And Answers
Standards: ANS communicate the EXPECTATIONS of safe and effective nursing practice within the scope
of the practice. (regulated by the Board of Nursing)
Algorithms: ANS a stepwise decision-making flowchart for a specific care process or processes.
Algorithms guide the clinician through the "if, then" decision making process
Practice Guidelines: ANS usually created by an expert panel and developed by a professional organization.
Typically written in text prose style rather than a flowchart.
Protocols: ANS a common tool in research studies. Protocols are more directive and rigid than guidelines,
and providers are not supposed to vary from a protocol. Built in alerts signal the provider to potentially serious
problems.
What is the AACN and what does it do? ANS The AACN is the American Association of Critical-Care
Nurses, most closely associated with critical care nurses. The world's largest specialty nursing organization
created in 1969. Develops and administers many critical care specialty certifications examination for registered
nurses. Created the beacon of excellence reward for exceptional care through improved outcomes and greater
overall satisfaction.
Nursing process: what is it? ANS Assess, Diagnose, Planning, Implementing, Evaluating
Components of evidence-based practice: ANS Evidence-based nursing practice considers the BEST
RESEARCH EVIDENCE on the care topic, along with CLINICAL EXPERTISE of the nurse, and PATIENT
PREFERENCE. AANC has promulgated several EBP summaries in the form of a "practice alert"
Respect for persons/autonomy: ANS honor the patients right to autonomy or to self-determine a course of
action without coercion or undue interference from others.
Beneficence and non-maleficence: ANS actions that maximize good and minimize harm to the patient,
often in a delicate balance.
, Veracity: ANS the quality of being truthful, a principle that underlies a trusting relationship between nurse
and patient
Fidelity: ANS an essential aspect of nursing, is the quality of keeping commitments and includes
commitments to confidentiality and privacy; it is based on the virtue of caring.
Justice: ANS equitable distribution of limited resources (usually organs for transplant, access to healthcare,
which is not a constitutional right)
8 Steps in the ethical decision making model: ANS 1. Identify health problems
2. Define the ethical issue(s)
3. Gather additional information (contextual data, useful information)
4. Identify the stakeholders and delineate the decision-maker
5. Examine ethical norms and other relevant norms (personal values, beliefs, moral convictions of all involved
in the decision process should be examined as they may inappropriately influence decisions away from the
values and preferences of the patient)
6. Explore alternative options
7. Implement decisions/Act
8. Evaluate and modify actions
Torts: ANS civil lawsuits based on unintentional acts (failure to act or negligence that results in harm) or
intentional acts, such as assault, battery, or defamation.
Ordinary Negligence: ANS failing to act as a reasonably prudent person would under similar
circumstances: 1) duty to another person 2) breach of that duty 3) harm that would not have occurred in the
absence of the breach (causation), 4) damages that have a monetary value
Professional Malpractice: ANS malpractice requires the alleged wrongdoer to have special standing as
professional
Breach: ANS failure to act within applicable standards of care
Professional Malpractice and the Nursing Process: ANS • Assessment failure: failure to assess and analyze
the level of care needed by the patient