Medical Ethics & Patient Rights Flashcards
7 cards from real CHP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Medical Ethics & Patient Rights flashcards as text
A patient with dementia cannot provide informed consent for a procedure. Who is the most appropriate person to give consent on their behalf?
Answer: A legally authorized representative or healthcare proxy
A legally authorized representative or healthcare proxy holds decision-making authority for patients who lack decision-making capacity.
Under the ethical principle of justice, a hospital's policy on allocating scarce ICU beds should primarily be based on:
Answer: Fair and consistent clinical criteria applied equally to all patients
Justice requires equitable distribution of healthcare resources using transparent, clinically-based criteria.
A patient asks a nurse not to tell their spouse about a terminal diagnosis. The nurse should:
Answer: Respect the patient's confidentiality and honor the request
Patient confidentiality protects the right to control disclosure of personal health information, including to family members.
Which ethical concept requires that healthcare providers tell patients the truth about their diagnosis and treatment options?
Answer: Veracity
Veracity is the ethical obligation to be truthful and honest with patients about their health status and care.
A competent patient refuses a blood transfusion due to religious beliefs. The care team should:
Answer: Respect the refusal and document it thoroughly
Competent patients have the right to refuse any treatment, including life-saving interventions, based on personal or religious beliefs.
The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) requires healthcare organizations receiving Medicare/Medicaid funds to:
Answer: Provide advance directive forms to all inpatients upon admission
The PSDA requires organizations to inform patients of their right to create advance directives and provide relevant forms upon admission.
When a minor patient discloses information about self-harm to a provider, the provider's primary ethical obligation is to:
Answer: Balance confidentiality with the duty to protect the minor from harm
Providers must balance minor patients' confidentiality with their duty to prevent serious harm, which may require parental notification or mandatory reporting.