Ethical Practice Within Scope - NCLEX-PN

Document objective, timely, accurate facts and client responses; never falsify. Objective records promote care accuracy, ethical integrity, and serve as legal evidence against disputes or falsification claims.

State-defined legal limits for LPN/LVN nursing functions and responsibilities. State regulations establish boundaries to protect public health by limiting practice to authorized, competent functions.

The state Nurse Practice Act and the state board of nursing rules. These sources outline permissible duties and restrictions, serving as the foundational legal framework for nursing licensure and practice.

Hold the task and clarify the order using the chain of command. Clarifying prevents potential harm, fulfilling the nurse's ethical duty to advocate for patient safety and question unclear directives.

Refuse the assignment and notify the charge nurse or supervisor. Refusing safeguards patients from incompetent care, aligning with ethical principles of nonmaleficence and professional competence.

Decline, explain scope limits, and escalate per policy and chain of command. Declining upholds legal scope boundaries, preventing unauthorized practice and ensuring escalation for proper resolution.

Delegation transfers a task; assignment distributes work within a role. Delegation involves transferring authority for specific tasks to qualified individuals, whereas assignment allocates routine duties among peers without such transfer.

Right task, circumstance, person, direction/communication, supervision/evaluation. These principles ensure delegation is appropriate and safe, minimizing risks and maintaining accountability in team-based care.

Nursing assessment and clinical judgment (including evaluation of outcomes). Such activities require licensed professional judgment to interpret data and make decisions, which UAP lack the training for.

Collect data, contribute to care plan, implement, and report client responses. LPNs support RN-led processes by providing data and executing plans, ensuring collaborative care for stable patients.

Reinforce teaching and report learning needs; RN provides initial teaching. This role division aligns with scope limitations, allowing LPNs to support education while RNs handle complex initial instructions.

Assess focused findings, notify the RN/provider promptly, and document. Focused assessment and prompt reporting enable timely interventions, fulfilling the LPN's duty in monitoring and communication.

Client authorization after disclosure; the provider performing obtains consent. It ensures voluntary agreement based on full understanding, with the provider responsible to explain risks and benefits adequately.

Stop the process and notify the provider to answer before signing. Halting allows the provider to clarify, ensuring consent is truly informed and legally valid before proceeding.

Respect refusal, assess understanding, notify provider, and document. This respects patient autonomy while ensuring informed decision-making and legal documentation for protection.

Failure to meet the standard of care, resulting in client harm or risk. It establishes liability when substandard actions foreseeably cause or risk injury, breaching the duty owed to patients.

Professional negligence: breach of nursing duty causing client injury. It involves failing professional standards, with elements of duty, breach, causation, and harm required for legal claims.

Unilateral termination of care without reasonable notice or handoff. This breaches the nurse-patient relationship, potentially causing harm and leading to disciplinary or legal consequences.

Provide a safe handoff to another qualified nurse and notify the supervisor. Handoff maintains care continuity, preventing gaps that could harm patients and constitute professional misconduct.

Protecting private health information; disclose only to authorized persons. It upholds patient trust and complies with regulations like HIPAA, limiting disclosures to prevent unauthorized access.

Share only the least information needed to perform the required purpose. The minimum necessary standard reduces privacy risks by restricting information to what's essential for the task.

Report immediately per policy (privacy officer/supervisor) and document per policy. Reporting facilitates breach assessment and mitigation, ensuring compliance with privacy laws and organizational protocols.

Report promptly to the required authority per mandatory reporting laws and policy. As mandatory reporters, nurses must notify authorities to protect vulnerable populations and comply with legal requirements.

Ensure client safety and report immediately through the required chain of command. Immediate reporting protects patients and fulfills ethical and legal obligations to address impaired or unethical behavior.