Exam 23: Legal Implications in Nursing Practice

An obstetric nurse comes across an automobile accident. The driver seems to have a crushed upper airway, and while waiting for emergency medical services to arrive, the nurse makes a cut in the trachea and inserts a straw from a purse to provide an airway. The patient survives and has a permanent problem with vocal cords, making it difficult to talk. Which statement is true regarding the nurse's performance?

A female nursing student in the final term of nursing school is overheard by a nursing faculty member telling another student that she got to insert a nasogastric tube in the emergency department while working as a nursing assistant. Which advice is best for the nursing faculty member to give to the nursing student?

A new nurse notes that the health care unit keeps a listing of patient names in a closed book behind the front desk of the nursing station so patients can be located easily. Which action is most appropriate for the nurse to take?

A nursing student has been written up several times for being late with providing patient care and for omitting aspects of patient care and not knowing basic procedures that were taught in the skills course one term earlier. The nursing student says, "I don't understand what the big deal is. As my instructor, you are there to protect me and make sure I don't make mistakes." What is the best response from the nursing instructor?

A nurse is teaching the staff about professional negligence or malpractice. Which criteria to establish negligence will the nurse include in the teaching session? (Select all that apply.)

A home health nurse notices that a patient's preschool children are often playing on the sidewalk and in the street unsupervised and repeatedly takes them back to the home and talks with the patient, but the situation continues. Which immediate action by the nurse is mandated by law?

A nurse is discussing nursing actions that can lead to breaches of nursing practice. Match the example to the term it describes. -Battery

A nurse is discussing nursing actions that can lead to breaches of nursing practice. Match the example to the term it describes. -Abandonment

A recent immigrant who does not speak English is alert and requires hospitalization. What is the initial action that the nurse must take to enable informed consent to be obtained?

A pediatric oncology nurse floats to an orthopedic trauma unit. Which action should the nurse manager of the orthopedic unit take to enable safe care to be given by this nurse?

Conjoined twins are in the neonatal department of the community hospital until transfer to the closest medical center. A photographer from the local newspaper gets off the elevator on the neonatal floor and wants to take pictures of the infants. Which initial action should the nurse take?

A patient has approximately 6 months to live and asks about a do not resuscitate (DNR) order. Which statements by the nurse give the patient correct information? (Select all that apply.)

While recovering from a severe illness, a hospitalized patient wants to change a living will, which was signed 9 months ago. Which response by the nurse is most appropriate?

A newly hired experienced nurse is preparing to change a patient's abdominal dressing and hasn't done it before at this hospital. Which action by the nurse is best?

A patient with sepsis as a result of long-term leukemia dies 25 hours after admission to the hospital. A full code was conducted without success. The patient had a urinary catheter, an intravenous line, an oxygen cannula, and a nasogastric tube. Which question is the priority for the nurse to ask the family before beginning postmortem care?

A confused patient with a urinary catheter, nasogastric tube, and intravenous line keeps touching these needed items for care. The nurse has tried to explain to the patient that these lines should not be touched, but the patient continues. Which is the best action by the nurse at this time?

A nurse is discussing nursing actions that can lead to breaches of nursing practice. Match the example to the term it describes. -Invasion of privacy

A nurse is discussing nursing actions that can lead to breaches of nursing practice. Match the example to the term it describes. -Malpractice

A nurse works full time on the oncology unit at the hospital and works part time on weekends giving immunizations at the local pharmacy. While giving an injection on a weekend, the nurse caused injury to the patient's arm and is now being sued. How will the hospital's malpractice insurance provide coverage for this nurse?

The nurse calculates the medication dose for an infant on the pediatric unit and determines that the dose is twice what it should be based upon the drug book's information. The pediatrician is contacted and says to administer the medication as ordered. Which actions should the nurse take next? (Select all that apply.)