how is the term ethics as applied to nursing best defined?

care based on keeping with the value of the client

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 what client right?

autonomy

an older adult client 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?

veracity

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 what ethical principle?

utilitarianism

a nurse is caring for a client who just consented to an elective abortion. the nurse is unsure of his o her own values as they relate to this issue. what action should the nurse take to address this barrier to providing effective care to the client?

reflect on one's personal values and how these values relate to beliefs and the philosophy of nursing

when assessing an ethical issue, what is the nurse's first intervention?

ask, what is the issue?

a researcher calculated the risk to benefit ratio and concluded that no harmful effects were associated with a survey of college sophomores. the researcher was applying which ethical principle?

beneficence

the primary health care provider who insists on providing treatment in spite of the client's wishes because- i know best is reflecting an attitude referral to as what?

paternalism

the nurse who admits making a medication error and immediately files an incident report is demonstrating what ethical principle?

accountability

two individuals with no health insurance or money sustained life-threatening injuries during an automobile accident. the decision was made to provide extended care in the trauma center after emergency surgery was performed to save their lives. the care of the two critical clients was based on what ethical principle?

deontology

a 13 year old female is brought to the family planning clinic by her enraged father, who has just learned that she is pregnant. the pregnant client states, i want to have this baby and give it up for adoption. however, the father is adamant that she will disgrace the family and demands that the health care providers tell his daughter that she has a physical condition that would prohibit her from carrying this baby to a viable stage. the nurse realizes that this is a conflict that involves what ethical principle?

veracity

during a seminar on ethics, the educator realizes that more information is needed when a participant describes which situation as a violation of the ethical principle of autonomy?

an older person with advanced stages of alzheimers disease is denied the right to ambulate in the hallway

a nurse who is infected with human immunodeficiency virus while working in the operating room seeks revenge by deliberately placing clients at risk by not adhering to universal precautions. this nurse is violating what ethical principle?

nonmaleficence

a client and her husband used in-vitro fertilization to become pregnant. the unused sperm was frozen so the couple could have more children later. the husband is killed while in combat, and the client journals her choices and the possible ramifications. she comes to the fertility clinic after looking at the situation from many perspectives and after considering many alternatives. she asks that the sperm be destroyed because her husbands faith prohibited remarrying, and allowing another person to use the sperm would conflict with her late husbands beliefs. when considering this scenario, the nurse realizes what?

a rational decision was reached that was based on reflection and on the value systems of the wife and the husband

a client is in extreme pain after he was involved in a motor vehicle accident, and morphine has been ordered every hour for pain. the nurse injects saline into the clients IV line and takes the morphine for herself. the nurse is violating which principle of ethics?

beneficence

the health care reform act provides insurance for all U.S citizens and legal residents presenting far-reaching ethical considerations related to diverse individual patient health care beliefs for those delivering nursing care. nurses must consider their civil rights under the rights of conscience and how new health care agendas such as the patient protection and affordable care act could affect their practice in situations that may conflict with their own belief system. what action demonstrates a nurse attempt to act in accordance with this responsibility?

considering whether the right to act according to one's inner beliefs will continue to be permissible when federal health insurance becomes fully enacted

a patient returning from a procedure was somehow-skipped when daily baths were performed and requests that care now be provided now. the nurse discovers the bed is rumpled and damp. the RN joins with some other staff to bathe the patient, changes the bed, and help make the patient comfortable. these staff members are demonstrating what ethical concept?

altruism

in which case does the nurse act as whistle blower?

the nurse reports that another nurse is taking medications out of stock medicine for herself or himself

throughout their careers, nurses are in an ongoing state of acculturation, gaining experience from formal nursing school classes, clinical experiences, and the ethical issues they encounter in their clinical practice. what are the ideal outcomes of these ongoing experiences with cultural decision making? SATA

increased trustworthiness

enhanced ability to take into consideration many aspects of ethical situations

confidence to make decisions based on experience and ethical intelligence

improved clinical decision making and advocacy for patient autonomy