BSN 111 FINAL EXAM PRACTICE QUESTIONS | BSN 111 FINAL EXAM
STUDY GUIDE | NURSING QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2026/2027
Four patients in labor all request epidural analgesia to manage their pain at the same time. Which ethical
principle is compromised when only one nurse anesthetist is on call?
A. Justice
B. Nonmaleficence
C. Beneficence
D. Fidelity - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Justice refers to fairness and is used frequently in discussion regarding access to health care resources.
Here the just distribution of resources, in this case pain management, cannot be justly apportioned.
The patient tells the nurse that she is afraid to speak up regarding her desire to end care for fear of
upsetting her husband and children. Which principle in the nursing code of ethics ensures that the nurse
will promote the patient's cause?
A. Responsibility
B. Advocacy
C. Confidentiality
D. Accountability - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Nurses advocate for patients when they support the patient's cause. A nurse's ability to adequate
advocate for a patient is based on the unique relationship that develops and the opportunity to better
understand the patient's point of view.
The patient's son requests to view the documentation in his mother's medical record. What is the
nurse's best response to this request?
A."I'll be happy to get that for you."
B. "You will have to talk to the physician about that."
C."You will need your mother's permission."
D."You are not allowed to see it. - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
The nurse understands that sharing health information is governed by HIPAA legislation, which defines
rights and privileges of patients for protection of privacy. Private health information cannot be shared
without the patient's specific permission.
When people work together to solve ethical dilemmas, individuals must examine their own values. This
step is crucial to ensure that
A. The group identifies the one correct solution.
B. Fact is separated from opinion.
C. Judgmental attitudes are not provoked.
D. Different perspectives are respected - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
Values are personal beliefs that influence opinions. To be able to negotiate differences in opinions, the
nurse must first be clear about personal values, which will influence behaviors, decisions, and actions.
Ethical dilemmas are common occurrences when caring for patients. The nurse understands that
dilemmas are a result of
A. Presence of conflicting values.
B. Hierarchical systems.
,C. Judgmental perceptions of patients.
D. Poor communication with the patient. - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
The nurse questions a physician's order to administer a placebo to the patient. The nurse's action is
based on which ethical principle?
A. Autonomy
B. Beneficence
C. Justice
D. Fidelity - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Autonomy refers to the freedom to make decisions free of external control. In this case, the nurse
questions the physician's order for a placebo because it supports the patient's autonomy.
The nurse finds it difficult to care for a patient whose advance directive states that no extraordinary
resuscitation measures should be taken. Which step may help the nurse to find resolution in this
assignment?
A. Call for an ethical committee consult.
B. Decline the assignment on religious grounds.
C. Scrutinize her own personal values.
D. Convince the family to challenge the directive - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
Values develop over time and are influenced by family, schools, religious traditions, and life experiences.
The nurse must recognize that no two humans have the same set of experiences, and so differences in
values are more likely the norm than the exception.
The nurse values autonomy above all other principles. Which patient assignment will the nurse find most
difficult to accept?
A. Teenager in labor who requests epidural anesthesia
B. Middle-aged father of three with an advance directive declining life support
C. Elderly patient who requires dialysis
D. Family elder who is making the decisions for a 30-year-old female member - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
Autonomy refers to freedom from external control. A person who values autonomy highly may find it
difficult to accept situations where the patient is not the primary decision maker regarding his or her
care. A teenager requesting an epidural, a father with an advanced directive, and an elderly patient
requiring dialysis all describe a patient or family that can make their own decisions and choices regarding
care
Which philosophy of healthcare ethics would be particularly useful when making ethical decisions about
vulnerable populations?
A. Feminist ethics
B. Deontology
C. Bioethics
D. Utilitarianism - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Feminist ethics particularly focuses on the nature of relationships, especially those where there is a
power imbalance or a point of view that is not routinely accepted.
A nurse argues that we need to reform our healthcare system because we have a large number of people
who are uninsured and end up needing expensive emergent care when low-cost measures could have
prevented their illnesses. What ethical framework is she using to make this case?
A. Deontology
,B. Ethics of care
C. Feminist ethics
D. Utilitarianism - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
Utilitarianism is a system of ethics that believes that value is determined by usefulness. This system of
ethics focuses on the outcome of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
The nurse has become aware of missing narcotics in the patient care area. Which ethical principle
obligates the nurse to report the missing medications?
A. Advocacy
B. Responsibility
C. Confidentiality
D. Accountability - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Responsibility refers to one's willingness to respect and adhere to one's professional obligations. One of
the obligations nursing has is to protect patients and communities, including other nurses.
A young woman who is pregnant with a fetus exposed to multiple teratogens consents to have her fetus
undergo serial PUBS (percutaneous umbilical blood sampling) to examine how exposure affects the fetus
over time. Although these tests will not improve the fetus' outcomes and will expose it to some risks, the
information gathered may help infants in the future.Which ethical principle is at greatest risk?
A. Autonomy
B. Fidelity
C. Nonmaleficence
D. Beneficence - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
Nonmaleficence is the ethical principle that focuses on avoidance of harm or hurt. The nurse must
balance risks and benefits of care. Repeated PUBS may place the mother and fetus at risk for infection
and increased pain, and may place the mother at risk for increased emotional health stress.
Which issue has increased the attention paid to quality of life concerns in recent history?
A. Health care disparities
B. National movement regarding disabled persons
C. Aging of the population
D. Health care financial reform - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Quality of life (QOL) is often at the center of ethical dilemmas, including futile care and DNR discussions,
and has been reshaped in the United States.
Which patient is most likely to have difficulty with the ethical concept of autonomy?
A. 18-year-old patient in labor
B. 35-year-old patient with appendicitis
C. 53-year-old patient with pancreatitis
D. 78-year-old patient with rheumatoid arthritis - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
The principle of autonomy refers to freedom from external control and includes commitment to include
patients in decisions about their care. People from different generations have differing expectations
regarding inclusion in their care. Often, patients who are part of the Silent Generation (born 1925-1945)
value formality and authority, which may make them less comfortable with making their own healthcare
decisions.
The nurse is caring for a severely ill patient with AIDS who now requires ventilator support.Which
intervention is considered futile?
, A. Administering the influenza vaccine
B. Providing oral care every 5 hours
C. Applying fentanyl patches prn for pain
D. Supporting the patient's lower extremities with pillows - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Futile refers to something that is hopeless or serves no useful purpose and in nursing refers to
interventions that are unlikely to produce benefit for the patient. Care delivered to a patient at the end
of life is focused on pain management and comfort measures.
During a severe respiratory epidemic, the local health care organizations decide to give healthcare
providers priority access to ventilators over other members of the community who alsoneed that
resource. Which philosophy would give the strongest support for this decision?
A. Feminist ethics
B. Utilitarianism
C. Deontology
D. Ethics of care - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Focusing on the greatest good for the most people, the organizations decide to ensure that as many
health care workers as possible will survive to care for other members of the community.
Determinations regarding quality of life are
A. Based on a person's ability to act according to ethical principles.
B. Based on a patient's self-determination.
C. Value judgments that can vary from person to person.
D. Consistent and stable over the course of one's lifetime - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
Determinations regarding quality of life are value judgments. This means that they are judgments based
on what individuals believe is desirable. Beliefs about what people find desirable vary from person to
person
A nurse is experiencing an ethical dilemma with a patient. Which information indicates the nurse has a
correct understanding of the primary cause of ethical dilemmas?
A. Unequal power
B. Presence of conflicting values
C. Judgmental perceptions of patients
D. Poor communication with the patient - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Ethical dilemmas almost always occur in the presence of conflicting values.
The nurse questions a health care provider's decision to not tell the patient about a cancer diagnosis.
Which ethical principle is the nurse trying to uphold for the patient?
A. Consequentialism
B. Autonomy
C. Fidelity
D. Justice - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
The nurse is upholding autonomy. Autonomy refers to the freedom to make decisions free of external
control.Respect for patient autonomy refers to the commitment to include patients in decisions about all
aspects of care.
A nurse must make an ethical decision concerning vulnerable patient populations. Which philosophy of
health care ethics would be particularly useful for this nurse?
A. Teleology
STUDY GUIDE | NURSING QUESTIONS & ANSWERS 2026/2027
Four patients in labor all request epidural analgesia to manage their pain at the same time. Which ethical
principle is compromised when only one nurse anesthetist is on call?
A. Justice
B. Nonmaleficence
C. Beneficence
D. Fidelity - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Justice refers to fairness and is used frequently in discussion regarding access to health care resources.
Here the just distribution of resources, in this case pain management, cannot be justly apportioned.
The patient tells the nurse that she is afraid to speak up regarding her desire to end care for fear of
upsetting her husband and children. Which principle in the nursing code of ethics ensures that the nurse
will promote the patient's cause?
A. Responsibility
B. Advocacy
C. Confidentiality
D. Accountability - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Nurses advocate for patients when they support the patient's cause. A nurse's ability to adequate
advocate for a patient is based on the unique relationship that develops and the opportunity to better
understand the patient's point of view.
The patient's son requests to view the documentation in his mother's medical record. What is the
nurse's best response to this request?
A."I'll be happy to get that for you."
B. "You will have to talk to the physician about that."
C."You will need your mother's permission."
D."You are not allowed to see it. - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
The nurse understands that sharing health information is governed by HIPAA legislation, which defines
rights and privileges of patients for protection of privacy. Private health information cannot be shared
without the patient's specific permission.
When people work together to solve ethical dilemmas, individuals must examine their own values. This
step is crucial to ensure that
A. The group identifies the one correct solution.
B. Fact is separated from opinion.
C. Judgmental attitudes are not provoked.
D. Different perspectives are respected - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
Values are personal beliefs that influence opinions. To be able to negotiate differences in opinions, the
nurse must first be clear about personal values, which will influence behaviors, decisions, and actions.
Ethical dilemmas are common occurrences when caring for patients. The nurse understands that
dilemmas are a result of
A. Presence of conflicting values.
B. Hierarchical systems.
,C. Judgmental perceptions of patients.
D. Poor communication with the patient. - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
The nurse questions a physician's order to administer a placebo to the patient. The nurse's action is
based on which ethical principle?
A. Autonomy
B. Beneficence
C. Justice
D. Fidelity - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Autonomy refers to the freedom to make decisions free of external control. In this case, the nurse
questions the physician's order for a placebo because it supports the patient's autonomy.
The nurse finds it difficult to care for a patient whose advance directive states that no extraordinary
resuscitation measures should be taken. Which step may help the nurse to find resolution in this
assignment?
A. Call for an ethical committee consult.
B. Decline the assignment on religious grounds.
C. Scrutinize her own personal values.
D. Convince the family to challenge the directive - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
Values develop over time and are influenced by family, schools, religious traditions, and life experiences.
The nurse must recognize that no two humans have the same set of experiences, and so differences in
values are more likely the norm than the exception.
The nurse values autonomy above all other principles. Which patient assignment will the nurse find most
difficult to accept?
A. Teenager in labor who requests epidural anesthesia
B. Middle-aged father of three with an advance directive declining life support
C. Elderly patient who requires dialysis
D. Family elder who is making the decisions for a 30-year-old female member - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
Autonomy refers to freedom from external control. A person who values autonomy highly may find it
difficult to accept situations where the patient is not the primary decision maker regarding his or her
care. A teenager requesting an epidural, a father with an advanced directive, and an elderly patient
requiring dialysis all describe a patient or family that can make their own decisions and choices regarding
care
Which philosophy of healthcare ethics would be particularly useful when making ethical decisions about
vulnerable populations?
A. Feminist ethics
B. Deontology
C. Bioethics
D. Utilitarianism - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Feminist ethics particularly focuses on the nature of relationships, especially those where there is a
power imbalance or a point of view that is not routinely accepted.
A nurse argues that we need to reform our healthcare system because we have a large number of people
who are uninsured and end up needing expensive emergent care when low-cost measures could have
prevented their illnesses. What ethical framework is she using to make this case?
A. Deontology
,B. Ethics of care
C. Feminist ethics
D. Utilitarianism - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
Utilitarianism is a system of ethics that believes that value is determined by usefulness. This system of
ethics focuses on the outcome of the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
The nurse has become aware of missing narcotics in the patient care area. Which ethical principle
obligates the nurse to report the missing medications?
A. Advocacy
B. Responsibility
C. Confidentiality
D. Accountability - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Responsibility refers to one's willingness to respect and adhere to one's professional obligations. One of
the obligations nursing has is to protect patients and communities, including other nurses.
A young woman who is pregnant with a fetus exposed to multiple teratogens consents to have her fetus
undergo serial PUBS (percutaneous umbilical blood sampling) to examine how exposure affects the fetus
over time. Although these tests will not improve the fetus' outcomes and will expose it to some risks, the
information gathered may help infants in the future.Which ethical principle is at greatest risk?
A. Autonomy
B. Fidelity
C. Nonmaleficence
D. Beneficence - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
Nonmaleficence is the ethical principle that focuses on avoidance of harm or hurt. The nurse must
balance risks and benefits of care. Repeated PUBS may place the mother and fetus at risk for infection
and increased pain, and may place the mother at risk for increased emotional health stress.
Which issue has increased the attention paid to quality of life concerns in recent history?
A. Health care disparities
B. National movement regarding disabled persons
C. Aging of the population
D. Health care financial reform - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Quality of life (QOL) is often at the center of ethical dilemmas, including futile care and DNR discussions,
and has been reshaped in the United States.
Which patient is most likely to have difficulty with the ethical concept of autonomy?
A. 18-year-old patient in labor
B. 35-year-old patient with appendicitis
C. 53-year-old patient with pancreatitis
D. 78-year-old patient with rheumatoid arthritis - ANS ✔✔ANS: D
The principle of autonomy refers to freedom from external control and includes commitment to include
patients in decisions about their care. People from different generations have differing expectations
regarding inclusion in their care. Often, patients who are part of the Silent Generation (born 1925-1945)
value formality and authority, which may make them less comfortable with making their own healthcare
decisions.
The nurse is caring for a severely ill patient with AIDS who now requires ventilator support.Which
intervention is considered futile?
, A. Administering the influenza vaccine
B. Providing oral care every 5 hours
C. Applying fentanyl patches prn for pain
D. Supporting the patient's lower extremities with pillows - ANS ✔✔ANS: A
Futile refers to something that is hopeless or serves no useful purpose and in nursing refers to
interventions that are unlikely to produce benefit for the patient. Care delivered to a patient at the end
of life is focused on pain management and comfort measures.
During a severe respiratory epidemic, the local health care organizations decide to give healthcare
providers priority access to ventilators over other members of the community who alsoneed that
resource. Which philosophy would give the strongest support for this decision?
A. Feminist ethics
B. Utilitarianism
C. Deontology
D. Ethics of care - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Focusing on the greatest good for the most people, the organizations decide to ensure that as many
health care workers as possible will survive to care for other members of the community.
Determinations regarding quality of life are
A. Based on a person's ability to act according to ethical principles.
B. Based on a patient's self-determination.
C. Value judgments that can vary from person to person.
D. Consistent and stable over the course of one's lifetime - ANS ✔✔ANS: C
Determinations regarding quality of life are value judgments. This means that they are judgments based
on what individuals believe is desirable. Beliefs about what people find desirable vary from person to
person
A nurse is experiencing an ethical dilemma with a patient. Which information indicates the nurse has a
correct understanding of the primary cause of ethical dilemmas?
A. Unequal power
B. Presence of conflicting values
C. Judgmental perceptions of patients
D. Poor communication with the patient - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
Ethical dilemmas almost always occur in the presence of conflicting values.
The nurse questions a health care provider's decision to not tell the patient about a cancer diagnosis.
Which ethical principle is the nurse trying to uphold for the patient?
A. Consequentialism
B. Autonomy
C. Fidelity
D. Justice - ANS ✔✔ANS: B
The nurse is upholding autonomy. Autonomy refers to the freedom to make decisions free of external
control.Respect for patient autonomy refers to the commitment to include patients in decisions about all
aspects of care.
A nurse must make an ethical decision concerning vulnerable patient populations. Which philosophy of
health care ethics would be particularly useful for this nurse?
A. Teleology
