Mrs. J's son has medical power of attorney for her and has ...

[gbarreiro]

Mrs. J's son has medical power of attorney for her and has arrived at her bedside to discuss care options with her.
 
  Mrs. J has just been dialyzed, has not received any pain medication, and is rational in her decision making. Mrs. J's son decides that she should not receive any more dialysis treatments due to the acute stage of her illness, the discomfort that she has suffered, and her inability to care for herself. Mrs. J disagrees. Whose decision should be followed?
  a. Mrs. J's son
  b. Mrs. J
  c. Both, and the hospital's ethics committee should convene and decide
  d. Neither, this is a legal decision and should be done by a court of law

Question 2

Which of the following are some of the key concepts of quality improvement? Select all that apply.
 
  a. there are two ways to improve quality: eliminate defects in the work process and add features that meet the customer's needs or preferences
  b. quality defects are costly in terms of internal losses due to lowered productivity
  c. focus on the most important work processes to improve
  d. involve primarily management in the QI process due to time and workload constraints

[Juro]

Answer to Question 1

B
Even though Mrs. J has given her son legal power of attorney over her health care decisions, if she is competent and disagrees with the wishes or decision of her agent (her son), her decisions are the ones that prevail.

Answer to Question 2

A, B, C
Quality improvement has a number of key principles that describe and guide its processes. These key principles include: 1) there are two ways to improve quality: eliminate defects in the work process and add features that meet the customer's needs or preferences, 2) quality defects are costly in terms of internal losses due to lowered productivity, 3) focus on the most important work processes to improve, and 4) involve every worker (not primarily management) in the QI process.