Dementia
What is an inanimate object that a dementia patient may use as a urinal?
What is a vase, a garbage can , a cup
The feeling that arises when a healthcare worker knows the ethically right action to take but cannot carry it out due to constraints.
What is moral distress?
Leaders can reduce emotional exhaustion by regularly naming and processing emotions, a practice also known as this.
What is emotional awareness? (or emotional regulation)
This feeling arises when staff want to provide excellent care but don’t have time, support, or resources to do so.
What is moral distress?
What objects often go missing around the unit due to patients wearing pinlock seatbelts?
What is a patient, what is a pen, what are scissors, what are metal utensils, what are paper clips, what are hair pins?
These types of barriers—like policies, staffing levels, or hierarchy—often create moral distress.
What are organizational or systemic constraints?
Healthy leaders set these boundaries to protect time for rest, family, and mental recovery
What are professional boundaries?
This principle is exhibited by Mr. W who understands the risks of living at home in a rat-infested home but chooses to anyways.
What is autonomy
What is often the cause of behavioural escalation in dementia patients?
What is an unmet need
The practice of fostering a highly motivated, confident, and engaged workforce by granting employees autonomy, trust, and the necessary resources to make decisions in their daily work
What is Morale empowerment
Leaders who do this regularly model healthy time management and reduce staff burnout.
What is taking your breaks
This situation occurs when a patient’s capacity to consent is unclear, complicating decision‑making.
What is unclear or fluctuating decision‑making capacity?
What medical condition is often mistaken for dementia?
What is delerium?
This model encourages examining facts, values, possible actions, and potential outcomes when making ethical decisions.
What is the Four‑Quadrant Approach?
This well‑known proverb explains why good nurse leaders don’t just solve every problem themselves. Instead, they coach staff so the next time a pump beeps, a dressing falls off, or a family member wants “just one more blanket,” the team has the skills to handle it independently — saving everyone’s sanity during the next shift.
What is "give someone a fish and they eat for a day, teach someone to fish and they eat for life."
Healthcare teams may experience moral or ethical tension when supporting patient choice in this legally regulated end‑of‑life option, especially when personal beliefs, family wishes, and professional responsibilities don’t align.
What is Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
Instead of arguing about facts, caregivers use this communication technique to acknowledge feelings.
What is validation?
High moral distress and poor empowerment often predict this organizational outcome
What is high staff turnover
This leadership practice protects against burnout by ensuring leaders do not absorb all team stress themselves. It involves intentionally separating what the leader can control from what the team must manage collectively—promoting resilience on both sides
What is maintaining healthy emotional boundaries?
(Also acceptable: What is shared responsibility?, What is not overfunctioning as a leader?)
A nurse in a palliative care setting experiences an ethical dilemma when a patient in their final hours is in severe pain. The physician has ordered morphine, but the family worries the medication may “hasten death.” The nurse must balance compassionate symptom management with this ethical principle of providing comfort while ensuring the intent remains relief of suffering.
What is the principle of double effect?