Test 1 Nursing Study Guide: Core Concepts

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the study guide transcript covering accountability, legal issues, clinical decision making, evidence-based practice, and nursing ethics.

Accountability

Answering for your own actions and being responsible professionally and legally for the type and quality of nursing provided.

State NPA (Nurse Practice Act)

State law that defines a nurse's role and scope of practice, which differs from state to state.

Documentation

Legal evidence of care provided that protects both the nurse and the patient and can be used in court proceedings.

Malpractice

Failure to meet a legal duty causing harm.

Negligence

Absence of care.

Four Elements of Malpractice

The required components for malpractice to occur: Duty, Breach of duty, Harm, and Damages.

Duty

The existence of a nurse-patient relationship.

Breach of Duty

Failure to meet the standard of care.

Mandatory Reporting

The legal obligation under law to report child, elderly, or handicapped abuse.

Clinical Judgement

The ability to make decisions and solve problems by making sense of information in a situation.

ADPIE

An acronym standing for Assess, Diagnose, Plan, Implement, Evaluate, which is used for emphasizing assessment, making decisions, acting, and evaluating outcomes.

Assessment (ADPIE)

Observing and assessing presenting situations, collecting and analyzing data about changes in patient condition, and drawing on theoretical and interprofessional knowledge.

Diagnose (ADPIE)

Identifying a patient's prioritized concern, recognizing new and potential problems, and using clinical problems as the basis for selecting nursing interventions.

Plan (ADPIE)

Generating the best possible evidence-based solutions, planning nursing strategies, and considering patient and caregiver concerns.

Implement (ADPIE)

Making decisions needed to deliver safe patient care, taking immediate action when condition worsens, and investigating all aspects of clinical problems.

Evaluation (ADPIE)

Assessing whether outcomes were met, reviewing the process if not met, and revising diagnoses, outcomes, and interventions as needed.

ABC Steps

Airway, breathing, and circulation, used alongside Maslow's basic needs to determine patient priority.

Medical Implications

Factors relating to the disease process itself, including pathophysiology, diagnostic findings, and medical treatments.

Nursing Implications

Nursing focus on patient responses to health conditions, such as daily living activities, educational needs, readiness to learn, and safety concerns.

Evidence-based Practice (EBP)

A problem-solving approach to clinical practice that combines best evidence from research, clinical expertise, patient preferences and values, and available health care resources.

Ethics

The science that studies relationships between actions and moral values and how these affect society, including individual beliefs about right or wrong.

Nursing Ethics

Moral values and principles that affect personal and professional conduct within legal and ethical boundaries.

Autonomy

Freedom of personal choice and the right to be independent and make decisions freely.

Beneficence

Doing good or acting for someone's good, creating an ethical duty to protect life and promote patient well-being.

Nonmaleficence

The ethical principle to do no harm.

Justice

The ethical principle of being fair.

Ethical Dilemmas

Situations where two opposing courses of action can both be justified by ethical principles, making it impossible to do both.

Moral Distress

The condition occurring when a nurse feels the need to take a specific action while believing that action to be wrong.

Advocacy

The application of one's skill and knowledge for the benefit of another person, such as safeguarding care and promoting patient safety.