical only when the mother is pregnant because of rape or incest.
B)It is never allowed for any reason because of the violation of the rights of the fetus.
C)It can be performed any time if the mother wants it.
D)It may or may not be ethical depending on the issues and circumstances that surround the individual situation.

Question 15

A nurse who works in a federally funded abortion clinic becomes aware that aborted second-trimester fetuses are being sent to a nearby university for research and transplantation. What should this nurse do with this knowledge?

A)Keep quiet about the finding because she might lose her job.
B)Confront the medical director of the clinic with the fact that this practice is both illegal and unethical.
C)Tell her supervisor that she knows about what is going on and ask for a raise.
D)Report the practice to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Question 16

A 9-month-old baby who is developmentally delayed is tested for genetic abnormalities. After the results are back from the laboratory, a representative from the client's medical insurance company calls the nurses' station on the phone and asks for the results of the tests. How can the nurse best respond to this request?

A)Refuse to give the information over the phone.
B)Give a noncommittal response that "everything is normal" even though it is untrue.
C)Give the results as they are reported on the laboratory sheet because the insurance company is paying for the tests anyway.
D)Tell the representative that the test results are not back yet.

Question 17

Upon what ethical principle do supporters of assisted suicide base their support for the practice?

A)Beneficence includes acts that will help to permanently end a client's suffering.
B)The health-care provider is permitted to use paternalism when the client is unsure about the best course of treatment.
C)Only by allowing the client to decide among all possible options will the principle of informed consent be fulfilled.
D)The right to self-determination includes the decision to end one's life.

Question 18

Identify the nursing action that is most important for nurses to ensure when assisting in genetic screening procedures such as amniocentesis.

A)Informed consent is given freely by the client.
B)The client understands the nature of the procedure.
C)The client understands the type of information that will be produced by the procedure.
D)The confidentiality of the information will be maintained.

Question 19

What is a potential serious problem when living wills are formulated long before they are to be used?

A)Questions may arise about how informed the client is about current treatment modalities.
B)Witnesses to the document may have died, thereby rendering it invalid.
C)The attending physician may not be willing to recognize a living will that is more than 5 years old.
D)The client's family may forget that the living will was made and refuse to honor it.

Question 20

How does the deontological approach to ethics consider abortion?

A)It is the greatest good for the greatest number of individuals and therefore is ethical.
B)It involves the conflicts of the right of the mother to self-determination with the right of the fetus to life.
C)It can be performed for any reason because the law makes it legal and ethical.
D)It can be performed in situations in which the mother is unwed and already has several other children.

Question 21

From the list below, select all of the elements that should be included in a living will.

A)Statement that the document was freely written
B)Section that specifies what general health-care measures are to be excluded from care
C)List of people who should have input into the decisions on funeral arrangements
D)Section specifying the diseases for which the will should apply
E)Notary seal

Question 22

The essential ethical principle of ________________is the legal and ethical foundation for the use of advanced directives.

Question 23

The ethical principle of _____________________requires nurses to provide care for all clients, including clients who are HIV positive.

Question 24

As a general ethical principle, ________________and ________________should be excluded from the selection of an organ transplant recipient.

Question 25

Place the events in the list below in their correct chronological order.