The Emergency Department staff members are concerned that working long

QUESTION

The Emergency Department staff members are concerned that working long hours without rest puts patient safety at risk.

One staff member decides that she will risk her job and become a whistleblower. Whistle-blowing is an appropriate recourse when management:

a. Disregards due process when disciplining a nurse.
b. Delays responding to repeated efforts to provide safe care.
c. Hires nurses who are not a part of the union during a strike.
d. Refuses to bargain in good faith with the elected bargaining agent.

ANSWER:

ANS: B
Whistle-blowing is often a result of organizational failure, including failure of the organization to respond to serious danger or wrongdoing created within the environment, which, in this instance, involves conditions that put the patient at risk.