Chapter 9 Ethical and Bioethical Issues in Nursing and Health Care

Chapter 9  Ethical and Bioethical Issues in Nursing and Health Care

Complete Chapter Questions And Answers
 

Sample Questions

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Ethics applied to nursing can best be defined as
A.
doing what is best for the patient.
B.
making good decisions about care.
C.
care based on what should be done in keeping with the values of the patient.
D.
rules for providing competent care that is based on scientific principles.

ANS: C
Choice (C) is correct because nursing ethics is a system of principles intended to guide the actions of the nurse in his or her relationships with patients, patients’ family members, other health care providers, policy makers, and society as a whole. A nurse must make an attempt to understand what values are inherent in the situation. (A), (B), and (D) are not definitions of ethics.

DIF: Knowledge REF: Page 188

2. A family requests that no additional heroic measures be instituted for their terminally ill mother who has advance directives in place. The nurse respects this decision in keeping with the principle of
A.
accountability.
B.
autonomy.
C.
nonmaleficence.
D.
veracity.

ANS: B
Choice (B) is correct because autonomy is the principle of respect for the individual person. Within the concept of autonomy, people are free to form their own judgments and perform whatever actions they choose. They are self-determining agents who are entitled to decide their own destiny. (A) is incorrect because accountability is inherent in the nurse’s ethical obligation to uphold the highest standards of practice and care, assume full personal and professional responsibility for every action, and commit to maintaining quality in the skill and knowledge base of the profession. (C) is incorrect because nonmaleficence is a principle that implies a duty not to inflict harm. In ethical terms, nonmaleficence means to abstain from injuring others and to help others further their own well-being by removing harm and eliminating threats. (D) is incorrect because veracity means telling the truth as a moral and ethical requirement.

DIF: Application REF: Page 196

3. An older adult patient is comatose and had one electroencephalogram that indicated no activity. The daughter is very distraught and notices her mother’s hand moves when she is talking to her. The daughter asks the nurse, “Is mother responding to my voice?” The nurse, attempting to console the daughter, knows the movement was involuntary but states, “It does appear she did.” The nurse is violating which principle of ethics?
A.
Autonomy
B.
Veracity
C.
Utilitarianism
D.
Deontology

ANS: B
Choice (B) is correct because veracity is the principle of telling the truth in a given situation. (A) is incorrect because autonomy is the principle of respect for the individual person; this concept states that humans have incalculable worth or moral dignity. (C) is incorrect because utilitarianism is an approach that is rooted in the assumption that an action or practice is right if it leads to the greatest possible balance of good consequences or to the least possible balance of bad consequences. Giving the daughter false reassurance is not a good consequence. (D) is incorrect because deontologic theory claims that a decision is right only if it conforms to an overriding moral duty and wrong only if it violates that moral duty. Persons are to be treated as ends in themselves and never as means to the ends of others.

DIF: Application REF: Page 197

4. In attempting to decide which services should be offered to a community, the public health nurse decides to implement hypertension screening and treatment because most of the residents are hypertensive. This decision is based on the principle of
A.
veracity.
B.
values.
C.
utilitarianism.
D.
autonomy.

ANS: C
Choice (C) is correct because utilitarianism is an approach that is rooted in the assumption that an action or practice is right if it leads to the greatest possible balance of good consequences or to the least possible balance of bad consequences. On the basis of this principle, an attempt is made to determine which actions will lead to the greatest ratio of benefit to harm for all persons involved in the situation. (A) is incorrect because veracity is defined as the moral and ethical requirement to always tell the truth in personal communication. Although the public health nurse did not lie, she did not use the concept of veracity to decide which health care issue to address with this group. (B) is incorrect because values account for our moral decisions and actions. The nurse based the decision on the needs of the group, not on her personal values. (D) is incorrect because autonomy means respect for people. The nurse did not base her decision for this group on her respect for them, but on what the needs of the majority were.

DIF: Application REF: Page 196