LVN Ethical Standards & Legal Responsibilities 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An LVN overhears two nurses loudly discussing a patient's HIV status in a public hallway. The LVN should:
- Join the conversation to gather clinical information
- Ignore it as it does not involve their patient
- Address the breach and remind colleagues to maintain confidentiality (Correct answer)
- Report it directly to the patient
Correct answer: Address the breach and remind colleagues to maintain confidentiality
LVNs have a professional and ethical obligation to uphold patient confidentiality and address violations by colleagues.
Question 2: Which action constitutes negligence rather than battery?
- Performing surgery on the wrong patient
- Touching a patient without consent during a procedure
- Failing to raise bed rails on a fall-risk patient who then falls (Correct answer)
- Administering a treatment a patient clearly refused
Correct answer: Failing to raise bed rails on a fall-risk patient who then falls
Negligence involves failure to meet the standard of care causing harm; failing to use fall precautions is a classic example of nursing negligence.
Question 3: A patient requests a copy of their medical records. Under HIPAA, the covered entity must provide access:
- Only if the physician approves the release
- Within 30 days of the request (with a possible 30-day extension) (Correct answer)
- Within 7 days with no exceptions
- Only after the patient's discharge is finalized
Correct answer: Within 30 days of the request (with a possible 30-day extension)
HIPAA requires covered entities to provide patients access to their PHI within 30 days, with one 30-day extension if needed.
Question 4: An LVN is floated to a unit where they have no experience with the patient population. The LVN's best response is to:
- Accept all assignments without question to demonstrate flexibility
- Inform the supervisor of their limitations and request appropriate orientation or adjusted assignment (Correct answer)
- Refuse to work on the unit and go home
- Perform all tasks and document as if trained to avoid conflict
Correct answer: Inform the supervisor of their limitations and request appropriate orientation or adjusted assignment
LVNs must communicate competency limitations honestly; accepting tasks beyond their training jeopardizes patient safety and their license.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes an ethical dilemma in nursing?
- A clear right-or-wrong clinical decision
- A situation where two or more ethical principles conflict and no clear solution exists (Correct answer)
- A legal dispute between a nurse and hospital
- A disagreement between two nurses about documentation style
Correct answer: A situation where two or more ethical principles conflict and no clear solution exists
An ethical dilemma occurs when equally compelling ethical principles conflict, making a clear 'right' decision impossible without some moral cost.
Question 6: What is the LVN's responsibility when receiving a verbal order from a physician?
- Implement it immediately without documentation
- Write it down, read it back for confirmation, and document it appropriately (Correct answer)
- Ask the physician to personally enter it into the chart
- Refuse all verbal orders to prevent errors
Correct answer: Write it down, read it back for confirmation, and document it appropriately
Safe verbal order practice requires writing the order, reading it back to the prescriber for confirmation, and timely documentation.
Question 7: A patient tells the LVN in confidence that they are planning to harm a specific person upon discharge. The LVN is legally obligated to:
- Keep the information confidential per HIPAA
- Document but take no further action
- Warn the potential victim and notify appropriate authorities (Tarasoff duty to warn) (Correct answer)
- Discharge the patient quickly to transfer responsibility
Correct answer: Warn the potential victim and notify appropriate authorities (Tarasoff duty to warn)
The duty to warn (Tarasoff doctrine) legally requires clinicians to break confidentiality to protect identifiable third parties from serious threats.
LVN Ethical Standards & Legal Responsibilities 5
An LVN overhears two nurses loudly discussing a patient's HIV status in a public hallway.
The LVN should: