Chapter 08: Legal Issues in Nursing and Health Care

Chapter 08: Legal Issues in Nursing and Health Care

 

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

 

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

 

MULTIPLE CHOICE

 

1. A client arrives in active labor and exhibits toxemia with irregular fetal heart tones. The client is an immigrant and is uninsured. Which act would prevent the client from being transferred to another facility?

a.	Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Law
b.	Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
c.	Patient Self-Determination Act
d.	The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act

 

 

ANS:  A

Correct: The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Law is a federal statute that was enacted in 1986 to prohibit the transfer of unstable clients, including women in labor, from one facility to another. This law also prohibits refusal of care for indigent and uninsured clients who seek medical assistance in the emergency department.

Incorrect:

1. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ensures the confidentiality of clients’ personal health information.
2. The Client Self-Determination Act is a federal statute that supports individuals in expressing their preferences about medical treatment and making decisions about end-of-life care.
3. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act allows nonidentifiable client data to be distributed to a qualified patient safety organization (PSO) for the purpose of analyzing medical errors.

 

DIF:    Application    REF:   pp. 124-125

 

2. A nurse is caring for a client with malignant hypertension whose blood pressure has increased by 40 mm Hg during the past hour. The nurse goes to lunch and fails to report the change to the physician. The nurse is at risk for being charged with:

a.	negligence.
b.	assault.
c.	defamation of character.
d.	tort.

 

 

ANS:  A

Correct: Negligence is defined as failure to act in a reasonable and prudent manner. The most frequent allegations of nursing negligence include failure to ensure client safety, improper treatment, failure to monitor the client and report significant findings, medication errors, and failure to follow the agency’s policies and procedures.

Incorrect:

1. Assault is defined as action that causes a person to fear that he or she will be touched without consent.
2. Defamation of character is defined as attacks on a person’s reputation.
3. A tort is a civil wrong or injury committed by one person against another.

 

DIF:    Application    REF:   p. 134

 

3. A nurse is caring for a client who just suffered a stroke and is medicated for pain. The nurse completes the following interventions: places the client on the examining table, completes a thorough history and physical, covers the client with a sheet, places the call button within reach, and goes out in the hall to speak with the client’s physician. The client tries to get up to speak with his family and falls, sustaining a hematoma on the head and a broken hip. The nurse’s actions reflect:

a.	invasion of privacy.
b.	libel.
c.	slander.
d.	negligence.

 

 

ANS:  D

Correct: The nurse is failing to ensure client safety after medication administration; this is defined as negligence.

Incorrect:

1. Invasion of privacy occurs when a person’s private affairs, such as medical history, are made public without consent.
2. Libel is defined as a form of defamation inflicted by the written word.
3. Slander is defamation of character achieved through the spoken word.

 

DIF:    Application    REF:   p. 134

 

4. A nursing student planning to apply for licensure knows that being charged with which offense would result in a minor criminal offense?

a.	Solicitation of illegal drugs
b.	Stealing a car
c.	Failing to report elder abuse
d.	Billing Medicare for services not rendered

 

 

ANS:  C

Correct: Failing to report elder abuse can lead to penalty of fine or imprisonment.

Incorrect:

1. Solicitation of illegal drugs is a major criminal offense punishable with imprisonment.
2. Stealing a car is a major criminal offense punishable with imprisonment.
3. Billing Medicare for services not rendered is a major criminal offense publishable with imprisonment.

 

DIF:    Application    REF:   p. 154

 

5. When differentiating between slander and libel, the nurse knows that libel:

a.	results from defamation caused by subjective comments written in the nurse’s notes.
b.	results from negative subjective comments made to those who are not providing care.
c.	occurs when the nurse verbally describes to the oncoming nurse assigned to the client objective data that place the client in a negative light.
d.	consists of repeating prejudiced comments made by the primary caregiver to a neighbor at the local supermarket.

 

 

ANS:  A

Correct: Libel is defined as comments that are written about a person that are defaming. Nurses may be subject to a charge of libel for subjective comments meant to denigrate the client that are placed in the medical record or in other written materials read by others.

Incorrect:

1. “Negative subjective comments” represents a definition of slander, not libel.
2. Objective data are appropriate to relate to other personnel, and this does not constitute defamation of character.
3. Repeating a primary caregiver’s prejudiced comments at a supermarket constitutes slander, not libel.

 

DIF:    Comprehension                               REF:   p. 153