Ethical and Legal Issues in Canadian Nursing
UPDATED QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT
ANSWERS.
A priori principle - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Ethical principles considered to be prima facie; their
application may be relative to another principle that may have more weight or priority in a given
situation.
Abuse - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Not enough details are known about this situation to determine if abuse
of patient rights is definitely involved.
Accessing a friend's health records - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔It is inappropriate for nurses who are
outside of patients' 'circle of care' to access their health records.
Accidental Injury - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A nurse accidentally running a commode over a patient's foot
and bruising it is an unintentional event and does not constitute a tort.
Accommodations - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Adjustments made to respect a nurse's moral beliefs when
transferring patient care.
Accountability - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A primary nursing value, not an ethical principle.
Accountability - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Being accountable is one of the primary nursing values in the
Canadian Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses.
Act-based theories - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Consider individual acts.
Administrative tribunal - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A review board that is considered an administrative
tribunal, which is not a court in the strict sense.
,Adverse Reaction - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔An adverse reaction resulting from a medication error is an
example of negligence.
Alternatives in ethical decision-making - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔There can be more than one alternative
outcome presented by ethics committees.
Annual Evaluation - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Annual evaluation is not only the responsibility of the
employer, but nurses are also accountable and have the responsibility to regularly self-evaluate.
Appeal to an appellate court - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔In an appeal to an appellate court, there is no new
trial, only a review of the trial proceedings. There are no new witnesses called, and new evidence is
seldom heard.
Appellate court - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The highest level of provincial court.
Application of ethical principles - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Helps provide frameworks for ethical decision
making and is a component of the study of ethics.
Applied ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A specific field of ethics where theories and principles are
applied to actual moral problems to assist in guiding decision making.
Assault - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A nurse assaulting a patient is committing an intentional tort.
Assignment - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Means assigning skills or tasks that fall within an individual's scope
of practice.
Autonomous ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Not a recognized form of ethics; autonomy is an ethical
principle.
Autonomy - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The foundation of informed consent, allowing individuals to choose
their own path.
,Autonomy - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The hallmark ethical principle of informed consent, representing the
right to determine and act on a self-chosen plan.
Battery - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Legally, to touch another person without permission (which may be
implied) constitutes battery.
Battery in Nursing - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The nurse is liable for battery if the patient withdraws
consent during a procedure.
Belief - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔An individual feeling that something is true; the concept of equality is
not simply an individual belief but a societal value.
Beliefs and norms of a society - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Influence ethical perspectives and are explored
in the study of ethics.
Beneficence - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔An ethical principle involved in informed consent, but not the
hallmark principle.
Beneficence - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Holds that one must make a positive move to produce some good
or benefit for another; it is not the foundation of informed consent.
Beneficence - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Means taking an action that benefits others. This may be an
aspect of what a nurse is doing, but it does not directly describe the action of taking an unresolved
ethical situation forward.
Benefits of Procedure - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The positive outcomes or advantages that a patient may
gain from undergoing a medical procedure.
Biomedical ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Explores moral issues and ethical questions associated with
health care.
, Board of Directors - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Responsible for the day-to-day governance of the affairs of
the regulatory body.
Breach of Duty - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The defendant must have breached that duty and failed to
discharge the standard of care required by law.
Broader societal inequalities - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Broader societal inequalities may be addressed by
approaches promoted by the ethical endeavours section of the Code of Ethics, but this statement is not
a description of ethical responsibilities.
Canada Health Act authority - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The statement that the federal government is
given authority over health care in Canada is false; health care is a provincial responsibility.
Canadian Nurses Association - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A national organization that promotes and
advances nursing regulation issues.
Canadian Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔It offers a
framework and guide for ethical practice.
Canadian value of open visiting - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Ensuring open visiting for those individuals
important to the person is an expression of a Canadian value.
Canadians' values - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Canadians value equity, individual rights, health and well-
being, quality of life, and human dignity.
Caring ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Considers the influence of the nurse-patient relationship on
ethical decision making, emphasizing care and reducing human suffering.
Caring ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Such approaches, not rule-based theories, are the foundation of
nursing ethics.
Case law - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A collection of legal rules and principles based on precedents.
UPDATED QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT
ANSWERS.
A priori principle - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Ethical principles considered to be prima facie; their
application may be relative to another principle that may have more weight or priority in a given
situation.
Abuse - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Not enough details are known about this situation to determine if abuse
of patient rights is definitely involved.
Accessing a friend's health records - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔It is inappropriate for nurses who are
outside of patients' 'circle of care' to access their health records.
Accidental Injury - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A nurse accidentally running a commode over a patient's foot
and bruising it is an unintentional event and does not constitute a tort.
Accommodations - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Adjustments made to respect a nurse's moral beliefs when
transferring patient care.
Accountability - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A primary nursing value, not an ethical principle.
Accountability - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Being accountable is one of the primary nursing values in the
Canadian Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses.
Act-based theories - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Consider individual acts.
Administrative tribunal - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A review board that is considered an administrative
tribunal, which is not a court in the strict sense.
,Adverse Reaction - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔An adverse reaction resulting from a medication error is an
example of negligence.
Alternatives in ethical decision-making - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔There can be more than one alternative
outcome presented by ethics committees.
Annual Evaluation - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Annual evaluation is not only the responsibility of the
employer, but nurses are also accountable and have the responsibility to regularly self-evaluate.
Appeal to an appellate court - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔In an appeal to an appellate court, there is no new
trial, only a review of the trial proceedings. There are no new witnesses called, and new evidence is
seldom heard.
Appellate court - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The highest level of provincial court.
Application of ethical principles - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Helps provide frameworks for ethical decision
making and is a component of the study of ethics.
Applied ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A specific field of ethics where theories and principles are
applied to actual moral problems to assist in guiding decision making.
Assault - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A nurse assaulting a patient is committing an intentional tort.
Assignment - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Means assigning skills or tasks that fall within an individual's scope
of practice.
Autonomous ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Not a recognized form of ethics; autonomy is an ethical
principle.
Autonomy - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The foundation of informed consent, allowing individuals to choose
their own path.
,Autonomy - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The hallmark ethical principle of informed consent, representing the
right to determine and act on a self-chosen plan.
Battery - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Legally, to touch another person without permission (which may be
implied) constitutes battery.
Battery in Nursing - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The nurse is liable for battery if the patient withdraws
consent during a procedure.
Belief - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔An individual feeling that something is true; the concept of equality is
not simply an individual belief but a societal value.
Beliefs and norms of a society - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Influence ethical perspectives and are explored
in the study of ethics.
Beneficence - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔An ethical principle involved in informed consent, but not the
hallmark principle.
Beneficence - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Holds that one must make a positive move to produce some good
or benefit for another; it is not the foundation of informed consent.
Beneficence - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Means taking an action that benefits others. This may be an
aspect of what a nurse is doing, but it does not directly describe the action of taking an unresolved
ethical situation forward.
Benefits of Procedure - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The positive outcomes or advantages that a patient may
gain from undergoing a medical procedure.
Biomedical ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Explores moral issues and ethical questions associated with
health care.
, Board of Directors - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Responsible for the day-to-day governance of the affairs of
the regulatory body.
Breach of Duty - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The defendant must have breached that duty and failed to
discharge the standard of care required by law.
Broader societal inequalities - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Broader societal inequalities may be addressed by
approaches promoted by the ethical endeavours section of the Code of Ethics, but this statement is not
a description of ethical responsibilities.
Canada Health Act authority - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔The statement that the federal government is
given authority over health care in Canada is false; health care is a provincial responsibility.
Canadian Nurses Association - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A national organization that promotes and
advances nursing regulation issues.
Canadian Nurses Association's Code of Ethics for Registered Nurses - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔It offers a
framework and guide for ethical practice.
Canadian value of open visiting - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Ensuring open visiting for those individuals
important to the person is an expression of a Canadian value.
Canadians' values - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Canadians value equity, individual rights, health and well-
being, quality of life, and human dignity.
Caring ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Considers the influence of the nurse-patient relationship on
ethical decision making, emphasizing care and reducing human suffering.
Caring ethics - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔Such approaches, not rule-based theories, are the foundation of
nursing ethics.
Case law - CORRECT ANSWERS✔✔A collection of legal rules and principles based on precedents.
