KPSC Staff Nurse - 2017
Nursing Foundation
Easy
It refers to individual self-determination and freedom of choice?
Appeared in: KPSC Staff Nurse - 2017
Explanation
- Autonomy is the ethical principle that refers to an individual's right to self-determination and freedom from external control.
- It is a fundamental concept in healthcare that respects a patient's independence and their right to make decisions about all aspects of their care.
- This principle moves away from a paternalistic model (where providers make all decisions) to a patient-centered model where the patient's values and goals are central to the care plan.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option A: Informed consent is the process that operationalizes autonomy, not the principle itself. It's the mechanism for ensuring a patient has the information to exercise their right to choose.
- Option B: Veracity is the principle of truth-telling. While essential for a patient to make an autonomous decision, it is not the principle of self-determination itself.
- Option D: Respect is a broader, more foundational concept. Respect for persons is the basis for many ethical principles, including autonomy. Autonomy is the specific application of respect related to decision-making.
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain Ethical Principles in Nursing as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
- Respecting patient autonomy is a daily nursing responsibility. It involves supporting patients' rights to refuse treatment, choose between care options, and be involved in care planning, even if their choices differ from the healthcare team's recommendations.
- This principle is critical in end-of-life care, where patients make decisions about advance directives, living wills, and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders.
- What if? If a patient lacks the decisional capacity to make an autonomous choice (e.g., due to delirium, severe dementia, or being unconscious), the principle of autonomy is balanced with beneficence and nonmaleficence. In such cases, decisions are typically made by a legally authorized surrogate (healthcare proxy) or based on an advance directive, following the principle of substituted judgment.
How to Approach the Question
- First, identify the key phrases in the question stem: 'individual self-determination' and 'freedom of choice'.
- Recognize that this is a definition-based question asking for a specific ethical term.
- Evaluate each option against the definition.
- Autonomy directly translates to 'self-rule' or 'self-determination'. This is a direct match.
- Consider the other options. Informed consent is a process, veracity is truth-telling, and respect is a broader concept. None of these specifically mean 'self-determination'.
- Therefore, select the term that is the most precise and direct definition of the concept described.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Ethical Principles in Nursing
- Stem keywords: individual self-determination, freedom of choice
- Lead-in keywords: refers to
Question ID
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Reference Book
E6 Nursing Fundamentals Potter Perry 12e Part 2 p. 81-83
E6 Robert Boland, Marcia L. Verduin - Kaplan and Sadock's Comprehensive Text of Psychiatry-Wolters Kluwer Health (2024) (pp 1-16525 of 16525) p. 14440-14442
Practise the full KPSC Staff Nurse - 2017
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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