Chapter 4 Important Words

Question 1

Advance Directive

Answer 1

a legal document in which a person either states choices for medical treatment or names someone to make a treatment choices if they lose decision-making ability

Question 2

Alias

Answer 2

client is assigned a name other than their own, and all their records, laboratory tests, room tags, diet slips, and so forth use this name

Question 3

Assault

Answer 3

a threat or an attempt to do bodily harm

Question 4

Assisted Suicide

Answer 4

helping an individual who wants to end his or her life to do so

Question 5

Battery

Answer 5

physical contact with another person without that person’s consent

Question 6

Biological Death

Answer 6

permanent and irreversible cessation of the body’s physical and chemical process: death at the cellular level

Question 7

Brain Death

Answer 7

considers the irreversible cessation of all neurological functions or the entire brain

Question 8

Clinical Death

Answer 8

absence of heartbeat and cessation of breathing: may be reversible if achieved within 4-6 minutes

Question 9

Crime

Answer 9

a wrong committed against a person or property or public good

Question 10

Endorsement

Answer 10

process by which a licensed nurse in one state may receive a license to practice in another state without retaking the licensing examination

Question 11

Ethics

Answer 11

refers to philosophic studies that examine the actions, values, and moral principles of human behaviors and that provide the fundamental idea of societal and cultural calls of right versus wrong

Question 12

Euthanasia

Answer 12

an easy or painless death (may be induced), often referred to as mercy death or mercy killing; deliberately ending of the life of a person who has an incurable or painful disease

Question 13

Felony

Answer 13

a crime more serious than a misdemeanor, usually punishable by imprisonment for more than a year

Question 14

Good Samaritan Act

Answer 14

law in effect in most states that protects healthcare providers from liability when performing emergency care with the lines of first aid if they act in a “reasonable and prudent manor”

Question 15

Informed Consent

Answer 15

giving full information and making sure the client understands before the client consents to surgery or other medical procedures

Question 16

Law

Answer 16

formal, written rules of behavior that govern conduct and are enforced by an authority

Question 17

Legal Death

Answer 17

death, usually declared by a healthcare provider as total absence of activity of any of the body’ systems

Question 18

Liability

Answer 18

something one is required to do, an obligation, often financial; being found guilty of inappropriate or legal acts

Question 19

Libel

Answer 19

a false or damaging written statement or photograph

Question 20

Malpractice

Answer 20

injurious or faulty treatment; professional misconduct

Question 21

Misdemeanor

Answer 21

a crime less serious than a felony, usually punishable by a fine or imprisonment less then a year

Question 22

Negligence

Answer 22

harm done to a person because of failure to do something that a responsible person would do; do something a responsible person would not do; irresponsible care

Question 23

Nurse Practice Act

Answer 23

the law to govern and guide nursing practice in a state or territory

Question 24

Slander

Answer 24

malicious and fake verbal statements

Question 25

Tort

Answer 25

a wrong or injury committed against a person or property for which the injured person has the right to sue