UPDATE 2026
Joint Commission - Answers an independent, not-for-profit organization that evaluates and accredits
healthcare organizations
recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality
Joint Commission mission - Answers to improve health care for the public by evaluating health care
organizations and inspiring them to excel in providing safe and effective care of the highest quality
and value
contributions to a dangerous environment - Answers age and mental state
mobility
communication
pain
delayed assistance
equipment
Fall prevention - Answers morse fall scale
Morse Fall Scale - Answers tool used to identify risk factors for falls in hospitalized patients
restraint alternatives - Answers monitors (pressure sensors)
soft devices
strategic safety actions - Answers patient placement
patient companion
bed at the lowest level
frequent assessments
ensure the patient always has a call light
sentinel event - Answers an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or
psychological injury, or the risk thereof
requires immediate investigation
what to do if your patient falls - Answers assess the client
call for help/stay with the client!
obtain vital signs
assist the client to bed (if appropriate)
notify the physician or care provider
document (be sure to follow all facility policies regarding client falls)
every 24 hours - Answers How often does a client's restraint need to be reordered?
RACE - Answers rescue, alarm, contain, extinguish
PASS - Answers Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep
code blue - Answers cardiac arrest
use CPR
Document
abdominal-thrust maneuver - Answers use when someone is choking
Beneficence - Answers doing good
Nonmaleficence - Answers avoidance of harm
respect for autonomy - Answers refers to respecting patients' rights to make decisions about their
own healthcare
veracity - Answers honesty
justice - Answers act fairly and treat everyone equally
Accountability - Answers being able to own mistakes
acting on sound knowledge and acknowledging that one's actions are their own
Advocacy - Answers standing up for the patient
Confidentiality - Answers keeping medical information strictly private; a legal aspect
fidelity - Answers keep promises
Code of Ethics for Nurses - Answers formalized statement that defines values, morals, and standards
that guide our practice as nurses
initially adopted by the ANA in 1950
this code includes nurses, nurse educators, and students
Ethic committees - Answers develops guidelines and standards for ethical decision-making in the
provision of health care
, Inter-disciplinary
moral distress - Answers anguish felt when the personal values of a nurse are challenged in their
working environment
can result in burnout if not properly managed
4 A's to manage moral distress - Answers Ask yourself if your feeling stressed
Affirm
Assess
Act
assault - Answers to threaten a patient
battery - Answers performing procedure without consent
defamation of character - Answers saying false information about a patient; violation of HIPPA
False Imprisonment - Answers unlawful restraint or restriction of a person's freedom of movement
Negligence - Answers creating a risk by failing to do something
malpractice - Answers type of negligence when nurses or doctors act unethically, fail to meet
standards of care, or does something outside of their scope of practice
Patient Self-Determination Act - Answers A federal law passed in 1990 that requires hospitals and
other health care providers to provide written information to patients regarding their rights under
state law to make medical decisions and execute advance directives.
durable power of attorney - Answers a legal agreement that allows an agent or representative of the
patient to act on behalf of the patient
durable power of attorney for health care - Answers A type of advance directive executed by a
competent adult that appoints another individual to make medical treatment decisions on his or her
behalf in the event that the person making the appointment loses decision-making capacity.
DNR-CC - Answers -only comfort care before, during, after
-little chance of survival
-terminal illness
DNR-CCA - Answers permit the use of life-saving measures (such as powerful heart or blood pressure
medications) (before a person's heart or breathing stops)
Uniform Determination of Death Act - Answers A proposal that established uniform guidelines for
determining when death has occurred.
critical thinking - Answers the ability to apply a higher level of thinking
clinical reasoning - Answers the ability to focus and filter clinical data to prioritize
clinical judgement - Answers conclusions and opinions about patients health drawn from patient data
clinical reasoning + clinical thinking
problem solving - Answers systematic, analytic approach to solve a problem
step by step prioritizing
decision making - Answers choosing an answer when you have a lot of them
reasoning - Answers logical thinking that links thoughts, ideas, and facts together in a meaningful way
judgement - Answers the result or decision related to the processes of thinking and reasoning
baseline knowledge - Answers content learned in books or previous experiences
information gathering - Answers talking and interviewing your patient and accessing
inductive reasoning - Answers specific facts used to make conclusions
deductive reasoning - Answers generating facts to make conclusions
inferences - Answers concluding after facts have been received
intuition - Answers a feeling without specific evidence
interpretation - Answers examining how information is organized and giving it reasoning/meaning
humility - Answers admitting our limitations
Thinking independently - Answers Considering a wide range of ideas before coming to a conclusion
integrity - Answers being honest and willing to adhere to diversity
bias - Answers inclination to favoratism
illogical thinking - Answers hasty generalization
lack of information - Answers cannot critically think about what you do not know
closed-mindedness - Answers intentionally overlooking alternatives suggested by others
assumptions - Answers beliefs that are taken for granted as true
Florence Nightingale - Answers considered the founder of modern nursing
introduced critical thinking and respect for the patient into the practice of nursing
Clara Barton - Answers Founded the American Red Cross