Chapter 05: Legal and Ethical Issues
Yoder-Wise: Leading and Managing in Nursing, 6th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. You volunteer at a free community clinic. A 13-year-old girl claims to have been
diagnosed with SLE and presents with chlamydia. The team leader at the clinic advises
that:
a. The state defined age of legal consent is 18; therefore, no treatment can be
delivered.
b. The teen is underage and should be referred to the family general practitioner.
c. Care can be provided as long as consent is voluntary and information about
treatment and options is provided.
d. Treatment is provided as long as telephone consent is obtained from a parent or
legal guardian.
ANS: C
All states have a legal age for consent; generally, this age is 18. However,
emancipated minors, minors seeking treatment for substance abuse, and minors
seeking treatment for communicable diseases can provide their own consent.
REF: Page 80
TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
2. Three gravely ill patients are candidates for the only available bed in the ICU. As the
supervisor, you assign the bed to the patient with the best chance of recovery. This
decision reflects which of the following ethical principles?
a. Beneficence
b. Autonomy
c. Veracity
d. Nonmaleficence
ANS: A
Beneficence refers to doing what’s good for the patient; in this situation, doing what’s
good means providing care to the patient with the best likelihood of recovery.
REF: Page 92 TOP: AONE competency: Professionalism
3. Which ethical principle is primarily involved in informed consent?
a. Veracity
b. Autonomy
c. Beneficence
d. Nonmaleficence
ANS: B
Autonomy refers to the right to choose freely, which is inherent in informed consent.
REF: Page 92
, TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
4. The principle that requires nurses to uphold a professional code of ethics, to practice
within the code of ethics, and to remain competent is which of the following?
a. Veracity
b. Autonomy
c. Fidelity
d. Honesty
ANS: C
Fidelity refers to promise keeping or upholding one’s promise to practice as a
reasonable and prudent nurse would do and in an ethically competent manner.
REF: Page 92 TOP: AONE competency: Professionalism
5. Mr. M. complains to you that one of your staff asked him details about his sexual
relationships and financial affairs. He says that these questions were probing and
unnecessary to his care, but he felt that if he refused to answer, the nurse would be
angry with him and would not provide him with good care. Mr. M.’s statements reflect
concern with:
a. Privacy.
b. Confidentiality.
c. Veracity.
d. Informed consent.
ANS: A
Privacy protection includes protection against unwarranted intrusion into the patient’s
affairs.
REF: Page 83
TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
6. To satisfy duty of care to a patient, a nurse manager is legally responsible for all of the
following except:
a. Notifying staff of changes to policies related to medication administration.
b. Scheduling and staffing to ensure safe care.
c. Delegating in accordance with practice acts.
d. Supervising the practice of the physician.
ANS: D
Legally, the nurse manager is accountable to nursing practice standards, standards for
nurse administrators, and hospital policies and procedures.
REF: Page 73
TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
7. In a telehealth organization, a nurse who is licensed in New York and Pennsylvania
provides teaching to a patient who resides in Pennsylvania. The patient charges that the
teaching failed to provide significant information about a potential side effect, which
Yoder-Wise: Leading and Managing in Nursing, 6th Edition
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. You volunteer at a free community clinic. A 13-year-old girl claims to have been
diagnosed with SLE and presents with chlamydia. The team leader at the clinic advises
that:
a. The state defined age of legal consent is 18; therefore, no treatment can be
delivered.
b. The teen is underage and should be referred to the family general practitioner.
c. Care can be provided as long as consent is voluntary and information about
treatment and options is provided.
d. Treatment is provided as long as telephone consent is obtained from a parent or
legal guardian.
ANS: C
All states have a legal age for consent; generally, this age is 18. However,
emancipated minors, minors seeking treatment for substance abuse, and minors
seeking treatment for communicable diseases can provide their own consent.
REF: Page 80
TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
2. Three gravely ill patients are candidates for the only available bed in the ICU. As the
supervisor, you assign the bed to the patient with the best chance of recovery. This
decision reflects which of the following ethical principles?
a. Beneficence
b. Autonomy
c. Veracity
d. Nonmaleficence
ANS: A
Beneficence refers to doing what’s good for the patient; in this situation, doing what’s
good means providing care to the patient with the best likelihood of recovery.
REF: Page 92 TOP: AONE competency: Professionalism
3. Which ethical principle is primarily involved in informed consent?
a. Veracity
b. Autonomy
c. Beneficence
d. Nonmaleficence
ANS: B
Autonomy refers to the right to choose freely, which is inherent in informed consent.
REF: Page 92
, TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
4. The principle that requires nurses to uphold a professional code of ethics, to practice
within the code of ethics, and to remain competent is which of the following?
a. Veracity
b. Autonomy
c. Fidelity
d. Honesty
ANS: C
Fidelity refers to promise keeping or upholding one’s promise to practice as a
reasonable and prudent nurse would do and in an ethically competent manner.
REF: Page 92 TOP: AONE competency: Professionalism
5. Mr. M. complains to you that one of your staff asked him details about his sexual
relationships and financial affairs. He says that these questions were probing and
unnecessary to his care, but he felt that if he refused to answer, the nurse would be
angry with him and would not provide him with good care. Mr. M.’s statements reflect
concern with:
a. Privacy.
b. Confidentiality.
c. Veracity.
d. Informed consent.
ANS: A
Privacy protection includes protection against unwarranted intrusion into the patient’s
affairs.
REF: Page 83
TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
6. To satisfy duty of care to a patient, a nurse manager is legally responsible for all of the
following except:
a. Notifying staff of changes to policies related to medication administration.
b. Scheduling and staffing to ensure safe care.
c. Delegating in accordance with practice acts.
d. Supervising the practice of the physician.
ANS: D
Legally, the nurse manager is accountable to nursing practice standards, standards for
nurse administrators, and hospital policies and procedures.
REF: Page 73
TOP: AONE competency: Knowledge of the Health Care Environment
7. In a telehealth organization, a nurse who is licensed in New York and Pennsylvania
provides teaching to a patient who resides in Pennsylvania. The patient charges that the
teaching failed to provide significant information about a potential side effect, which
