GI Professional Ethics & Communication 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A patient reports their GI symptoms improved after stopping a medication their doctor prescribed. They ask you to confirm they should stop it. You should:
- Advise the patient to discuss medication changes with their physician before stopping (Correct answer)
- Confirm the decision since the patient feels better
- Tell the patient to restart the medication immediately
- Document the conversation and take no further action
Correct answer: Advise the patient to discuss medication changes with their physician before stopping
Medication changes require physician oversight; nurses should not endorse unilateral changes without clinical evaluation.
Question 2: During a colonoscopy prep education session, a patient discloses they have been drinking heavily daily. The nurse's priority is to:
- Assess for alcohol withdrawal risk and notify the physician before proceeding (Correct answer)
- Continue the education session and document the disclosure
- Advise the patient to stop drinking before the procedure
- Reassure the patient that alcohol use will not affect the procedure
Correct answer: Assess for alcohol withdrawal risk and notify the physician before proceeding
Heavy alcohol use creates risk for withdrawal during procedural sedation, requiring physician notification.
Question 3: What is the ethical principle most directly supported by obtaining informed consent before a GI procedure?
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Beneficence
- Justice
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Autonomy
Informed consent upholds patient autonomy by ensuring individuals make knowledgeable decisions about their own care.
Question 4: A GI nurse is asked by a pharmaceutical representative to recommend a specific laxative product to patients. The nurse should:
- Decline, as recommending specific products for compensation creates a conflict of interest (Correct answer)
- Accept if the product is FDA-approved
- Accept if the representative provides educational materials
- Refer the representative to the hospital pharmacy
Correct answer: Decline, as recommending specific products for compensation creates a conflict of interest
Accepting incentives to recommend products compromises professional integrity and patient-centered care.
Question 5: A patient recovering from liver failure is deemed to lack decision-making capacity. Who has the authority to make medical decisions on their behalf?
- The legally designated healthcare proxy or next of kin, per state law (Correct answer)
- The attending gastroenterologist alone
- Any family member who is present
- The hospital ethics committee
Correct answer: The legally designated healthcare proxy or next of kin, per state law
Surrogate decision-making follows a legally established hierarchy, typically beginning with the designated healthcare proxy.
Question 6: A GI nurse documents a patient's complaint of rectal bleeding but fails to notify the physician. This represents a failure of:
- Advocacy and professional responsibility (Correct answer)
- Confidentiality
- Cultural competence
- Scope of practice boundaries
Correct answer: Advocacy and professional responsibility
Nurses are ethically and professionally obligated to communicate significant findings to the care team promptly.
Question 7: A patient undergoing a liver biopsy asks the nurse, 'Do you think I have cancer?' The most therapeutic response is:
- Acknowledge the patient's fear and encourage discussing results with the physician (Correct answer)
- Reassure the patient by saying the biopsy will definitely be benign
- State that you cannot discuss the results
- Change the subject to reduce the patient's anxiety
Correct answer: Acknowledge the patient's fear and encourage discussing results with the physician
Therapeutic communication acknowledges feelings and redirects appropriately without giving false reassurance or avoiding the patient.
GI Professional Ethics & Communication 3
A patient reports their GI symptoms improved after stopping a medication their doctor prescribed.
They ask you to confirm they should stop it.
You should: