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21 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Statutory Law
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An example of state statutes are the Nurse Practice Acts found in all 50 states
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Nurse Practice Acts
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Describe and define the legal boundaries of nursing practice within each state
Is either criminal or civil - Establish educational requirements for nurses, distinguish between nursing and medical practice, and generally define the scope of nursing practice |
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Criminal Law
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Prevent harm to society and provide punishment for crimes
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Civil Laws
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Protect the rights of individual persons within our society and encourage fair and equitable treatment among people
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Regulatory Law or Administrative Law
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Reflects decisions made by administrative bodies such as State Boards of Nursing when they pass rules and regulations
Ex: duty to report incompetent or unethical nursing conduct |
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Common Law
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- Results from judicial decisions made in courts when individual legal cases are decided
- Ex: include informed consent, refuse treatment - Often involve negligence and malpractice |
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Standards of Care
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- Are the legal guidelines for nursing practice and provide the minimum acceptable nursing care
- Reflect values and priorities of the profession - American Nurses Association (ANA) has developed standards for nursing practice, policy statements, and similar resolutions - Standards outline the scope, function, and role of the nurse in practice - In a malpractice lawsuit, nursing standards of care measure nursing conduct and determine whether the nurse acted as any reasonably prudent nurse would at under the same or similar circumstances - Law defines the standards of care for nurses to follow |
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Anatomy of a Lawsuit
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Pleadings Phase
Discovery Trial Proof of Negligence |
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Pleadings Phase Of a Lawsuit
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- Petition-elements of the claim
- Plaintiff says what defendant did wrong - Defendant admits or denies claim |
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Discovery Phase Of a Lawsuit
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- Interrogatories
- Written questions requiring answers under oath - Medical records - Defendant obtains all plaintiff’s relevant medical records for treatment - Witnesses’ depositions - Questions are posed to witness under oath to obtain all relevant - Parties’ depositions - Plaintiff and defendants are almost always deposed - Other witnesses: - Factual witnesses, both neutral and biased, are deposed to obtain information and their vision of the case - Treating physicians’ or health care provider’s depositions - Experts |
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ADA Act
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American With Disabilities Act
- Protects the rights of disabled people - Is is also the most extensive law on how employers must treat health care workers and clients with infected with HIV - Protects an HIV positive individual who does not have AIDS - Protect the privacy of infected people |
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Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act
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- This act provides that when a client comes to the emergency department or the hospital, an appropriate medical screening occurs within the hospital’s capacity
- Hospital is not to discharge or transfer the client until the condition stabilizes - Transfer always needs to be appropriate |
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Mental Health Parity Act
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- Forbids health plans from placing lifetime or annual limits on mental health coverage that are less generous than those placed on medical or surgical benefits
- Lawsuits benefit from clients’ attempts at suicide within the hospital - Documentation of precautions against suicide is essential |
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Advance Directives
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- Living wills and durable powers of attorney for health care are examples
- Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) requires health care institutions to provide written information to clients concerning the clients’ rights under state law to make decisions, including the right to refuse treatment and formulate advance directives - Record must contain documentation - A judge makes the determination of legal competency and the physician or health care provider and family usually make the determination of decisional capacity |
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Living Wills
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Represent written documents that direct treatment in accordance with a client’s wishes in the event of a terminal illness or condition
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Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
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- Is a legal 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 decisions on his or her own behalf
- Ethical doctrine of autonomy ensures the client the right to refuse medical treatment - Bouvia v Superior Court case - Allowed the discontinuation of client’s tube feedings at her request - Courts have also upheld the right of a legally competent client to refuse medical treatment for religious reasons |
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Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
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- An individual who is at least 18 years of age has the right to make an organ donation
- Donors need to make the gift in writing with their signature - Required request laws mandate that at the time of admission to a hospital, a qualified health care provider has to ask each client over age 18 whether the client is an organ or tissue donor - National Organ Transplant of 1984 prohibits the purchase of sale of organs - Clients in end stage renal disease are eligible for Medicare coverage for a kidney transplant, but private insurance pays for other transplants - The United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) has a contract with the federal government and sets policies and guidelines for the procurement of organs |
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Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
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- Represents one of the more federal statutory acts affecting nursing care
- This law provides rights to clients and protects employees - Portability allows employees to change jobs without losing coverage as a result of preexisting coverage exclusion as long as they have had 12 months of continuous group health insurance coverage - These rules create client rights to consent to use and disclose protected health information, to inspect and copy one’s medical record, and to amend mistaken or incomplete information - It limits who is able to access a client’s record |
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Privacy
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Is the right of clients to keep information about themselves from being disclosed
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Confidentiality
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Is how health care providers treat client private information once it has been disclosed to others
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Federal Nursing Home Reform Act
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- Gave residents in certified nursing homes the right to be free of unnecessary and inappropriate restraints
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid - Services standards state that clients have the right to be free from restraints |
