Perioperative Patient Advocacy Flashcards
7 cards from real CST practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Perioperative Patient Advocacy flashcards as text
A religious or cultural object a patient has asked to keep with them is removed by a staff member during transfer to the OR table. The patient becomes distressed. What is the best advocacy response?
Answer: Acknowledge the patient's distress, inquire about the object's importance, and attempt to accommodate within safety parameters
Acknowledging the patient's distress and attempting to accommodate cultural or religious items within safety guidelines upholds cultural competence and patient-centered care.
A scrub tech is asked by a medical device sales representative who is scrubbed in as a product specialist to photograph the surgical site for marketing purposes. How should the scrub tech respond?
Answer: Object and notify the circulator, as photography requires explicit patient consent
Photography of any part of a patient in the OR requires documented prior informed consent; the scrub tech must object and notify the circulator immediately.
Which statement best describes the surgical technologist's ethical obligation regarding a patient who is under general anesthesia?
Answer: The scrub tech has a heightened advocacy duty because the patient is unable to speak for themselves
Because an anesthetized patient cannot self-advocate, every team member—including the scrub tech—has an increased ethical responsibility to act in the patient's best interest.
A patient's chart indicates a known difficult airway, but the airway cart is not in the room. The surgeon wants to begin the time-out. What should the scrub tech do?
Answer: Voice the concern about the missing airway cart during the time-out so the issue is resolved before induction
The scrub tech should raise the missing airway cart as a patient safety concern during the time-out, ensuring it is addressed before the case proceeds.
At the end of a case, the final sponge count is incorrect. The surgeon states he is confident no sponge was retained and wants to close. What must the scrub tech do?
Answer: Clearly communicate the count discrepancy and advocate for an X-ray before closure per institutional policy
An incorrect sponge count requires an intraoperative X-ray before closure per standard institutional policy; the scrub tech must advocate for this step regardless of the surgeon's confidence.
A patient has informed the nurse that she does not want her partner informed of the diagnosis during the post-operative report. The partner calls the OR desk asking for information. Who is authorized to share the information?
Answer: No one without the patient's consent, and the caller should be redirected to speak with the patient directly
The patient's explicit request that her partner not be informed must be honored; no team member may share information with the partner without the patient's consent, per HIPAA.
Which of the following is the MOST important reason the surgical technologist must understand the planned procedure before each case?
Answer: To anticipate patient needs, identify deviations from the plan, and advocate if the care does not match the consent
Understanding the planned procedure enables the scrub tech to recognize when intraoperative events deviate from what the patient consented to, which is a fundamental patient advocacy function.