Chapter 6: Legal and Ethical Basis for Practice

Chapter 6: Legal and Ethical Basis for Practice

Complete Chapter Questions With Answers

Sample Questions Are Posted Below

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. A psychiatric nurse best implements the ethical principle of autonomy when he or she:

ANS:  D

Autonomy is the right to self-determination, that is, to make one’s own decisions. When the nurse explores alternatives with the patient, the patient is better equipped to make an informed, autonomous decision. Staying with a highly anxious patient or intervening with a self-mutilating patient demonstrates beneficence and fidelity. Suggesting that two fighting patients be restricted to the unit demonstrates the principles of fidelity and justice.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page: 81|Page: 84

TOP:   Nursing Process: Implementation     MSC:  NCLEX: Safe, Effective Care Environment

2. Which action by a psychiatric nurse best supports patients’ rights to be treated with dignity and respect?

ANS:  A

A simple way of showing respect is to address the patient by title and surname rather than assuming that the patient would wish to be called by his or her first name. Discussing a patient’s condition with a health care provider in the elevator violates confidentiality. Informing a treatment team that the patient is too drowsy to participate in care planning violates patient autonomy. Encouraging a patient to participate in the unit milieu exemplifies beneficence and fidelity.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page: 86

TOP:   Nursing Process: Implementation     MSC:  NCLEX: Safe, Effective Care Environment

3. Two hospitalized patients fight when they are in the same room. During a team meeting, a nurse asserts that safety is of paramount importance and therefore the treatment plans should call for both patients to be secluded to prevent them from injuring each other. This assertion:

ANS:  C

Patients have a right to treatment in the least restrictive setting. Less restrictive measures should be tried first. Unnecessary seclusion may result in a charge of false imprisonment. Seclusion removes the patient’s autonomy. The principle by which the nurse is motivated is beneficence, not justice. The tort represented is false imprisonment, not battery.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Pages: 82-83|Page: 85

TOP:   Nursing Process: Planning               MSC:  NCLEX: Safe, Effective Care Environment

4. In a team meeting a nurse says, “I’m concerned whether we are behaving ethically by using restraint to prevent one patient from self-mutilation while the care plan for another patient who has also self-mutilated calls for one-on-one supervision.” Which ethical principle most clearly applies to this situation?

ANS:  D

The nurse is concerned about justice, that is, the fair treatment with the least restrictive methods for both patients. Beneficence means promoting the good of others. Autonomy is the right to make one’s own decisions. Fidelity is the observance of loyalty and commitment to the patient.

DIF:    Cognitive Level: Application           REF:   Page: 81         TOP:   Nursing Process: Planning

MSC:  NCLEX: Safe, Effective Care Environment