INACE Professional Ethics and Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A resident asks you to keep a secret about a family member hitting them. What is the correct action?
- Keep the secret to respect the resident's wishes
- Report the disclosure to your supervisor immediately (Correct answer)
- Confront the family member directly
- Document it in your personal notes only
Correct answer: Report the disclosure to your supervisor immediately
Suspected abuse must be reported to the supervisor regardless of the resident's request for secrecy, as mandatory reporting laws apply.
Question 2: Which behavior demonstrates professional boundaries with a resident?
- Giving the resident your personal phone number so they can call anytime
- Accepting a small gift of homemade cookies at the end of a shift (Correct answer)
- Sharing detailed personal problems with the resident during care
- Visiting the resident at home on your day off
Correct answer: Accepting a small gift of homemade cookies at the end of a shift
Accepting a small, token gift like homemade food is generally within acceptable boundaries, while sharing personal problems or outside contact crosses professional limits.
Question 3: A nurse aide discovers a coworker documenting care that was never provided. What should the aide do?
- Ignore it because it is not their responsibility
- Report the falsification to the supervisor or charge nurse (Correct answer)
- Correct the coworker's charting themselves
- Discuss it only with other coworkers
Correct answer: Report the falsification to the supervisor or charge nurse
Falsifying medical records is fraud and a serious ethical violation that must be reported to a supervisor.
Question 4: When a resident exercises their right to refuse a bath, the nurse aide should:
- Give the bath anyway to maintain hygiene standards
- Document the refusal and report it to the nurse (Correct answer)
- Leave without saying anything and try again later without telling anyone
- Insist because personal hygiene is mandatory
Correct answer: Document the refusal and report it to the nurse
Residents have the right to refuse care; the aide must document and report the refusal so the care team can address it appropriately.
Question 5: Which situation requires a nurse aide to maintain strict confidentiality?
- Telling a resident's family member their diagnosis without consent (Correct answer)
- Discussing a resident's condition with the supervising nurse during handoff
- Reporting a resident's change in condition to the charge nurse
- Documenting a resident's vital signs in the medical record
Correct answer: Telling a resident's family member their diagnosis without consent
Sharing a resident's diagnosis with family without the resident's consent violates HIPAA and the resident's privacy rights.
Question 6: A nurse aide who witnesses a peer verbally abusing a resident is legally and ethically required to:
- Wait to see if it happens again before reporting
- Report the incident to the supervisor right away (Correct answer)
- Tell the abusive coworker to stop but take no further action
- Assume it was a misunderstanding and say nothing
Correct answer: Report the incident to the supervisor right away
Witnessing abuse creates an immediate obligation to report the incident to a supervisor to protect the resident from further harm.
Question 7: Which action by a nurse aide best demonstrates accountability?
- Blaming a coworker when a resident falls on their shift
- Admitting a mistake to the supervising nurse immediately (Correct answer)
- Avoiding the supervisor after making an error
- Documenting the incident without telling anyone verbally
Correct answer: Admitting a mistake to the supervising nurse immediately
Accountability means taking responsibility for one's actions and reporting errors promptly so appropriate steps can be taken.
INACE Professional Ethics and Standards 2
A resident asks you to keep a secret about a family member hitting them.
What is the correct action?