Surgical Technology Ch 2 Legal Concepts

Which of the following is an example of an intentional tort pertaining to surgical patient care?

a. A patient suffers a burn due to hot instruments.

b. Restraints are used on a patient who threatens to leave.

c. A tissue specimen is misplaced by a transporter.

d. A retained surgical sponge is discovered in subsequent procedure.

b. Restrains are used on a patient who threatens to leave.

Which of the following legal doctrines would MOST likely apply in the case of a wrong site surgery or retained foreign body?

a. anger primo

b. caveat emptor

c. primum non nocere

d. res ipsa loquitur

d. res ipsa loquitur

The phrase " departure from the standard of care" BEST describes which of the following legal terms?

a. larceny

b. liability

c. malpractice

d. negligence

d. negligence

Which of the following legal terms is best described as "professional misconduct that results in harm to another"?

a. allegation

b. liability

c. malpractice

d. negligence

c. malpractice

What is the term that describes a method of pretrial discovery in which a surgical team member might answer questions under oath?

a. allegation

b. deposition

c. indictment

d. precedent

b. deposition

Which of the following torts would be classified and unintentional?

a. battery

b. defamation

c. foreign bodies left in patient

d. invasion of patient privacy

c. foreign bodies left in patient

Which type of consent applies when emergency circumstances exist when reasonable providers believe that a patient would agree to treatment, even if no form was signed or verbal permission given?

a. direct

b. implied

c. informed

g. general

b. implied

A special consent form would be required for which of the following situations during a hospital admission?

a. chest x-ray

b. phlebotomy

c. respiratory therapy

d. surgical procedure

d. surgical procedure

All of the following are components of the surgical patient's medical record EXCEPT:

a. anesthesia record

b. history and physical

c. interdepartmental communications

d. surgeon's preference card

d. surgeon's preference card

Which member of the surgical team is ultimately responsible for obtaining a written, informed surgical consent from a patient?

a. anesthesia provider

b. circulating RN

c. surgeon

d. surgical technologist

c. surgeon

In 2004, which of the following agencies created the "Do Not Use" abbreviation list?

a. the Joint Commission (JC)

b. American Medical Association (AMA)

c. Association of the periOperative Registered Nurses (AORN)

d. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)

a. the Joint Commission (JC)

What is the name of the type of report sent to risk management in an effort to decrease the chance of harm to patients or staff or damage to hospital property?

a. advance directive

b. informed consent

c. Safe Medical Device Act

d. sentinel event

d. sentinel event

Which of the following surgical patients would be legally authorized to sign an informed surgical consent based on medical practice acts and state law?

a. premeditated competent adult

b. adult in a persistent vegetative state

c. an emancipated 16-year old minor

d. a foreign language speaker without an interpreter

c. an emancipated 16-year old minor

Which of the following pertains to a patient's wishes about medical treatment and self-determination in the event of incapacitation or inability to communicate?

a. advace directive

b. deposition

c. informed consent

d. sentinel event

a. advance directive

Which of the following terms best describes the process of keeping thorough, accurate, and legal records of a patient's medical care?

a. accountability

b. consent

c. documentation

d. liability

c. documentation

All of the following carry the force of state or national legal enforcement EXCEPT:

a. implementation of the neutral zone

b. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act

c. Patient Self-Determination Act

d. Patient Care Partnership

a. implementation of the neutral zone

The American Hospital Association replaced its "Patient Bill of Rights" with which of the following?

a. doctrine of personal liability

b. HIPAA

c. Patient Self-Determination Act

d. Patient Care Partnership

d. Patient Care Partnership

The broad objectives of the HIPAA include all of the flooding EXCEPT:

a. eliminate medical errors

b. improve patient services

c. protect patient privacy

d. reduce health care fraud

a. eliminate medical errors

Which of the following terms describes a civil wrong that may be intentional or unintentional?

a. complaint

b. indictment

c. liability

d. tort

d. tort

The most common types of patient-care errors committed by operating room personnel, including negligence and malpractice, are categorized as:

a. intentional torts

b. corporate liability

c. unintentional torts

d. standards of care

c. unintentional torts

In a common adage, what is the "best medicine" in health care?

a. conscience

b. documentation

c. judgment

d. prevention

d. prevention

According to the joint commission's definition regarding consent to surgical intervention, which party has "autonomy"?

a. anesthesia provider

b. circulating RN

c. the patient

d. the surgeon

c. the patient

Which of the following terms describes the system of moral principles and rules that become standards of conduct for professionals?

a. doctrines

b. ethics

c. morals

d. precedents

b. ethics

Which of the following terms describes the principles such as benevolence, trustworthiness, and honesty for the care and well-being of others in society?

a. doctrines

b. ethics

c. morals

d. precedents

c. morals

Which of the following would NOT be considered an example of a potential ethical dilemma?

a. patient privacy

b. genetic engineering

c. elective abortion

d. right to die, termination of care

a. patient privacy

The legal term that identifies the knowledge and skills required for a profession and describes a health care provider's core accountability, based on education, experience, and credentialing is:

a. professional liability

b. policies and procedures

c. recommended standards of practice

d. scope of practice

d. scope of practice

Which of the following is NOT a form of individual professional credentialing that protects the public from unqualified health care providers?

a. accreditation

b. certification

c. licensure

d. registration

a. accreditation

Verification that educational programs meet minimum accreditation standards is done by:

a. AST

b. CAAHEP

c. HIPAA

d. NBSTSA

b. CAAHEP

Graduates of CAAHEP or ABHES programs are eligible to sit for the CST or CSFA examinations administered by:

a. ARC/STSA

b. AST

c. CSPS

d. NBSTSA

d. NBSTSA

The best assurance of safe and individual professional behavior by the CST or CSFA is a well-developed, unyielding:

a. core curriculum

b. liability insurance

c. scope of practice

d. surgical conscience

d. surgical conscience

Which legal doctrine would be MOST applicable in a case involving failure by the RN and CST to do proper surgical counts resulting in retention of a foreign object and the surgeon being found not liable?

a. captain of the ship doctrine

b. doctrine of borrowed servant

c. doctrine of corporate negligence

d. primum non nocere

b. doctrine of borrowed servant

Which legal doctrine would be most applicable in a case involving injury to a patient as a result of a hospital employee's lack of proper training or credentialing?

a. captain of the ship doctrine

b. doctrine of borrowed servant

c. doctrine of corporate negligence

d. primum non nocere

c. doctrine of corporate negligence

Which type of legal action is most likely in cases involving tort law and operating room personnel?

a. civil

b. criminal

c. federal

d. statutory

a. civil

If a patient suffered a burn as a result of improper application of the ESU dispersive (grounding) pad, the individual team member responsible may be found Quilty in a lawsuit of which of the following?

a. assault

b. battery

c. intentional tort

d. negligence

d. negligence

Specimen loss, mislabeling, and improper preparation are examples of which of the following?

a. battery

b. defamation

c. intentional tort

d. negligence

d. negligence

Which of the following terms meets the definition: a voluntary and informed act in which one party gives permission to another party to "touch"?

a. advance directive

b. battery

c. consent

d. time-out

c. consent

Which of the following forms of consent is defined but he Joint Commission as "agreement or permission accompanied by full notice about what is being consented to"?

a. general

b. implied

c. informed

d. special

c. informed

Surgical team members who fail to monitor and protect a medicated patient from falling could be charged with?

a. abandonment

b. assault

c. battery

d. larceny

a. abandonment

Which part of the patient's medical record documentation would contain pre-op diagnoses, positioning, skin prep, start and stop times, counts, and dressings?

a. advance directive

b. anesthesia record

c. informed consent

d. intraoperative record

d. intraoperative record

For which of the following processes are identification and reporting of unsafe conditions and hazards MOST critical?

a. advance directive

b. informed consent

c. risk management

d. unintentional torts

c. risk management

Which of the following was identified in the late 1990s as causing more deaths in the US than car accidents, AIDS, and breast cancer combined?

a. equipment manufacturing flaws

b. H1N1 influenza

c. medical errors

d. terrorist attacks

c. medical errors

What is the name of the organization whose focus I on patient and worker safety and is a unique coalition of surgical (ACS), anesthesiologists (ASA), AORN, CRNAs (AANA), surgical physician assistants (AASPA), and surgical technologists (AST)?

a. American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

b. Council on Surgical and PeriOperative Safety (CSPS)

c. Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA)

d. the Joint Commission (JC)

b. CSPS

What is establishing a neutral zone designed to do?

a. diffuse potential violence in high stress situations

b. prevent sharps injuries during surgical procedures

c. reduce cross-contamination in the OR suite

d. quarantine patients with airborne diseases

b. prevent sharps injuries during surgical procedures

Which governmental agency has authority as outlined in the Safe Medical Device Act?

a. EPA

b. FDA

c. HIPAA

d. OSHA

b. FDA

The first scrub surgical technologist performs intraoperative tasks under the under the board delegatory authority of the:

a. anesthesiologist

b. circulating RN

c. OR supervisor

d. surgeon

d. surgeon

T/F: "Captain of the ship" doctrine holds the surgeon accountable for all actions of the operating room team in lawsuits.

True

T/F: A surgical technology student who photographs a patient and posts the image on the internet could be sued for invasion of privacy and HIPAA violations.

True

T/F: General consent is obtained by patients admitted to the hospital and covers all routine services and medical treatment in broad terms but not invasive procedures such as surgery.

True

T/F: Living will and durable power of attorney are examples of advance directives in health care.

True

T/F: Errors in chart documentation should be erased to prevent confusion by subsequent caregivers.

False

An injury resulting for the activity of health care professionals.

iatrogenic injury

Reckless disregard for the safety of another; willful indifference.

criminal negligence

Taking another's property without consent.

larceny

A statement one expects to prove true.

allegation

"Above all, do no harm."

Primum non nocere

Willful, intentional acts that violate the civil rights of a patient

intentional tort

Slander of libel that damages a person's reputation or good name.

defamation

An act that causes another person to fear that he or she will be touched in an offensive, insulting, or physically injurious manner without consent or authority to do so.

assault

Prior to start of a procedure; all members of surgical team verify correct patient, procedure, site, and side

time-out

Court-appointed protector for an individual incapable of making his or her own decisions.

guardian

Jurisdiction is given to courts in cases involving the interpretation and application of the US Constitution, acts of Congress, and treaties.

federal law

The individual who initiates a lawsuit.

plaintiff

Legal principle, created by a court decision that provides an example of authority for judges deciding similar issues later.

precedent

"A person who receives health services from a health care provider and who gives consent for the provider to provide those services."

patient

The combined account of the interaction between the patient and the health care providers during a given incidence of illness or treatment.

medical record

Professional liability coverage to cover discrepancies between hospital and individual policies in negligence lawsuits.

malpractice insurance

Professional rules and standards of behavior that include such as impartiality, objectivity, duty of care, and confidentiality and disclosure.

code of conduct

Title used that establishes a minimum knowledge base for a given health care profession.

credential

Assessment of educational programs for quality and effectiveness and used as a criterion for eligibility to sit for a national certification exam.

accreditation

The motto used by AST, meaning "The patient first."

aeger primo