Exam 8: Legal Implications in Nursing Practice

A patient has just been told that he has approximately six months to live and asks about advance directives.Which statements by the nurse give the patient correct information? (Select all that apply. )

A confused patient with a urinary catheter,a nasogastric tube,and an intravenous line keeps touching these items,which are needed for care.The nurse has tried to explain to the patient that he should not touch them,but the patient continues.What is the best action by the nurse at this time?

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

A pediatric oncology nurse is floated to an orthopedic trauma unit.What actions should the nurse manager of the orthopedic unit take to enable this floated nurse to give safe care?

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

A 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 she was working as a nursing assistant.What advice is best for the nursing faculty member to give to the nursing student?

A nurse gives an incorrect medication to a patient without doing all of the mandatory checks,but the patient has no ill effects from the medication.What actions should the nurse take after reassessing the patient? (Select all that apply. )

A nurse performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)on a 92-year-old patient with brittle bones and breaks a rib during the procedure,which then punctures a lung.The patient recovers completely without any residual problems and sues the nurse for pain and suffering and for malpractice.What key point will the prosecution attempt to prove?

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

The law that would best deal with a nurse accidentally administering an incorrect dose of morphine sulphate to a patient is which of the following?

The nurse calculates the medication dose for an infant on the pediatric unit and determines that the dose is twice what it should be.The pediatrician is contacted and says to administer the medication as ordered.What is the next action that the nurse should take? (Select all that apply. )

An example of care where a nurse may be liable for actions that constitute an unintentional tort is

The nurse has just obtained the licence to practise and is determining whether individual malpractice insurance is necessary.Which of the following is the most important factor in the nurse's decision to carry malpractice insurance?

The administration of medications in accordance with a prescriber's prescription is a basic nursing responsibility.The nurse is responsible for knowing: (Select all that apply).

The nurse is providing care to a female patient who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and who has a poor prognosis.When the patient's husband comes in to the hospital cafeteria during a busy period,the nurse approaches him and openly expresses her sympathy to the man for his wife's terminal illness.The patient's husband bursts into tears and says that he did not know about his wife's diagnosis.The nurse then takes him to a private area to discuss his feelings.This nurse's action exemplifies which of the following violations? (Select all that apply. )

The nurse is aware that when caring for patients with communicable diseases,such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS),

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?

Because of an influenza epidemic among the nursing staff,a nurse has been moved from the ophthalmology unit to the general surgery unit.The supervisor recognizes that the nurse is inexperienced in this specialty.What should the nurse do?

A nurse is working with a physician who provides medical assistance in dying (MAID)in Canada.What must the nurse be aware of?

An unconscious patient with a head injury needs immediate life-saving surgery.His wife speaks only French,and the health care providers,who are not fluent in French,are having a difficult time explaining his condition to her.In this situation,what must the nurse know?