Chapter 5: Legal and Ethical
Responsibilities Test Questions with
Actual Detailed Answers 2025-2026
Updated.
Abuse - Answer Any care that results in physical harm or pain; or mental anguish. Ex./
Physical abuse, like depriving a patient of food and water.
Advance Directives - Answer A legal document designed to indicate a person's wishes
regarding care in case of a terminal illness or during the dying process.
Agent - Answer Someone who has the power or authority to act as the representative of
another.
Assault - Answer Physical or verbal attack on another person; treatment of care given to a
person without obtaining proper consent. Ex./ Threatening a patient.
Battery - Answer Unlawfully touching another person without that person's consent. Ex./
Improper handling or rough treatment of a patient while providing care.
Civil Law - Answer Laws that focus on legal responsibilities between people and the
protection of a person's rights. In healthcare, it usually involves torts and contracts.
Confidentiality - Answer Not to be shared or told; to be held in confidence, or kept to
oneself.
Contract - Answer An agreement between two or more persons.
Criminal Law - Answer Law that focuses on behavior known as crime; deals with the wrongs
against a person, property, or society.
Defamation - Answer Slander or libel; a false statement that causes ridicule of damage to a
reputation. Ex./ Reporting that a patient has an infectious disease to a government agency
when laboratory results are inaccurate.
, Expressed Contracts - Answer A contract or an agreement that is stated in distinct and clear
language, either orally or in writing.
False Imprisonment - Answer Restraining an individual or restricting an individual's freedom.
Ex./ Keeping a patient hospitalized against their will.
Health Care Records - Answer Also considered privileged communications; contain
information about the care provided to the patient. They belong to the health care provider, but
the patient has the right to obtain a copy of any of the information.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - Answer Set of federal
regulations adopted to protect the confidentiality of patient information and the ability to retain
health insurance coverage.
Implied Contracts - Answer A contract or agreement that creates obligations without
verbally expressed terms.
Informed Consent - Answer Permission granted voluntarily by a person who is sound mind
and aware of all factors involved.
Invasion of Privacy - Answer Revealing personal information about an individual without his
or her consent. Ex./ Improperly draping or covering a patient during a procedure so that other
patients or personnel can see the patient exposed.
Legal - Answer Authorized or based on law.
Legal Disability - Answer A condition in which a person does not have a legal capacity and is
therefore unable to enter into a legal agreement (for example, in the case with a minor).
Libel - Answer False written statement that causes a person ridicule or contempt or causes
damage to the person's reputation. A form of defamation.
Living Will - Answer A legal document stating a person's desires on what measures should or
should not be taken to prolong life when his or her condition is terminal. Must be signed when
individual is competent and witnessed by 2 adults who cannot benefit from the death.
Frequently results in a DNR order for the terminally ill.
Responsibilities Test Questions with
Actual Detailed Answers 2025-2026
Updated.
Abuse - Answer Any care that results in physical harm or pain; or mental anguish. Ex./
Physical abuse, like depriving a patient of food and water.
Advance Directives - Answer A legal document designed to indicate a person's wishes
regarding care in case of a terminal illness or during the dying process.
Agent - Answer Someone who has the power or authority to act as the representative of
another.
Assault - Answer Physical or verbal attack on another person; treatment of care given to a
person without obtaining proper consent. Ex./ Threatening a patient.
Battery - Answer Unlawfully touching another person without that person's consent. Ex./
Improper handling or rough treatment of a patient while providing care.
Civil Law - Answer Laws that focus on legal responsibilities between people and the
protection of a person's rights. In healthcare, it usually involves torts and contracts.
Confidentiality - Answer Not to be shared or told; to be held in confidence, or kept to
oneself.
Contract - Answer An agreement between two or more persons.
Criminal Law - Answer Law that focuses on behavior known as crime; deals with the wrongs
against a person, property, or society.
Defamation - Answer Slander or libel; a false statement that causes ridicule of damage to a
reputation. Ex./ Reporting that a patient has an infectious disease to a government agency
when laboratory results are inaccurate.
, Expressed Contracts - Answer A contract or an agreement that is stated in distinct and clear
language, either orally or in writing.
False Imprisonment - Answer Restraining an individual or restricting an individual's freedom.
Ex./ Keeping a patient hospitalized against their will.
Health Care Records - Answer Also considered privileged communications; contain
information about the care provided to the patient. They belong to the health care provider, but
the patient has the right to obtain a copy of any of the information.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) - Answer Set of federal
regulations adopted to protect the confidentiality of patient information and the ability to retain
health insurance coverage.
Implied Contracts - Answer A contract or agreement that creates obligations without
verbally expressed terms.
Informed Consent - Answer Permission granted voluntarily by a person who is sound mind
and aware of all factors involved.
Invasion of Privacy - Answer Revealing personal information about an individual without his
or her consent. Ex./ Improperly draping or covering a patient during a procedure so that other
patients or personnel can see the patient exposed.
Legal - Answer Authorized or based on law.
Legal Disability - Answer A condition in which a person does not have a legal capacity and is
therefore unable to enter into a legal agreement (for example, in the case with a minor).
Libel - Answer False written statement that causes a person ridicule or contempt or causes
damage to the person's reputation. A form of defamation.
Living Will - Answer A legal document stating a person's desires on what measures should or
should not be taken to prolong life when his or her condition is terminal. Must be signed when
individual is competent and witnessed by 2 adults who cannot benefit from the death.
Frequently results in a DNR order for the terminally ill.
