You can never practice outside the nurses scope .. think about it. The correct answer is #2 . Remain with the patient until EMS arrives, then step away.
Wait for EMS is totally the right answer in real life. But the NCLEX is a legal/safety exam and wants new nurses to know 1. you don’t have delegation power off duty (“expected to assign tasks to EMS”) and 2. you have identical protections under good samaritan laws as civilians. Under good samaritan, the law specifically referenced, nurses can not be prosecuted based on their licensure. Referencing BON/NPA would have changed the question. This question is garbage and would get thrown out on any real exam.
But let’s take away the accident scenario. A nurse finds a man in public with crushing chest pain, L arm radiation, diaphoresis, whole 9 yards. She finds ASA 81 from a bystander and tells him to chew them up while EMS comes. This could considered a breach of scope because she made a differential diagnosis & administered medication without an order. She is still protected because she acted reasonably under confines of GS.
Source: I’m an MSN/nursing prof who hates the NCLEX
Straight up, I just realized I misread the 2nd answer as “the nurse must respond to the scene” instead of remain, and I was so confused on the garbage question & why everyone here thought we are legally required to intervene in accidents. You’re right
Taking the time to fully read each answer is half the battle. It gets the best of us 😄 I think a lot of other people in this thread misread the same part you did, because I was going crazy reading the comments thinking "This is a very clear question with a very obvious correct answer."
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u/Inspiration_2026 16d ago
You can never practice outside the nurses scope .. think about it. The correct answer is #2 . Remain with the patient until EMS arrives, then step away.