Ethics in Public and Community Health
Nursing Practice 2024.
A man entered the emergency department bleeding profusely and screaming, "I've got
to see a doctor right now! I've got a right to see a doctor! I'm hurt. You have to take care
of me!" Which of the following premises would ethically justify such a demand for
immediate attention?
a. All hospitals receive federal money and all capable employed adults pay taxes, so all
adults have a right to what their tax money has purchased.
b. Saving an individual's life improves society and upholds tradition.
c. Our society believes that all persons should be treated equally and that basic needs,
such as not dying if death can be avoided, should be met.
d. The man has a property right to his own body, and the government is responsible to
ensure that property rights are protected. - *answers* ANS: C
A new nurse states to a nursing colleague, "But why do I have to be involved in politics?
I just want to be the very best clinical nurse I can." Which of the following would be the
best response from the nursing colleague?
a. "As long as you pay your membership fee to the American Nurses Association, you
have participated in the profession's political endeavors."
b. "Political action is the way you try to fulfill your ethical responsibilities to clients."
c. "You're absolutely right; if you are good clinically, you have fulfilled your obligation."
d. "When you've completed your clinical orientation, then you'll have time to be involved
in politics." - *answers* ANS: B
A nurse didn't know what to do when faced with a particular ethical dilemma because an
option that would have a good outcome didn't seem possible. The nurse decided to talk
to the agency supervisor and decide what action to take. Which of the following best
describes the nurse's actions?
a. Appropriate, because the supervisor is responsible for the nurse's choices
b. Intelligent, because the supervisor has access to resource persons (clergy,
physicians, administrators) who might know of options the nurse hadn't considered
c. Justified, because this provides an opportunity to discuss the issue but the nurse
maintains responsibility for the decision
d. Wise, because the supervisor would be more knowledgeable concerning agency
priorities and traditional practices - *answers* ANS: C
A nurse is asked to meet with a family who recently immigrated from Botswana (Africa).
After the physician tells the husband the wife's diagnosis of breast cancer, the family
, thanks the physician and starts to leave. Ethically, which of the following is the nurse's
most important action?
a. Emphasizing that the family must set up a surgical appointment for the wife
immediately
b. Assessing the family's current living situation, including insurance and other assets
c. Educating the family concerning the usual treatment and the prognosis of breast
cancer
d. Interviewing the family concerning their perspective of the threat to the family's well-
being - *answers* ANS: D
A physician refuses to order pain medication for a drug addict who has been severely
injured in a car accident. When reminded by nurses that pain medication has not been
ordered, the physician merely replies that the patient's suffering from the pain of his
injuries will build character and that the addicted patient needs to get off drugs. Which of
the following ethical theories is the physician using (or misusing)?
a. Consequentialism
b. Communitarianism
c. Deontological ethics
d. Virtue ethics - *answers* ANS: D
From an ethical standpoint, what is the problem with the belief that everyone should
receive his or her fair share, that life should always be fair, and that everyone should
make his or her own decisions?
a. With this belief, the needs of society as a whole are ignored.
b. Insufficient resources exist to give everyone a fair share.
c. This belief leads to a propensity for some people to like to be taken care of.
d. Some people think they deserve more than others. - *answers* ANS: A
How are ethics and public policies similar?
a. Both are abstract principles that often differ in actual practice.
b. Both are best achieved by persons in high political office who can effect change.
c. Both strive for the public good.
d. Both use general principles in making decisions - *answers* ANS: C
How can ethics be applied to public health nursing practice?
a. Ethics and actual nursing practice are not related.
b. Knowing ethics allows nurse to recognize the source of most problems.
c. Ethics is constantly involved in nurses' clinical decisions.
d. Although ethics is important, political and legal responsibilities are more important in
practice - *answers* ANS: C
Nursing Practice 2024.
A man entered the emergency department bleeding profusely and screaming, "I've got
to see a doctor right now! I've got a right to see a doctor! I'm hurt. You have to take care
of me!" Which of the following premises would ethically justify such a demand for
immediate attention?
a. All hospitals receive federal money and all capable employed adults pay taxes, so all
adults have a right to what their tax money has purchased.
b. Saving an individual's life improves society and upholds tradition.
c. Our society believes that all persons should be treated equally and that basic needs,
such as not dying if death can be avoided, should be met.
d. The man has a property right to his own body, and the government is responsible to
ensure that property rights are protected. - *answers* ANS: C
A new nurse states to a nursing colleague, "But why do I have to be involved in politics?
I just want to be the very best clinical nurse I can." Which of the following would be the
best response from the nursing colleague?
a. "As long as you pay your membership fee to the American Nurses Association, you
have participated in the profession's political endeavors."
b. "Political action is the way you try to fulfill your ethical responsibilities to clients."
c. "You're absolutely right; if you are good clinically, you have fulfilled your obligation."
d. "When you've completed your clinical orientation, then you'll have time to be involved
in politics." - *answers* ANS: B
A nurse didn't know what to do when faced with a particular ethical dilemma because an
option that would have a good outcome didn't seem possible. The nurse decided to talk
to the agency supervisor and decide what action to take. Which of the following best
describes the nurse's actions?
a. Appropriate, because the supervisor is responsible for the nurse's choices
b. Intelligent, because the supervisor has access to resource persons (clergy,
physicians, administrators) who might know of options the nurse hadn't considered
c. Justified, because this provides an opportunity to discuss the issue but the nurse
maintains responsibility for the decision
d. Wise, because the supervisor would be more knowledgeable concerning agency
priorities and traditional practices - *answers* ANS: C
A nurse is asked to meet with a family who recently immigrated from Botswana (Africa).
After the physician tells the husband the wife's diagnosis of breast cancer, the family
, thanks the physician and starts to leave. Ethically, which of the following is the nurse's
most important action?
a. Emphasizing that the family must set up a surgical appointment for the wife
immediately
b. Assessing the family's current living situation, including insurance and other assets
c. Educating the family concerning the usual treatment and the prognosis of breast
cancer
d. Interviewing the family concerning their perspective of the threat to the family's well-
being - *answers* ANS: D
A physician refuses to order pain medication for a drug addict who has been severely
injured in a car accident. When reminded by nurses that pain medication has not been
ordered, the physician merely replies that the patient's suffering from the pain of his
injuries will build character and that the addicted patient needs to get off drugs. Which of
the following ethical theories is the physician using (or misusing)?
a. Consequentialism
b. Communitarianism
c. Deontological ethics
d. Virtue ethics - *answers* ANS: D
From an ethical standpoint, what is the problem with the belief that everyone should
receive his or her fair share, that life should always be fair, and that everyone should
make his or her own decisions?
a. With this belief, the needs of society as a whole are ignored.
b. Insufficient resources exist to give everyone a fair share.
c. This belief leads to a propensity for some people to like to be taken care of.
d. Some people think they deserve more than others. - *answers* ANS: A
How are ethics and public policies similar?
a. Both are abstract principles that often differ in actual practice.
b. Both are best achieved by persons in high political office who can effect change.
c. Both strive for the public good.
d. Both use general principles in making decisions - *answers* ANS: C
How can ethics be applied to public health nursing practice?
a. Ethics and actual nursing practice are not related.
b. Knowing ethics allows nurse to recognize the source of most problems.
c. Ethics is constantly involved in nurses' clinical decisions.
d. Although ethics is important, political and legal responsibilities are more important in
practice - *answers* ANS: C
