On Admission, the Patient Was Found to Have a Blood

question 15

Multiple Choice

On admission, the patient was found to have a blood glucose level of 218. The RN knows that except in emergency situations, it is hospital policy to obtain physician's orders before administering any medication. Because the on-call physician did not return the page, the nurse administered insulin according to the common sliding scale. Four hours later, the patient was found nonresponsive in her bed and later died. According to the autopsy, the patient died from heart failure. Her postmortem blood glucose level was 22. Because of the nurse's actions, the admitting hospital may be found to be:

• A) a judicial risk.
• B) an ostensible authority.
• C) indemnified.
• D) vicariously liable.

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Definitions:

Operant Conditioning

A method of teaching in which behavior is changed by the use of incentives or disciplinary actions.

Classical Conditioning

An instructional approach where repetitively linking two stimuli causes a reaction, at first prompted by the second stimulus, to be elicited by the first stimulus over time.

Imprinting

A form of learning occurring at a particular life stage that is rapid and apparently independent of the outcomes of behavior.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process by which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.