A Student Nurse Asks, "What's the Difference Between Laws and Ethics

question 9

Multiple Choice

A student nurse asks, "What's the difference between laws and ethics?" Which response best explains the difference between nursing laws and ethics?

• A) "Ethics refer to expected behavior of nurses, but laws require mandatory observance by nurses."
• B) "Nursing ethics are formalized by statutes, whereas laws are permissive codes."
• C) "Ethics are derived from laws, whereas laws are enacted by nonnurse legislators."
• D) "Ethics are specific to individual agencies, but laws are state specific."

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Definitions:

Sampled Population

The segment of the population from which the sample is taken for the purpose of a statistical study.

Population Mean

The average value of a population attribute or variable, calculated by summing all values in the population and dividing by the total number of values.

T Distribution

This type of probability distribution comes into play when attempting to estimate the mean of a normally distributed population, specifically when dealing with a small sample size and lacking knowledge of the population's standard deviation.

Degrees Of Freedom

The number of values in a calculation that are free to vary, often related to the sample size, affecting the shape of various statistical distributions.