Deck 9: Professional Relationship Issues

Question 1

A staff nurse suspects that her friend, another nurse on her unit, is impaired by illicit drugs. The nurse does not want to get her friend in trouble, but she fears that patients may be harmed. What is this conflict of loyalties an example of?

A) a moral dilemma
B) a practical dilemma
C) moral uncertainty
D) moral distress

Answer 1

a practical dilemma

Question 2

Which of the following individuals is the nurse's primary obligation to?

A) the patient
B) the employer
C) the physician
D) the profession

Answer 2

the patient

Question 3

Which of the following statements best describes the physician-nurse relationship in a hospital setting?

A) The physician is the nurse's "boss," and the nurse is obligated to follow the physician's orders.
B) The physician has total autonomy. The nurse is a limited moral agent.
C) Facility policies and procedures determine the nature and extent of each person's moral agency.
D) Both the nurse and the physician are autonomous moral agents whose primary obligation is owed to the patient.

Answer 3

Both the nurse and the physician are autonomous moral agents whose primary obligation is owed to the patient.

Question 4

"Hello, I my name is Dan Lee. I am a third-year nursing student who is part of the interprofessional team that will be caring for you during your hospitalization. I would like to hear about what brought you into the hospital." According to the ICN Code of Ethics for Nurses (2000), what is this an example of?

A) professional values
B) personal values
C) an appeal to conscience
D) a fiduciary relationship

Question 5

Which of the following would be described as "showing sympathy, care, and reciprocity to those with whom the nurse appropriately identifies, as well as working closely with others toward shared goals"??

A) self-sacrifice
B) loyalty
C) beneficence
D) leadership

Question 6

A physician writes an order that the registered nurse believes will harm the patient. The nurse believes the physician to be incompetent. What is the most appropriate action for the nurse?

A) The nurse should follow the order since the physician's education is superior.
B) The nurse should pursue the chain of authority. If the supervisor and others support the physician, the nurse should follow the order.
C) After pursuing the issue with the physician and supervisors, the nurse should disobey all orders that are believed to be illegal, immoral, or incompetent.
D) If the nurse is forced to follow the order, the nurse should file a formal complaint against the physician.

Question 7

A nurse chooses to go without lunch so that a patient can be taken outside to get a newspaper and a strong cup of coffee. Which of the following terms best applies to this situation?

A) self-sacrifice
B) beneficence
C) non-maleficence
D) obligation

Question 8

Which of the following is characteristic of workplace incivility?

A) acknowledgement of diverse opinions
B) recognizing adversity
C) maintaining moral integrity
D) demeaning treatment of patients

Question 9

Which of the following prohibits harassment related to race?

A) Workplace Code of Ethics
B) ICN Code of Harassment for Nurses
C) Canada's Labour Code
D) Canadian Human Rights Act

Question 10

When delegating patient care activities, what does the nurse have a responsibility to do?

A) to assess competency when assigning nursing care activities to other health care workers
B) to divide the activities fairly between other health care workers
C) to teach subordinate health care workers proper techniques and procedures
D) to observe other health care workers as they perform delegated activities

Question 11

What guideline could a nurse use to consider alternative actions that require quick solutions, as well as to address urgent problems that require immediate responses simultaneously?

A) loyalty
B) whistle-blowing
C) spectrum of urgency
D) primary obligation

Question 12

A nurse attempts to perform a urinary catheterization on a patient who is unable to void. The novice nurse is nervous and is unable to accurately catheterize the client. An experienced nurse storms into the patient's room, grabs the catheter out of the nurse's hands and loudly proclaims, "What's wrong with you, haven't you ever done this before?!" What definition best exemplifies this situation?

A) moral integrity
B) poor leadership
C) self-discipline
D) eating their young

Question 13

Which of the following statements best defines harassment?

A) behaviour that demeans, humiliates, or embarrasses a person
B) multiple episodes of distressing behaviour with intermittent and continual threats
C) situations or thoughts that make an individual feel frustrated, angry, nervous, or anxious.
D) unwelcome, abusive behaviour, including oral and written communication of an aggressive nature