SHS Medical Ethics & Patient Rights 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which element of informed consent ensures the patient understands what will happen during a procedure?
- Voluntariness
- Disclosure (Correct answer)
- Competency
- Authorization
Correct answer: Disclosure
Disclosure requires the provider to explain the procedure, risks, benefits, and alternatives in terms the patient can understand.
Question 2: The concept of justice in healthcare ethics most directly relates to:
- Keeping patient information private
- Fair distribution of healthcare resources and treatments (Correct answer)
- Following patient instructions without question
- Minimizing procedural risks
Correct answer: Fair distribution of healthcare resources and treatments
Justice requires equitable allocation of healthcare resources and consistent, nondiscriminatory treatment of all patients.
Question 3: A minor seeks treatment for a sexually transmitted infection without parental consent. Under most U.S. state laws, the provider should:
- Refuse treatment without parental consent
- Treat the minor and maintain confidentiality as permitted by law (Correct answer)
- Contact parents immediately before any treatment
- Report the minor to child protective services
Correct answer: Treat the minor and maintain confidentiality as permitted by law
Most states have minor consent laws allowing adolescents to receive STI treatment confidentially to encourage testing and care-seeking.
Question 4: Which action best demonstrates respect for patient dignity in a healthcare setting?
- Performing procedures quickly to minimize patient discomfort
- Knocking before entering and explaining each action to the patient (Correct answer)
- Limiting patient questions to reduce procedure time
- Using technical terminology to maintain professionalism
Correct answer: Knocking before entering and explaining each action to the patient
Knocking, explaining actions, and seeking permission demonstrates respect for patient personhood and autonomy.
Question 5: What is the ethical term for a patient's right to make decisions about their own body and medical care?
- Beneficence
- Veracity
- Autonomy (Correct answer)
- Fidelity
Correct answer: Autonomy
Autonomy is the ethical principle recognizing each patient's right to self-determination in matters of personal health and medical decisions.
Question 6: A nurse discovers that a colleague falsified a patient's medication records. The nurse's ethical and professional obligation is to:
- Speak privately with the colleague and take no further action
- Ignore the situation to avoid conflict
- Report the incident through appropriate channels per facility policy (Correct answer)
- Alter the records back to accurate information without reporting
Correct answer: Report the incident through appropriate channels per facility policy
Falsification of records endangers patient safety and must be reported through proper channels, as professional codes of ethics require accountability.
Question 7: Under the Patient Self-Determination Act, healthcare facilities that receive Medicare/Medicaid funding must:
- Assign a surrogate to every admitted patient
- Inform patients of their rights to execute advance directives (Correct answer)
- Require all patients to sign a DNR order
- Create advance directives on behalf of incapacitated patients
Correct answer: Inform patients of their rights to execute advance directives
The Patient Self-Determination Act requires federally funded facilities to advise patients of their right to make advance directives upon admission.
SHS Medical Ethics & Patient Rights 3
Which element of informed consent ensures the patient understands what will happen during a procedure?