CFN Legal Principles in Nursing 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which legal principle protects a patient's right to make decisions about their own healthcare?
- Beneficence
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Nonmaleficence
- Justice
Correct answer: Autonomy
Autonomy is the ethical and legal principle recognizing a patient's right to self-determination in healthcare decisions.
Question 2: A nurse documents fabricated findings in a forensic report to support law enforcement. This action constitutes:
- Whistleblowing
- Fraud and falsification of records (Correct answer)
- Advocacy
- Permissible professional discretion
Correct answer: Fraud and falsification of records
Fabricating documentation is fraud and falsification of records, which violates both professional and criminal law.
Question 3: Under HIPAA, which of the following disclosures of PHI to law enforcement is permitted WITHOUT patient authorization?
- Sharing records for routine insurance billing
- Disclosing information in response to a valid court order (Correct answer)
- Providing medical history to the patient's employer
- Releasing records to the patient's adult child
Correct answer: Disclosing information in response to a valid court order
HIPAA permits disclosure of PHI to law enforcement in response to a court order, subpoena, or warrant without patient authorization.
Question 4: When a forensic nurse acts as a patient advocate in legal proceedings, the primary obligation is to:
- Support the prosecutor's case
- Provide objective, unbiased findings (Correct answer)
- Ensure a conviction
- Protect the accused's rights only
Correct answer: Provide objective, unbiased findings
Forensic nurses must provide objective, unbiased findings and testimony; advocacy for truth serves all parties in the justice system.
Question 5: What does 'informed consent' require a healthcare provider to disclose before a forensic examination?
- Only the risks of the procedure
- The purpose, procedure, risks, benefits, and alternatives (Correct answer)
- The legal outcome of the examination
- Only that the exam is required by law
Correct answer: The purpose, procedure, risks, benefits, and alternatives
Informed consent requires disclosure of the purpose, procedure, risks, benefits, and alternatives so the patient can make an autonomous decision.
Question 6: A nurse inadvertently loses evidence collected from a sexual assault survivor. The most likely legal consequence is:
- No consequence if it was accidental
- Potential criminal charge of obstruction and civil liability (Correct answer)
- A verbal warning from the hospital
- Automatic dismissal of the case only
Correct answer: Potential criminal charge of obstruction and civil liability
Loss of evidence can result in criminal charges of evidence tampering or obstruction and civil liability for harm caused to the victim's case.
Question 7: Which standard applies when determining whether a forensic nurse's actions constituted negligence?
- What the nurse believed was correct
- What a reasonably prudent forensic nurse would have done (Correct answer)
- What the hospital policy states regardless of circumstances
- What the attending physician ordered
Correct answer: What a reasonably prudent forensic nurse would have done
Negligence is measured against the standard of care of a reasonably prudent forensic nurse with similar training and experience in the same circumstances.
CFN Legal Principles in Nursing 3
Which legal principle protects a patient's right to make decisions about their own healthcare?