Ethics ANS: conduct and character
Values ANS: personal beliefs
Autonomy ANS: commitment to include patients in decisions
Beneficence ANS: taking positive actions to help others
Nonmaleficence ANS: avoidance of harm or hurt
Justice ANS: being fair
Fidelity ANS: agreement to keep promises
Responsibility ANS: willingness to respect one's professional obligations and to follow through. An
example is following an agency's policies and procedures.
Accountability ANS: the ability to answer for one's actions. You ensure that your professional actions
are explainable to your patients and your employer.
Veracity ANS: truthfulness
Assault ANS: an intentional threat toward another person that places the person in reasonable fear of
harmful, imminent, or unwelcome contact
Battery ANS: any intentional offensive touching without consent or lawful justification
,Ethical Dilemmas ANS: Step 1: Ask the question, Is this an ethical dilemma?
Step 2: Gather information relevant to the case. Patient, family, institutional, and social perspectives are
important sources of relevant information.
Step 3: Clarify values. Distinguish among fact, opinion, and values.
Step 4: Verbalize the problem. A clear, simple statement of the dilemma is not always easy, but it helps
to ensure effectiveness in the final plan and facilitates discussion.
Step 5: Identify possible courses of action.
Step 6: Negotiate a plan. Negotiation requires a confidence in one's own point of view and a deep
respect for the opinions of others.
Step 7: Evaluate the plan over time.
Issues in Healthcare #1 ANS: Quality of Life
Issues in Healthcare #2 ANS: Genetic Screening
Issues in Healthcare #3 ANS: Care at end of life
Issues in Healthcare #4 ANS: Access to care
The Joint Comission ANS: policy's on ways to keep patients safe
, Americans with Disabilities Act ANS: prohibits discrimination against the disabled
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act ANS: this act provides that, when a patient comes
to the emergency department or the hospital, an appropriate medical screening occurs within the
capacity of the hospital. If an emergency condition exists, staff must evaluate the patient and may not
discharge or transfer him or her until the patient's condition stabilizes.
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act ANS: An individual who is at least 18 years of age has the right to make an
organ donation
Patient Self-Determination Act ANS: A federal law passed in 1990 that requires hospitals and other
health care providers to provide written information to patients regarding their rights under state law to
make medical decisions and execute advance directives.
Advanced Directive ANS: include living wills, health care proxies, and durable powers of attorney for
health care
Living Will ANS: written documents that direct treatment in accordance with a patient's wishes in the
event of a terminal illness or condition. With this document a patient is able to declare which medical
procedures he or she wants or does not want when terminally ill or in a persistent vegetative state.
Durable Power of Attorney ANS: a legal document that designates a person or people of one's choosing
to make health care decisions when a patient is no longer able to make decisions on his or her own
behalf. This agent makes health care treatment decisions on the basis of the patient's wishes
Good Samaritan Law ANS: if you stop at the scene of an automobile accident and give appropriate
emergency care such as applying pressure to stop hemorrhage, you are acting within accepted
standards, even though proper equipment is not available. If the patient subsequently develops
complications as a result of your actions, you are immune from liability as long as you acted without
gross negligence. Must stay within scope of practice.