Chapter 22: Ethics and Values
1. Four patients in labor all request epidural analgesia to manage their pain at the same time. Which
ethical principle is most compromised when only one nurse anesthetist is on call?
a. Justice
b. Fidelity
c. Beneficence
d. Nonmaleficence
ANS: A
2. The patient reports to the nurse of being afraid to speak up regarding a desire to end care for fear of
upsetting spouse and children. Which principle in the nursing code of ethics ensures that the nurse will
promote the patient’s cause?
a. Advocacy
b. Responsibility
c. Confidentiality
d. Accountability
ANS: A
3. The patient’s son requests to view documentation in the medical record. What is the
nurse’sbest response to this request?
a. “I’ll be happy to get that for you.”
b. “You are not allowed to look at it.”
c. “You will need your mother’s permission.”
d. “I cannot let you see the chart without a doctor’s order.”
ANS: C
, 4. When professionals work together to solve ethical dilemmas, nurses must examine their own values.
What is the best rationale for this step?
a. So fact is separated from opinion
b. So different perspectives are respected
c. So judgmental attitudes can be provoked
d. So the group identifies the one correct solution
ANS: B
5. A nurse is experiencing an ethical dilemma with a patient. Which information indicates the nurse has
a correct understanding of the primary cause of ethical dilemmas?
a. Unequal power
b. Presence of conflicting values
c. Judgmental perceptions of patients
d. Poor communication with the patient
ANS: B
6. The nurse questions a health care provider’s decision to not tell the patient about a cancer diagnosis.
Which ethical principle is the nurse trying to uphold for the patient?
a. Consequentialism
b. Autonomy
c. Fidelity
d. Justice
ANS: B
7. The nurse finds it difficult to care for a patient whose advance directive states that no extraordinary
resuscitation measures should be taken. Which step may help the nurse to find resolution in this
assignment?