A
What are standards for decision-making that endure for a significant time in one's
life?
A) Beliefs
B) Ethics
C) Roles
D) Values
What are values?
are standards for decision-making that endure for a significant time in one's life.
An oncology client in an outpatient chemotherapy clinic asks several questions
regarding his care and treatment. The nurse explains the clinic's routine, typical side
effects of the chemotherapy, and ways to decrease the number of side effects
experienced. What characteristic is the nurse demonstrating?
A) Veracity
B) Fidelity
C) Justice
D) Autonomy
A) Veracity
Veracity means telling the truth, which is essential to the integrity of the client–
provider relationship.
A woman age 83 years who has suffered a cerebrovascular accident and is
unable to swallow refuses the insertion of a feeding tube. This is an example of what
ethical principle?
A) Nonmaleficence
B) Veracity
C) Autonomy
D) Justice
C) Autonomy
Autonomy essentially means independence and the ability to be self-directed.
A nurse is caring for a client who is a practicing Jehovah's Witness. The
physician orders two units of packed cells based on low hemoglobin and hematocrit
levels. The nurse states to the surgeon that it is unethical to go against the client's
beliefs even though the blood counts are very low. What is the best description of
the nurse's intentions?
A) Acting in the client's best interest
B) Siding with the client over the surgeon
C) Observing institutional policies
D) Being legally responsible
A) Acting in the client's best interest
Nurses' ethical obligations include acting in the best interest of their clients, not only
as individual practitioners, but also as members of the nursing profession, the
healthcare team, and the community at large.
The differences between the pro-life and abortion rights movement are an
example of:
A) values inquiry.
B) social activism.
C) ethical inconsistency.
D) values clarification.
A) values inquiry
Values inquiry is a method of examining social issues and the values that motivate
human choices.
Socialization into the nursing profession may have the most significant effect on:
A) roles.
B) values.
C) documentation.
D) planning
What are values?
Values that the nurse will need to balance include truth, harmony, duty, and
responsibility.
The foundation for decisions about resource allocation throughout a society or
group is based on the ethical principle of:
A) veracity.
B) autonomy.
C) justice.
D) confidentiality
what is justice?
Justice is the foundation for decisions about resource allocation throughout a society
or group.
An emergency department nurse and healthcare team are caring for a
semiconscious child age 2 years with numerous fractures and evidence of cigarette
burns. They suspect child abuse. The nurse reports the family to the child abuse
hotline. The nurse is following which ethical principle?
A) Beneficence
B) Nonmaleficence
C) Justice
D) Fidelity
B) Nonmaleficence
The principle of nonmaleficence means to avoid doing harm, to remove harm, and to
prevent harm.
To practice ethically, the nurse should:
A) allow a committee to guide her practice.
B) review past cases before guiding practice.
C) avoid allowing her judgment to guide practice.
D) ask the family their views on caring.
C) avoid allowing her judgment to guide practice.
Personal convictions apply only to situations and decisions pertaining to the
individual. In ethical practice, nurses avoid allowing personal judgments to bias their
treatment of clients.
The purpose of a values inquiry discussion with a group of nursing students is to:
A) examine past decisions.
B) examine social issues.
C) alter the group's views.
D) improve the group's image.
B) examine social issues.
Values inquiry is a method of examining social issues and the values that motivate
human choices.
A nursing student's attitude is defined as:
A) belief in one's self.
B) desire to do good.
C) disposition toward situations.
D) choosing between alternatives.
C) disposition toward situations.
An attitude is one's disposition toward an object or a situation; it can be a mental or
emotional mindset, and it can be positive or negative.
The client being admitted to the oncology unit conveys personal wishes
regarding resuscitation in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest. The nurse advises
the client that it would be in the client’s best interest to obtain which document?
A) A will
B) A living will
C) Proof of healthcare power of attorney
D) A proxy directive
B) A living will
A living will is an advance directive that specifies the type of medical treatment
clients do or do not want to receive should they be unable to speak for themselves
in a terminal or permanently unconscious condition.
A home care nurse visits a client who is confined to bed and is cared for by her
daughter. The daughter is known to suffer from chemical dependence. The home is
cluttered and unclean. During the assessment, the nurse notes that the client is wet
with urine and has dried feces on the buttocks, and demonstrates signs of
dehydration. After caring for the client, the nurse contacts the physician and reports
the incident to Adult Protective Services. This is an example of which ethical
framework?
A) Justice
B) Autonomy
C) Nonmaleficence
D) Fidelity
C) Nonmaleficence
The principle of nonmaleficence means to avoid doing harm, to remove harm, and to
prevent harm. Autonomy means to respect the rights of clients or their surrogates to
make healthcare decisions. Justice means to give each individual his due. Fidelity
means to keep promises.
A hospital owned by a Catholic order of nuns will not allow tubal ligations to be
performed. This is considered to be:
A) personal morality.
B) personal values.
C) institutional policy.
D) legal obligation.
C) institutional policy.
Institutional policies are guidelines developed by healthcare institutions to direct
professional practice.
The nurse is engaged in dialogue with a client in an effort to identify the client's
values. Value systems are often formally embedded and integrated into:
A) religion.
B) nature.
C) treatment.
D) activity.
What is religion?
Values are often codified and embedded into religion. This phenomenon is not noted
in relation to nature, treatment, and activity.
A hospice nurse is caring for a client with terminal cancer. The family would like
the client to continue aggressive therapy to treat the cancer, but the client has
voiced to the nurse that, after much thought, the client does not want to pursue any
further treatment. The nurse speaks to the family about the client's wishes,
condition, and terminal state. This action is most likely derived from which nursing
obligation?
D) Moral values
Moral values involve correct behavior, such as having some sense of right and
wrong. Moral values help direct nurses to deal with human interactions that involve
the integrity of life or health.
A legal document that states a client's health-related wishes—such as a
preference for pain management if the client becomes terminally ill—and also allows
the client's daughter to direct his or her care, is a(an):
A) will.
B) standard of care.
C) license.
D) advance directive.
D) advance directive.
Clients communicate their wishes to healthcare providers by verbally participating in
healthcare decision-making and by employing written documents called advance
directives.
A nurse is caring for a woman 28 years of age who has delivered a baby by
Cesarean section. She describes her pain as a 9. The nurse medicates her for pain.
This is an example of which ethical framework?
A) Justice
B) Fidelity
C) Beneficence
D) Nonmaleficence
C) Beneficence
Beneficence means doing or promoting good. The treatment of the client's pain is
the nurse's act of doing good.
A nurse is of the Catholic faith and votes pro-life. The nurse is considered to
have:
A) personal morality.
B) personal values.
C) ethics.
D) legal obligations.
B) personal values.
Personal values are ideas or beliefs a person considers important and feels strongly
about.
During adolescence, the process of value formation is profoundly influenced by:
A) school administration.
B) work.
C) awareness of other cultures.
D) peers.
What are peers?
In adolescence, peer groups are a major source of value formation. The attitudes,
beliefs, and behaviors that grow out of peer group relationships are powerful. It is
generally accepted that the influence of peers exceeds that of school administration,
work life, or the awareness of other cultures.
A dying client tells the nurse, “I don’t want to see my family because I don't want
to cause them more sadness.” Which action by the nurse is most appropriate?
A) Arrange a meeting between the family and the client.
B) Help the client clarify personal values.
C) Educate the client on death and dying concepts.
D) Allow the client time for quiet reflection.
B) Help the client clarify personal values.
Values clarification is a method of self-discovery by which people identify their
personal values and value rankings. The client's value of family may be obscured
because of the client’s overwhelming need to protect the family.
A client is in a persistent vegetative state. The client has no immediate family
and is a ward of the state. Under these circumstances, who will speak on this client's
behalf?
A) Surrogate decision-maker
B) Church-appointed guardian
C) A significant other
D) Her best friend
A) Surrogate decision-maker
Infants, young children, people who are severely mentally handicapped or
incapacitated, and people in a persistent vegetative state or coma do not have the
capacity to participate in decision-making about their healthcare. For such people, a
surrogate decision-maker must be identified to act on their behalf.
What is the function of the American Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for
Nurses?
A) Serves to establish personal ethics for nurses
B) Delineates nurses' conduct and responsibilities
C) Serves as a guideline for all healthcare practice
D) Plays an important role in legal proceedings
B) Delineates nurses' conduct and responsibilities
The ANA recently revised the Code of Ethics for Nurses that delineates the conduct
and responsibilities expected of all nurses in their nursing practices.
A nurse believes that abortion is an acceptable option if a pregnancy results
from a situation of rape. What is the best description of this belief?
A) Personal morality
B) Professional values
C) Ethics
D) Legal obligations
A) Personal morality
Personal morality is the set of beliefs about the standards of right and wrong that
helps a person determine the correct or permissible action in a given situation.
10. A nurse is contributing to the analysis of an ethical dilemma. Ethics is best
defined as the branch of philosophy that addresses:
A) the relationship between law and values.
B) standards of conduct.
C) conflict between competing priorities.
D) decision-making.
B) standards of conduct.
Ethics is the branch of philosophy dealing with standards of conduct and moral
judgment. It does not directly address law. It includes, but is not limited to,
decision-making and competing priorities.