Chapter 10: Safeguarding Patient Rights Keatings: Ethical & Legal Issues in Canadian Nursing, 4th Edition MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. Which of the following best describes a “right”? a. A legal claim or privilege b. A claim or privilege to which one is justly entitled, either legally or morally c. A claim or privilege that carries no corresponding obligations d. The rights of patients are a grey area open to interpretation ANS: B Feedback A B C D
Incorrect—Rights are not required to be legally based. Correct! A right is a claim or privilege to which one is justly entitled, either legally or morally. Incorrect—A right carries a corresponding obligation. Otherwise, the right loses its meaning. Incorrect—The rights of patients are explicit and clear through standards contained in professional codes of ethics.
DIF: Cognitive level: Comprehension 2. The nurse is in the process of obtaining informed consent from a patient. Which of the
following best describes this process? a. The nurse’s right b. The nurse’s autonomy c. The nurse’s obligation d. The patient’s obligation ANS: C Feedback A B C
D
Incorrect—This process does not relate to the nurse’s rights. Incorrect—This process relates to the patient’s autonomy, not that of the nurse. Correct! It is the nurse’s obligation to obtain the patient’s informed consent. The nurse must ensure that all relevant information has been provided so that the patient may exercise the right to make an informed consent. Incorrect—Although the patient’s informed consent is needed, the patient is not obligated to give it.
DIF: Cognitive level: Comprehension 3. A patient in the nurse’s care is being investigated for diarrhea. The nurse remembers this
patient from another facility and recalls that he was diagnosed as HIV-positive, but the patient denies this to the nurse. How should the nurse proceed? a. The nurse should do nothing. b. The nurse should tell her colleagues to be extra careful when attending to this
