A female patient comes to the clinic with a family health history ...

[cookcarl]

A female patient comes to the clinic with a family health history pedigree as shown in Figure 16-1.
 
  The patient wants to know whether she is at risk for a genetic disorder that shows up in the pedigree.
 
  The best response by the genetics nurse is:
  a. Definitely. As you see, two women have died from the disease.
  b. Maybe. You have three close female relatives who are affected.
  c. No. It appears that this disease seems to affect only the men in your family.
  d. This pedigree is not detailed or lengthy enough to be helpful.

Question 2

A nurse is explaining to some co-workers that the basic premise behind the confidentiality section of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is that
 
  a. health information belongs to the patient.
  b. it is unethical to disclose health records.
  c. minor transgressions are not the real issue.
  d. only electronic patient records are protected.

[nicoleclaire22]

Answer to Question 1

C
As shown in Figure 16-1, only males are affected by this disease, so the female patient is not likely to develop it.
No women seem to have died from this disease.
No women seem to be affected by this disease.
Three generations should be detailed enough to provide useful information.

Answer to Question 2

A
Although the patient's record itself belongs to the health care provider who created it, the information that the record contains belongs to the patient.
It is unethical to disclose someone's health records in violation of HIPAA, but this is not the best answer because it is more specific to state that the information belongs to the patient.
Any transgression can potentially result in fines or prison sentences.
There are specific sections of HIPAA that deal with electronic record security, but all patient records are protected as confidential information.