The nurse administering medication to a patient realizes that she has administered a wrong dose of medication to the patient. But she informed the physician regarding the error immediately. The nurse demonstrates:

1. A

   Responsibility

2. B

   Authority

3. C

   Decision making

4. D

   Accountability

Appeared in: GMCH Nursing Officer-2025

Explanation

• Accountability is the professional and ethical duty to be answerable for one's actions and their outcomes.
• By immediately reporting the medication error to the physician, the nurse takes ownership of the mistake and its potential consequences.
• This action prioritizes patient safety by enabling prompt assessment and corrective interventions to mitigate harm.
• Accountability is a cornerstone of professional integrity and is essential for building trust with patients and colleagues, and for fostering a culture of safety.

Why Other Options Were Wrong

• Option A: Responsibility refers to the specific tasks and duties assigned to a nurse. The nurse's responsibility was to administer the medication correctly. The action of reporting the error is an act of accountability for failing to meet that responsibility.
• Option B: Authority is the legitimate power or right to give commands and make decisions. Reporting a personal error is not an exercise of authority over others.
• Option C: While the nurse did make a conscious decision to report the error, 'decision making' is the cognitive process of choosing an action. The question asks what ethical principle the action itself demonstrates, which is accountability.

Related Visual

• Visual 1: Flowchart: Steps to Take After a Medication Error. This visual would outline the sequence of actions: 1. Assess Patient, 2. Stabilize Patient, 3. Notify Physician & Charge Nurse, 4. Document in Patient Record (facts only), 5. Complete Incident Report.

Clinical Relevance

• Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Professional Nursing Principles: Accountability to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
• Patient safety is the highest priority in nursing. Reporting errors promptly is a critical safety behavior that allows the healthcare team to prevent or minimize patient harm.
• A non-punitive 'just culture' environment encourages nurses to report errors without fear of retribution, which helps organizations identify and correct system flaws that lead to mistakes.
• What if the nurse concealed the error? Concealing a medication error is a serious breach of professional ethics and the Nurse Practice Act. It endangers the patient and can lead to severe disciplinary action, including loss of license and legal liability.

How to Approach the Question

• First, identify the core action in the scenario: a nurse made a mistake and immediately reported it.
• Next, analyze the question's focus: it asks what professional principle this specific action demonstrates.
• Define each option in the context of nursing ethics and practice. Responsibility is the duty, Authority is the power, Decision Making is the process, and Accountability is being answerable for the outcome.
• Differentiate between the duty itself (responsibility) and being answerable for the performance of that duty (accountability).
• The act of reporting an error is a classic example of being answerable for one's actions. Therefore, accountability is the most precise and fitting answer.

Concept Tested & Keywords

• Concept Tested: Professional Nursing Principles: Accountability
• Stem keywords: administering medication, wrong dose, medication error, informed the physician
• Lead-in keywords: demonstrates

Question ID

QKtSRrNTYCZobCfl5jfGFU

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