Legal Regulations & Ethical Responsibilities Flashcards
7 cards from real CCN practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Legal Regulations & Ethical Responsibilities flashcards as text
A correctional nurse who witnesses a patient being physically abused by an officer is legally obligated to:
Answer: Report the abuse through appropriate channels, which may include external authorities such as a state oversight body
Nurses have legal and ethical duties to report patient abuse regardless of who perpetrated it, including correctional officers, and may need to report to external oversight bodies.
In the context of correctional healthcare, 'scope of practice' violations most commonly result in which type of legal action against a nurse?
Answer: Professional licensing board disciplinary action and potential civil malpractice claims
Scope of practice violations typically result in state licensing board discipline (including license suspension or revocation) and may also give rise to civil malpractice claims.
Which of the following best explains why 42 U.S.C. § 1983 is significant in correctional healthcare litigation?
Answer: It allows incarcerated individuals to sue state actors for civil rights violations, including denial of adequate medical care
42 U.S.C. § 1983 is the primary vehicle through which incarcerated people bring federal civil rights lawsuits against state correctional employees for constitutional violations including denial of medical care.
A correctional nurse is asked to conduct a body cavity search on a patient as a security measure. The nurse should:
Answer: Refuse, as performing searches at the direction of security blurs professional boundaries and compromises patient trust
Nurses performing security searches at the direction of custody staff compromises their professional role and the therapeutic nurse-patient relationship; this practice is prohibited by NCCHC standards.
When a patient in a correctional facility lacks decision-making capacity and has no advance directive, who typically has legal authority to make healthcare decisions?
Answer: A legally authorized surrogate such as a court-appointed guardian, or decisions follow the facility's emergency protocol pending court involvement
For incapacitated patients without advance directives, legally authorized surrogates or court-appointed guardians provide consent; emergency care proceeds under implied consent while legal mechanisms are pursued.
Which of the following actions by a correctional nurse would constitute a violation of professional boundaries?
Answer: Accepting a gift of money from a patient in exchange for preferential care access
Accepting gifts from patients, especially in exchange for preferential treatment, constitutes a professional boundary violation and may violate facility policy and professional ethics codes.
A nurse documents a patient's grievance about denial of medication in the medical record. A supervisor instructs the nurse to remove the entry. The appropriate response is to:
Answer: Refuse to alter the record, as falsifying or altering medical records is illegal and unethical
Altering or deleting medical record entries is illegal (potentially constituting fraud) and a serious violation of nursing ethics; nurses must refuse such instructions.