Ethics Ch26 Flashcards

Indicating that a needle stick won’t hurt is an example of the:

professional custom rule.

patient preference rule.

subjective substantial disclosure rule.

prudent person rule.

The imaging technologist has the responsibility of obtaining informed consent.

True

False

When a patient is referred to as “the next gallbladder,” the patient has lost his:

all of the above.

exam records.

autonomy.

insurance.

Patient decision making should include discussion of:

benefits and risks.

treatment choices.

all of the above.

long-term effects.

Patients’ privacy is legally protected by:

state and federal laws.

b and c.

the American Medical Association.

hospital policies.

Unintentional torts include:

assault and battery.

negligence.

all of the above.

false imprisonment.

Informed consent may not be necessary when:

all of the above.

the physician believes the patient will refuse the procedure if told about the risks.

the patient is mentally handicapped and cannot understand the explanation.

an emergency situation exists in which the patient cannot give consent but will be harmed without the procedure.

A knowledgeable patient is a result of the:

cost of the exam.

age of the imaging professional.

institution in which the procedure takes place.

informed consent process.

Written informed consent must be obtained for every procedure performed in the imaging department.

True

False

Physicians play a crucial role in:

informed consent.

none of the above.

golf.

patients’ billing.

Intentional torts include:

all of the above.

battery.

false imprisonment.

assault.

To prove lack of informed consent, a plaintiff must show that a material risk existed that was unknown to the patient and that:

disclosure of the risk would have led a reasonable person to reject the procedure or choose a different course of treatment.

all of the above.

the risk was not disclosed.

the patient was injured as a result of the lack of disclosure.

When a patient tells an imaging professional to stop the procedure once the patient has given simple consent, the imaging professional must stop the procedure and obtain consent again.

True

False

The imaging professional has no responsibility for obtaining informed consent.

True

False

Unintentional torts are:

wrongs resulting from acts that were intended to do harm.

wrongs resulting from actions that were not intended to do harm.

criminal acts of violence.

breaches of contract.

When entering the hospital, patients may be given the document The Patient Care Partnership so they will:

none of the above.

understand their responsibilities as patients.

understand their rights as patients.

a and b.

The prudent person rule:

a and b.

addresses elements of informed consent.

may be used with the subjective disclosure rule.

none of the above.

When written informed consent is not required, the act of the patient’s getting on the table or stepping up to the chest board can be considered simple consent.

True

False

Patients’ expectation of response to their request for continuity of services is part of the:

general consent-for-treatment form.

patient’s bill of rights.

none of the above.

code of ethics.

Proving incompetence is:

a and b.

complicated.

neither of the above.

difficult.

A defamatory statement that is written is:

none of the above.

libel.

breach of confidence.

slander.

Patient records may be released:

to anyone who requests them.

to any attorney making a request.

to any physician making a request.

when patients consent to release.

Exceptions to confidentiality are:

obvious.

mechanisms for reporting certain types of wounds.

never mandated by law.

common in the imaging environment.

The place of communication is important in a consideration of:

the expectation of truth.

all of the above.

critical thinking.

nonmaleficence.

Exceptions to confidentiality may be debated in:

medical conditions of public figures.

discussions of the family’s need to know.

all of the above.

use of hospital records for research and billing.

A natural secret is:

a and b.

similar to a professional secret.

by its nature harmful if shared with other than the individual promised.

the same as a promised secret.

Issues of the whole truth may arise when:

a peer inquires about another’s personal life.

none of the above.

the patient asks the imaging professional for the results of the procedure.

a student wants to know about another student’s test results.

For defamation to be proved, a false statement must be made (published) about another and:

the statement must be harmful to the subject’s reputation.

harm must have resulted from the publication.

the publisher must be at fault at least to the degree of negligence.

all of the above.

Imaging professionals who cannot be trusted to keep secrets about patients or co-
workers:

lose trust as employees.

receive good evaluations.

a and b.

breach confidentiality.

HIPPA has the only authority to govern release of information to outside reviewers.

True

False

Confidentiality concerns:

pay raises.

the keeping of secrets.

none of the above.

insurance.

Slander or libel becomes per se when it concerns:

all of the above.

professional misdeeds.

criminal activity.

a loathsome disease.

Under HIPAA, patients are never allowed to see their films.

True

False

The most binding of the obligatory secrets is the:

all the above.

professional secret.

public secret.

personal secret.

Veracity is the same as:

legality.

truthfulness.

dishonesty.

;l[ethics.

When a third-party payer requests a patient’s chart for determination of payment, the entire chart will be given.

True

False

Damages still need to be proved when slander or libel includes a criminal activity.

True

False

An exception to the duty of confidentiality includes:

knowing the patient personally.

patients who are famous.

none of the above.

situations in which the patient has consented to the sharing of information.

Deontologists believe in:

virtue ethics.

strict rules of right and wrong.

practical wisdom.

common sense.

Under HIPAA, confidentiality may be breached:

when there is a statutory duty to disclose.

when there is a duty to warn third persons.

when patient authorization is required and given.

all of the above.k

Defamation of a character by speaking poorly of an individual is

false imprisonment.

civil assault.

libel.

slander.

At a recent professional meeting of radiographers, an attendee stands up at a business meeting and states that the chairperson uses excessive radiation and violates ALARA daily. The person making these statements would be committing an act of

militant disobedience.

civil disobedience.

defamation.

fraud.

As a radiographer positions an elderly patient for an upright abdominal view, the patient is asked to stand up from his wheelchair. As he does so, the wheelchair moves out from under him, and he falls to the floor, dislocating his shoulder. As the technologist attempts to break his fall, a coworker notes that the wheel locks on the chair were left unlocked. In this situation,

the patient’s condition contributed significantly to the accident and will most likely prove the technologist innocent.

it would be acceptable to apologize to the patient and perform the examination free of charge to establish goodwill.

the technologist will not be held negligent because the wheel locks were most likely defective.

a breach of duty has occurred.

The legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur intends to shift the burden of proof from the plaintiff to the defendant (technologist). It implies that the patient was injured through no fault of his or her own while in the complete control of another. An example of this is a

patient’s skin being torn as he is transferred from a cart to his bed.

patient saying something very crude during surgery in a state of anesthesia.

patient “ripping” her bandages off after surgery because they are painful.

patient marking the wrong body part for surgery while still awake.

When negligence occurs to a patient, who is responsible for proving injury?

Nurse involved in the case

Radiographer

Patient

Doctor

Written defamation of a person is termed

libel.

criminal law.

slander.

invasion of privacy.

In a legal case of negligence,
1. rationale and excuses are balanced against implied damages.
2. a breach of duty has to be identified.
3. the definition of duty has to be identified.
4. standards of practice are not considered.
5. injury has to clearly be identified.
6. injury has to be clearly connected to the negligent act.

1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 only.

3, 4, 5, and 6 only.

2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 only.

1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 only.

Which of the following is FALSE regarding informed consent?

Any condition stated on the consent form must be met.

The patient must be competent to sign.

The consent form may be obtained after the procedure.

The physician named on the consent form is the only physician who can perform the procedure.

As you position an adult patient for a skull examination, you begin to position a shadow shield attached to the x-ray tube assembly to protect the patient’s thyroid from exposure. While you are doing so, the lead shield falls and hits the patient in the throat. You apologize, and nursing care is administered to the patient to take care of the throat trauma. Eventually, the patient’s voice changes, and he contends that the accident led to his throat damage. In the court proceedings, his attorney claims negligence and uses the principle of

res ipsa loquitur.

HIPAA violations.

respondeat superior.

fraud.

All of the following are necessary for a legitimate case of malpractice EXCEPT

a clear definition of duty.

third-party testimonial as to the inappropriate acts of the defendant.

a clear illustration of one’s breach of duty.

proof of damages.

Which of the following is an example of negligence?

Making a patient wait in the reception area for a small bowel study to complete

Radiographing the wrong body part

Speaking negatively about a patient or his or her family

Recording in the patient chart the family’s reaction to examination results

A process by which patients can agree to be treated or refuse to be treated based on information provided by the radiographer about the examination is called _____ consent.

simple

implied

informed

inadequate

As you begin a barium study of the colon, the patient states clearly that she wants the examination to stop. A professional imaging technologist should

stop the barium, drain as much of it as possible from the patient’s colon, and courteously conclude the examination.

turn off the barium, clean up the patient, and help her exit the room quickly.

insist that she can handle the barium enema and that after you have started, it needs to be completed because you cannot get the barium out.

record the amount of barium given to the patient and charge her accordingly.

What type of complaint can be filed by patients if they feel they have been touched without permission?

Defamation

Slander

Assault

Battery

As you perform a mammogram on an anxious patient, she asks you to stop the breast compression and examination because it is getting painful. Your responsibility as a professional is to

release the compression completely and make the exposure.

get another technologist to perform the examination.

explain to her the importance of compression and continue uninterrupted.

stop the examination at her request and submit the images you have completed.

A civil wrong that involves individual property rights is called

libel.

a tort.

negligence.

defamation.

Acceptable informed consent

should not provide patients with alternative procedures or therapies.

is required for a chest radiograph.

must be witnessed by someone not involved in the procedure.

is provided in English exclusively.

Placing a child in a Pigg-O-Stat without the parent’s permission may warrant

false imprisonment.

slander.

assault.

battery.

The term res ipsa loquitur means the

accused must prove innocence.

employer is responsible for an employee’s actions.

thing speaks for itself.

employee is responsible for his or her actions.

Getting a speeding ticket from a state police officer on an interstate highway would be a violation of

Common Law of England.

legislative law.

constitutional law.

case law.

Restraining a patient without reason may constitute

criminal law.

invasion of privacy.

defamation of character.

false imprisonment.

Touching a patient without permission is the legal definition of

battery.

perjury.

malpractice.

assault.

In a legal proceeding, the actions of a radiographer will be judged with regard to his or her compliance with the

actions of other radiographers working in the same department.

standards of care of medicine.

orders of a physician.

practice standards for medical imaging and radiation therapy.

Your department has received a new piece of digital radiographic equipment. A radiation physicist has inspected the unit and determined that the output of x-ray exposure is much higher than it should be for various exposure settings. His report indicates this clearly and is submitted to the department director. This new equipment has been expected for weeks and is the only device in the department capable of performing certain examinations. The director insists that the device is completely safe, and the technologists need to use it while applications’ training is on site. In this situation, who is responsible for taking corrective action?

Hospital and director

Radiation physicist

Manufacturer of the equipment

Staff technologists

It is the duty of any health care practitioner, including medical imaging personnel, to

restrain all patient for medical examinations.

safeguard patient rights and autonomy.

complete examinations at the request of physicians under any circumstance.

persuade patients to undergo medical examinations against their wishes.

The doctrine of respondeat superior states that the

accused must prove innocence.

buyer should beware of a medical purchase.

thing speaks for itself.

employer is responsible for employees’ actions.

The most common legal claim against health care providers is

libel.

assault.

slander.

negligence.

Which of the following is not a legal right of a patient in the radiology department?

To know the technologist’s name

To ask for and receive extra studies

To refuse the radiographic examination

To be informed of the possible risks

If bodily harm were to occur to a patient as a result of reckless conduct by the health care provider, this would be deemed

defamation.

assault.

slander.

battery.

A technologist who has completed a procedure on a patient leaves the area grumbling, “I hate to do AIDS patients because I am afraid of catching the disease.” A member of the housekeeping staff hears the technologist and asks who the AIDS patient is so he can pass the information along to his coworkers for safety reasons. The technologist responds by giving the patient’s name and room number. After the incident, housekeeping personnel refuse to clean the room. One person from housekeeping tells the story to members of the housekeeper’s church, where the patient is also a church member. After learning of the patient’s condition, the church asks the patient not to return to church. What type of complaint might be brought against the technologist?

Defamation

False imprisonment

Negligence

Assault