LEGAL ISSUES IN NURSING PRACTICE

1. The client returns to the unit from surgery with a blood pressure of 100/50, pulse 122, and
respirations 30. whch action by the nurse should receive priority?
a. Continue to monitor the vital signs
b. Contact the physician
c. Ask the client how he feels
d. Ask the LPN to continue the postop care

Answer B is correct.
The vital signs are abnormal and should be reported immediately. Continuing to monitor the
vital signs can result in deterioration of the client’s condition, so answer A is incorrect. Asking
the client how he feels would supply only subjective data, so answer C is incorrect. The LPN is
not the best nurse to be assigned to this client because he is unstable, so answer D is
incorrect.

2. The nurse is found to have charted blood glucose results without actually performing the
procedure. After talking to the nurse, the charge nurse should do which of the following
a. Call the board of nursing
b. File a formal reprimand and monitor the nurse
c. Terminate the nurse
d. Charge the nurse with a tort
Answer B is correct.
The next action after discussing the problem with the nurse is to document the incident. If the
behavior continues or if harm has resulted to the client, the nurse might be terminated and
reported to the board of nursing, so answer a, and c are incorrect. A tort is wrongful act to the
client or her belongings, so answer d is incorrect.

3. The charge nurse witnesses the nursing assistant being abusive to a client in the nursing home
facility. The nursing assistant can be charged with which of the following?
a. Negligence
b. Tort
c. Assault
d. Malpractice
Answer C is correct.
Assault is defined as striking or touching the client inappropriately. Negligence is failing to
perform care for the client, so answer A is incorrect. A tort is a wrongful act committed on the
client or his belongings, so answer B is incorrect. Malpractice is failing to perform an act that
the nurse knows shpuld be done or doing something wrong that causes harm to the client, so
answer D is incorrect.

4. The emergency room is flooded with clients injured in tornado. Which clients can be assigned to
share a room in the emergency departmen during the disaster?
a. A schizophrenic client having visual and auditory hallucination and the client with ulcerative
colitis.
b. The client who is six months pregnent with abdominal pain and the client with facial
lacerations and a broken arm
 c. A client whose pupils are fixed and dilated and his parents and client with a frontal head injury
d. The client who arrives with a large puncture wound to the abdomen and the client with chest
pain
Answer B is correct.
Out of all these client, it is best to hold the pregnant client. And the client with the broken arm
and faciel lacerration in the same room. The other clients need to be placed inseparate rooms,
so answer A,C, and D are incorrect.

5. The nurse is planning room assignments for the day. Which client should be assigned to the only
private room?
a. The client with Cushing’s disease
b. The client with Diabetes
c. The client with Acromegaly
d. The client with Myxedema
Answer A is correct.
The client with Cushing’s disease has adrenocortical hypersecretion. This increase in the
level of cortisone causes the client to be immunosuppressed. The client with diabetes poses
no risk to other clients and is not immunosuppressed, so answer B is incorrect. The client in
answer C, has an increase in growth hormone and poses no risk to himself or others, so the
answer is incorrect. The client in answer D has hyperthyroidism or myxedema and poses no
risk to others or himself, so it is incorrect.

6. Which assigment is outside the realm of nursing practice for the licensed practical nurse?
a. inserting a foley catheter
b. discontinuing a nasogatric tube
c. obtaining a sputum specimen
d. starting a blood transfusion
Answer D is correct.
The LPN can be assigned to insert Foley and French urinary chateters, discontinue Levin and
gavage tubes, and obtain all types of specimens.