A newly licensed nurse meets with other nurses at a professional organization meeting to gather information about a new healthcare policy being proposed that will improve client safety.
The nurse is participating in which of the following?

Choice A rationale

Responsibility in nursing directly refers to the specific tasks and duties that a nurse is obligated to perform. This encompasses a broad range of activities from direct patient care interventions to documentation, all of which are essential components of the nurse's role in providing safe and effective care within their scope of practice.

Choice B rationale

Responsibility inherently requires an ongoing obligation for maintaining competence. Nurses are professionally and ethically bound to continually update their knowledge and skills through continuing education and professional development, ensuring they can provide current, evidence-based, and safe patient care.

Choice C rationale

Responsibility includes the implementation of interventions designed to meet clients' needs. This involves applying critical thinking and nursing judgment to assess, plan, implement, and evaluate care that is tailored to individual patient requirements and contributes to their recovery or well-being.

Choice D rationale

Responsibility encompasses tasks such as reporting laboratory values to providers. This is a critical communication aspect of nursing practice, ensuring that pertinent diagnostic information is relayed promptly to the healthcare team, facilitating timely medical decisions and adjustments to the plan of care.

Choice E rationale

Responsibility also encompasses the successful completion of delegated care. While delegation involves entrusting tasks, the delegating nurse retains accountability for the overall outcome. The responsible nurse ensures that delegated tasks are performed correctly and that patient safety is maintained throughout the process.

Choice A rationale

Advocating for the client is a fundamental ethical responsibility of nurses, as outlined in the ANA Code of Ethics. In this scenario, reporting abuse to social services demonstrates the nurse's commitment to protecting the client's rights, well-being, and safety, especially for vulnerable individuals who may not be able to advocate for themselves.

Choice B rationale

Committing to quality client care is a broad ethical principle that encompasses many aspects of nursing practice, including providing competent care. While reporting abuse contributes to quality care by ensuring safety, "advocating for the client" more specifically describes the nurse's direct action in protecting a vulnerable individual from harm.

Choice C rationale

Honoring the client's human dignity involves treating clients with respect and preserving their inherent worth. While reporting abuse helps to restore dignity by stopping mistreatment, the direct action of intervening on behalf of the client in a protective manner is best described as advocacy.

Choice D rationale

Promoting research to advance nursing practice involves contributing to the development of new knowledge and evidence-based interventions. While important for professional growth, it is not the primary ethical provision that describes the direct act of reporting client abuse. The immediate action is focused on client protection.