Ethics & Advocacy - 2026 Professional Nursing Standards:
Exam 1 - Questions with Correct Answers
100 questions
1. A criticism of utilitarianism is that it may:
A. Ignore consequences
B. Justify harming individuals or minorities if overall benefit is greater
C. Overemphasize individual rights
D. Avoid decisions
Correct Answer: B. Justify harming individuals or minorities if overall benefit is greater
Rationale: Rights-based approaches counterbalance this concern. Justice limits harm to
individuals.
2. Nursing ethics differs from medical ethics in that it emphasizes:
A. Only rare dilemmas
B. The nurse-patient relationship, caring and the everyday ethical aspects of nursing work
C. Only physician decisions
D. Only legal compliance
Correct Answer: B. The nurse-patient relationship, caring and the everyday ethical aspects of
nursing work
Rationale: Nurses face everyday ethical issues. Relational ethics is central.
3. When ethical theories give different answers, nurses should:
A. Pick randomly
B. Choose the easiest option
C. Avoid deciding
D. Consider multiple perspectives and use a structured decision-making process
Correct Answer: D. Consider multiple perspectives and use a structured decision-making
process
Rationale: No single theory resolves every case. Reasoned deliberation is key.
,4. Ethical theories are useful in practice because they:
A. Give automatic answers
B. Replace clinical judgment
C. Provide structured ways to analyze and justify decisions
D. Are only academic
Correct Answer: C. Provide structured ways to analyze and justify decisions
Rationale: Theories organize reasoning. Application requires judgment.
5. Deontology (duty-based ethics) holds that:
A. Only outcomes matter
B. Character is all that matters
C. The rightness of an action depends on adherence to duties or rules, regardless of
consequences
D. Ethics is relative to culture
Correct Answer: C. The rightness of an action depends on adherence to duties or rules,
regardless of consequences
Rationale: Kant is the best-known deontologist. Truth-telling as a duty is an example.
6. Ethical relativism holds that:
A. There is one universal moral law
B. Ethics is scientific fact
C. Only laws determine morality
D. Moral judgments depend on culture or individual perspective and no universal standard
exists
Correct Answer: D. Moral judgments depend on culture or individual perspective and no
universal standard exists
Rationale: Relativism encourages tolerance but complicates condemning harmful practices.
Human rights frameworks counter extreme relativism.
,7. The ethics of care, associated with Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings, emphasizes:
A. Relationships, responsibilities and attentiveness to the needs of others
B. Abstract rules only
C. Maximizing utility only
D. Strict impartiality
Correct Answer: A. Relationships, responsibilities and attentiveness to the needs of others
Rationale: Care ethics fits nursing's relational focus. It values context and empathy.
8. Bioethics as a field emerged prominently in the:
A. 1500s
B. 1990s only
C. 1960s and 1970s, in response to medical advances and research abuses
D. 2020s
Correct Answer: C. 1960s and 1970s, in response to medical advances and research abuses
Rationale: Dialysis allocation, transplantation and research scandals spurred it. Nursing ethics
developed alongside.
9. Beneficence becomes problematic when it:
A. Promotes well-being
B. Prevents harm
C. Supports patients
D. Overrides patient choices without justification
Correct Answer: D. Overrides patient choices without justification
Rationale: Unchecked beneficence becomes paternalism. Balance with autonomy is needed.
, 10. A nurse who discovers a colleague falsifying documentation and reports it is acting on:
A. Loyalty to the colleague above all
B. Paternalism
C. Utility only
D. Veracity and accountability to patients and the profession
Correct Answer: D. Veracity and accountability to patients and the profession
Rationale: Honesty in records protects patients. Reporting is a professional duty.
11. Justice in health care ethics refers to:
A. Punishing wrongdoers
B. Following orders
C. Keeping secrets
D. Fair and equitable treatment and distribution of resources
Correct Answer: D. Fair and equitable treatment and distribution of resources
Rationale: Distributive justice concerns allocation. Procedural justice concerns fair processes.
12. Confidentiality as an ethical obligation requires nurses to:
A. Share information freely
B. Protect information shared in the professional relationship from unauthorized disclosure
C. Disclose to all family members
D. Post updates publicly
Correct Answer: B. Protect information shared in the professional relationship from
unauthorized disclosure
Rationale: Confidentiality supports trust. Legal exceptions exist.
Exam 1 - Questions with Correct Answers
100 questions
1. A criticism of utilitarianism is that it may:
A. Ignore consequences
B. Justify harming individuals or minorities if overall benefit is greater
C. Overemphasize individual rights
D. Avoid decisions
Correct Answer: B. Justify harming individuals or minorities if overall benefit is greater
Rationale: Rights-based approaches counterbalance this concern. Justice limits harm to
individuals.
2. Nursing ethics differs from medical ethics in that it emphasizes:
A. Only rare dilemmas
B. The nurse-patient relationship, caring and the everyday ethical aspects of nursing work
C. Only physician decisions
D. Only legal compliance
Correct Answer: B. The nurse-patient relationship, caring and the everyday ethical aspects of
nursing work
Rationale: Nurses face everyday ethical issues. Relational ethics is central.
3. When ethical theories give different answers, nurses should:
A. Pick randomly
B. Choose the easiest option
C. Avoid deciding
D. Consider multiple perspectives and use a structured decision-making process
Correct Answer: D. Consider multiple perspectives and use a structured decision-making
process
Rationale: No single theory resolves every case. Reasoned deliberation is key.
,4. Ethical theories are useful in practice because they:
A. Give automatic answers
B. Replace clinical judgment
C. Provide structured ways to analyze and justify decisions
D. Are only academic
Correct Answer: C. Provide structured ways to analyze and justify decisions
Rationale: Theories organize reasoning. Application requires judgment.
5. Deontology (duty-based ethics) holds that:
A. Only outcomes matter
B. Character is all that matters
C. The rightness of an action depends on adherence to duties or rules, regardless of
consequences
D. Ethics is relative to culture
Correct Answer: C. The rightness of an action depends on adherence to duties or rules,
regardless of consequences
Rationale: Kant is the best-known deontologist. Truth-telling as a duty is an example.
6. Ethical relativism holds that:
A. There is one universal moral law
B. Ethics is scientific fact
C. Only laws determine morality
D. Moral judgments depend on culture or individual perspective and no universal standard
exists
Correct Answer: D. Moral judgments depend on culture or individual perspective and no
universal standard exists
Rationale: Relativism encourages tolerance but complicates condemning harmful practices.
Human rights frameworks counter extreme relativism.
,7. The ethics of care, associated with Carol Gilligan and Nel Noddings, emphasizes:
A. Relationships, responsibilities and attentiveness to the needs of others
B. Abstract rules only
C. Maximizing utility only
D. Strict impartiality
Correct Answer: A. Relationships, responsibilities and attentiveness to the needs of others
Rationale: Care ethics fits nursing's relational focus. It values context and empathy.
8. Bioethics as a field emerged prominently in the:
A. 1500s
B. 1990s only
C. 1960s and 1970s, in response to medical advances and research abuses
D. 2020s
Correct Answer: C. 1960s and 1970s, in response to medical advances and research abuses
Rationale: Dialysis allocation, transplantation and research scandals spurred it. Nursing ethics
developed alongside.
9. Beneficence becomes problematic when it:
A. Promotes well-being
B. Prevents harm
C. Supports patients
D. Overrides patient choices without justification
Correct Answer: D. Overrides patient choices without justification
Rationale: Unchecked beneficence becomes paternalism. Balance with autonomy is needed.
, 10. A nurse who discovers a colleague falsifying documentation and reports it is acting on:
A. Loyalty to the colleague above all
B. Paternalism
C. Utility only
D. Veracity and accountability to patients and the profession
Correct Answer: D. Veracity and accountability to patients and the profession
Rationale: Honesty in records protects patients. Reporting is a professional duty.
11. Justice in health care ethics refers to:
A. Punishing wrongdoers
B. Following orders
C. Keeping secrets
D. Fair and equitable treatment and distribution of resources
Correct Answer: D. Fair and equitable treatment and distribution of resources
Rationale: Distributive justice concerns allocation. Procedural justice concerns fair processes.
12. Confidentiality as an ethical obligation requires nurses to:
A. Share information freely
B. Protect information shared in the professional relationship from unauthorized disclosure
C. Disclose to all family members
D. Post updates publicly
Correct Answer: B. Protect information shared in the professional relationship from
unauthorized disclosure
Rationale: Confidentiality supports trust. Legal exceptions exist.
