Legal Scope and Accountability Flashcards

A practical nurse floats to an unfamiliar unit and is asked to care for patients with conditions outside their usual experience. What is the most appropriate action?

Answer: Accept the assignment but clearly communicate limitations and request appropriate support

Nurses must communicate competency limitations honestly; accepting the assignment with disclosed limitations and support allows safe care while meeting staffing needs.

Which legal doctrine holds an employer responsible for the negligent acts of an employee committed within the scope of employment?

Answer: Respondeat superior

Respondeat superior ('let the master answer') makes employers vicariously liable for employees' negligent acts performed within the scope of their duties.

A practical nurse discovers a medication error made by another nurse on the previous shift. The harmed patient is stable. What documentation is required?

Answer: A chart entry describing the patient's current status and an incident report filed per facility policy

Both a factual, objective chart entry about the patient's condition and an incident report are required to ensure continuity of care and proper quality-improvement processes.

A patient's substitute decision-maker (SDM) consents to surgery on behalf of an unconscious patient. Later the patient regains consciousness and refuses the surgery. The practical nurse should:

Answer: Recognize that a now-competent patient's refusal supersedes the SDM's prior consent

A patient who regains decision-making capacity immediately reassumes the right to consent or refuse; the SDM's authority ends when the patient is competent.

In which situation would a practical nurse be legally justified in breaching patient confidentiality without consent?

Answer: The patient discloses they intend to seriously harm an identifiable person

The duty to warn applies when there is a serious, credible, and imminent threat of harm to an identifiable third party, justifying disclosure to prevent that harm.

A practical nurse fails to apply wrist restraints correctly and the patient sustains a shoulder injury. To succeed in a negligence lawsuit, the patient must prove all of the following EXCEPT:

Answer: The nurse intended to cause harm

Negligence does not require intent to harm; it requires duty, breach of standard of care, causation, and damages — not intentional wrongdoing.

A practical nurse is asked by a supervisor to falsify a patient's chart to conceal a medication error. The nurse should:

Answer: Refuse, as falsifying records is a criminal act and a professional misconduct violation

Falsifying medical records constitutes fraud and professional misconduct; a nurse must refuse regardless of who makes the request.