Hard

A registered nurse in the United States finds that a patient has received the wrong medication. The patient is awake and has no symptoms. What should the nurse do first?

Correct answer: B. Assess the patient and notify the provider promptly

  • A. Complete an incident report before assessing the patient
  • B. Assess the patient and notify the provider promptly
  • C. Document that another nurse caused the error
  • D. Wait for symptoms before taking further action

Explanation

The nurse's first responsibility is to assess the patient for actual or potential harm and promptly notify the provider according to policy. The event is then reported through the facility's safety system and documented objectively in the health record. Blaming language and waiting for symptoms are unsafe.

Submitted by a TestUstad contributor and published by the TestUstad editorial teamLast updated
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About US Legal and Ethical Nursing Practice

US nursing law and ethics include state nurse practice acts, scope of practice, standards of care, negligence, malpractice, documentation, confidentiality under HIPAA and informed consent. Ethical reasoning applies autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice and fidelity to conflicts such as refusal of treatment, advance directives, privacy breaches and mandatory reporting, which are not the same as legal liability.

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