Nurs 208 Quizgecko #1 PDF

1. Legal Responsibilities of a Nursing Student: Nursing students are legally responsible for providing safe, competent care while adhering to professional standards. Students must practice under supervision, act within their scope of practice, and follow both the institution's policies and...

1. Legal Responsibilities of a Nursing Student: Nursing students are legally responsible for providing safe, competent care while adhering to professional standards. Students must practice under supervision, act within their scope of practice, and follow both the institution's policies and the law. They must always seek clarification when unsure of tasks to avoid legal consequences, such as liability for negligence or malpractice. 2. Minimizing Opportunities for Liability: To minimize liability risks, nursing students should follow established protocols, document care accurately, obtain appropriate supervision, and practice within their knowledge and skills. They should also be proactive in asking for help and clarifying their responsibilities to prevent errors. 3. Criminal Background Checks: These checks are performed to ensure the safety of patients and coworkers. It verifies that nursing students do not have a criminal history that could pose a risk in a healthcare setting. 4. Student Nurse Role as a Paid Employee in a Health Care Agency: When working as a paid employee, student nurses must separate their employment from their role as a student nurse. They should only perform tasks they are authorized to do and not exceed their scope of practice based on their employment role. 5. Student Nurses and Chemical Dependency: Substance abuse among nurses, including students, is a serious issue. Schools and employers often have policies for identifying and assisting students with substance abuse problems, including providing resources for rehabilitation and support, while ensuring patient safety. 6. Informed Consent: Informed consent means that the patient has been fully informed about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of a treatment or procedure, and has voluntarily agreed to it. Nurses ensure the patient has enough information to make an informed decision, though the responsibility for obtaining consent typically lies with the provider. 7. A Humble Nurse: A humble nurse is self-aware, open to learning, acknowledges mistakes, and collaborates well with the healthcare team and patients. Humility fosters a positive and collaborative care environment. 8. Negligence (Unintentional Tort): Negligence is the failure to act as a reasonably prudent person would in the same situation. In nursing, it may occur when a nurse fails to meet the standard of care, causing harm to the patient. Examples include not following safety protocols, leading to injury. 9. Intentional Tort: An intentional tort involves deliberate actions that cause harm, such as assault (threat of harm) or battery (actual physical harm), or even false imprisonment (unlawfully restraining a patient without legal justification). 10. National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG): The NPSGs are initiatives set by The Joint Commission to improve patient safety. Examples include improving the accuracy of patient identification, improving the safety of using medications, and reducing the risk of healthcare-associated infections. 11. Acronym RACE (Rescue, Alarm, Contain, Extinguish): RACE is the standard procedure for dealing with fires in a healthcare setting. Nurses should prioritize rescuing patients, activating the fire alarm, containing the fire by closing doors, and extinguishing it if possible. 12. Acronym PASS (Pull, Aim, Squeeze, Sweep): PASS is the technique used for operating a fire extinguisher—pull the pin, aim at the base of the fire, squeeze the handle, and sweep side to side. 13. ACEMAPP Modules: ACEMAPP is an online learning system for healthcare students. It includes modules on infection control, HIPAA, OSHA standards, and safety protocols. 14. What a Nurse Cannot Delegate: Nurses cannot delegate tasks that require nursing judgment, critical thinking, or complex assessments, such as patient education, planning, or initial assessments. Tasks like vital signs monitoring or routine medication administration can be delegated under the right circumstances. 15. Five Rights of Delegation: These are: Right task, Right circumstance, Right person, Right direction/communication, and Right supervision/evaluation. Ensuring these criteria are met helps nurses safely delegate tasks to appropriate personnel. 16. Factors Impacting Safety: Safety can be influenced by various factors such as environmental hazards, the patient's mental and physical state, communication errors, and workplace issues like staffing levels. Nurses need to assess and mitigate risks continuously. 17. Safety Issues Nurses Must Be Alert For: These include patient falls, medication errors, infection risks, workplace violence, and safety hazards related to patient handling or environmental conditions. 18. Nurse’s Own Self-Care: Nurses must take care of themselves by managing stress, ensuring adequate rest, seeking support, and maintaining physical and mental health to provide safe, effective care for their patients. 19. Organizing Clinical Responsibilities: Nurses should prioritize tasks based on patient needs, such as assessing critically ill patients first, ensuring necessary medications are administered, and documenting care efficiently. Time management and organization are crucial for handling clinical workloads. 20. TeamSTEPPS: TeamSTEPPS is a system designed to improve team performance and communication in healthcare, enhancing patient outcomes. Tools like SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) help structure communication. 21. Acronyms CUS, SBAR, and I PASS THE BATON:  CUS: I am Concerned, I am Uncomfortable, This is a Safety issue. SBAR: Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation for structured communication. I PASS THE BATON: A handoff tool used to improve communication during transitions in care (Introduction, Patient, Assessment, Situation, Safety Concerns, Background, Actions, Timing, Ownership, Next steps).