Patient Safety and Ethics Flashcards
7 cards from real EEG practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Patient Safety and Ethics flashcards as text
A patient with a known latex allergy is scheduled for a routine EEG. Which action is most appropriate?
Answer: Use latex-free electrodes and collodion, and notify the entire team of the allergy
Latex-free supplies must be used and all staff alerted, as some electrode caps, adhesives, and tubing may contain latex.
During an ambulatory EEG, a patient calls to report they removed the electrodes themselves because of discomfort. What is the technologist's primary ethical obligation?
Answer: Respect patient autonomy, document the removal, and notify the ordering physician
Patients have the right to discontinue testing; the technologist must respect autonomy, document thoroughly, and inform the physician.
A technologist notices a patient's oxygen saturation dropping to 88% during a sleep-deprived EEG. What is the correct response?
Answer: Pause the recording, stimulate the patient, apply supplemental oxygen if available, and notify the supervising physician
Desaturation below 90% is a clinical emergency requiring immediate intervention and physician notification, even if it interrupts the study.
Which principle of biomedical ethics requires the EEG technologist to provide adequate information before obtaining consent for photic stimulation?
Answer: Autonomy
Autonomy requires that patients receive sufficient information to make an informed decision about procedures such as photic stimulation.
An EEG technologist discovers that a colleague has been omitting seizure events from written reports to speed up throughput. What is the most appropriate course of action?
Answer: Report the concern through the facility's established chain of command or compliance channel
Omitting clinical data is an ethical and potentially legal violation requiring formal reporting through proper institutional channels.
A parent refuses to sign consent for their 8-year-old child's medically necessary EEG. Which step should the technologist take first?
Answer: Notify the ordering physician so that the clinical team can address the refusal and explore alternatives
The technologist's role is to document and escalate to the physician, who leads the discussion with the parent and determines next steps.
Which practice best protects patient confidentiality when transmitting an EEG recording electronically to an interpreting neurologist at another facility?
Answer: Use a HIPAA-compliant encrypted platform with patient identifiers limited to the minimum necessary
HIPAA requires that electronic protected health information be transmitted only through encrypted, secure channels with minimum necessary disclosure.