Ch 23- Legal Implications

Front 1

Administrative Law or Regulatory Law

Back 1

reflects desicions made by administrative bodies, such as State Boards of Nursing when they pass rules and regulations

Front 2

Nursing Practice Acts (NPA)

Back 2

describe and define the legal boundaries of nursing practice within each state

Front 3

Common Law

Back 3

results from judicial decision made in courts of law when legal cases are decided

Front 4

Criminal Laws

Back 4

prevent harm to society and provide punishment for crimes

Front 5

List 2 classicifications of Crimes

Back 5

Felony- a crime of a serious nature that has a pentalty of inprisonment for greater than 1 year or even death

Misdemeanor is a less seriuos crime that has a pentaly of a fine or inprisonment for less then 1 year.

EXAMPLE: criminal conduct for nurses is misuse of a controlled substance

Front 6

Civil Laws

Back 6

Protect the rights of individaul persons within our society and encourage fair equitable treatment among people

Front 7

Standards of Care

Back 7

Legal guidelines for nursing practice and provide minimum acceptable nursing care

Standards reflect values and priorities of the profession

The ANA (American Nursing Association) has developed standards for the nursing practice & policy statements

The standards outline the scope, function and role of the nurse in practice

Front 8

Living wills

Back 8

represent written documents that direct treatment in accordance with the clients wishes in the event of a terminal illness or condition.

Able to declare which medical procedures he or she wants and does not want when terminally ill or in a persistent vegitative state

Front 9

Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (DPACH)

Back 9

is a lgeal document that designates a person or persons of one's choosing to make health care decisions when the client is no longer able to make desicions on his or her own behalf.

This person makes health care desicions based on the clients' wishes

DNR- Do Not Resuscitate
DNR should be wirtten and not verbal

Front 10

Privacy

Back 10

is the right of clients to keep information about themselves from being disclosed

Front 11

Confidentiality

Back 11

is how health care providers treat client private information once it has been diclosed.

HIPPA requires all health care providers to avoid discussing clients in public hallways and provide reasonable levels of privacy on communicating with and about clients in any manner.

Front 12

HIPPA- Health Insurance Portablility and Accountability Act

Back 12

represents one of the more recent federal statutory acts affecting nursing care

This law provides rights to clients and protects employees

Front 13

Statutory Law

Back 13

U.S. Congress and legislative bodies create these laws

Front 14

Restaints

Back 14

TJC set specific guidlines regarding the use of restraints

Health care providers can use restraints:
(1) only to ensure the physical safety of the resident or other residents
(2) when less restrictive interventions are not successful
(3) only on the written order of a physician or health care provider *written orders include specific episode with START and END times

Front 15

State Board of Nursing

Back 15

licenses all registered nurses, requirnments and different in each state

NCLEX (National Council Licensure Examination)

The State Board can suspend or revokes a license if a nurses conduct violates provisions in nursing statute based on administrative law rules that implement and enforce the statute

Front 16

Tort

Back 16

is a civil wrong made against a person or property

Front 17

Intentional torts

Back 17

are willful acts that violate another's rights, such as battery, assault and false imprisonment

Assault: is any intentional threat to bring about harmful or offensive contact. No actual contact is necessary.

Battery: is any intentioal touching without consent. The Contact can be harmful to the client and cause injury or it can be merely offensive to the clients personal dignity.

False imprisonment: occurs with unjustified restraining of a person without legal warrant

Front 18

Quasi-intentional tort

Back 18

are acts where intent is lacking but violational action and direct causation occur, such as found with invasion of privacy and defamation of character

Invasion of privacy- (4) types

(1) intrusion on seclusion
(2) appropriation of name or likeness
(3) publication of of private or emmbarrasing facts
(4) publicity placing one in false light in the public's eye

A Clients medical record is confidential- must have consent to disclose any information

Defamation of Character is the publication of false statements that result in damage to a persons reputation

Front 19

Unintentional tort

Back 19

which includes negligence or malpractice

Negligence- is the conduct that falls below a standard of care.

The law has established the standard of care for the proctection of others against an unreasonably great risk of harm

Malpractice- one type of negligence and is often reffered to as proffesional negligence-- the client has to be injured because the nurse didn't do his/her duty (standards of care)

Front 20

Malice

Back 20

means theat the person publishing the informationknows its false and publishes it anyway or publishes it with reckless disregaurd as to the truth

Front 21

Slander

Back 21

when one verbalizes the false statment

Front 22

Liabel

Back 22

is written defamation of character

EXAMPLE: charting false entries

Front 23

Informed consent

Back 23

is a persons agreement to alow something to happen, such as surgery or an invasive diagnostic procedure, based on full disclosure of the risks, benefits, alternatives and consequences of refusal

Front 24

Risk Managment

Back 24

a system of ensuring appropriate nursing care that attepms to identify personal hazards and eleminate them before harm occurs