professional and legal

• What is the purpose of state Nursing Care Act?

  to protect the public by broadly defines the legal scope defining of nursing practice

  regulates the practice
• What is the importance of maintaining the standard of care when rendering nursing care?

  safety,

  accredited education programs, specialty and service organizations, and standards for the individual nurseries in general and specific areas
• why is confidentiality important?

  Privacy and protection of patients

  HIPAA protects patients privacy
• what are the purpose and essential elements of informed consent?


  purpose- protects against lawsuits, and includes promotion of patients' understanding

  essential-Disclosure, Comprehension, Competence, Voluntariness
• what are the exceptions to the rules of informed consent?

  if the patient is incapacitated, in life - threatening emergencies with inadequate time to obtain consent, and voluntarily waived consent.
• what are the legal aspects of advanced directives?

  • Indicate who will make decisions for the patient in case the patient is unable.
  • Indicate the kind of medical treatment the patient wants or doesn’t want.
  • Indicate how comfortable the patient wants to be.
  • Indicate how the patient wants to be treated by others.
  • Indicate what the patient wants loved ones to know.
• What is the legal aspect of the power of attorney?

  gives consent for someone who cannot make decisions on they own
• What is the concept of licensure of nursing

  A specialized form of credentialing based on laws passed by a state legislature.

  A license is a legal document that permits a person to offer to the public skills and knowledge in a particular jurisdiction, where such practice would otherwise be unlawful without a license
• What is legal liability in nursing

  involves 4 elements.

  Duty refers to an obligation to use due care (what a reasonably prudent nurse would do) and is defined by the standard of care appropriate for the nurse – patient relationship. 

  Breach of duty is the failure to meet the standard of care. 

  Causation, the most difficult element of liability to prove, shows that the failure to meet the standard of care (breach) actually caused the injury. 

  Damages are the actual harm or injury resulting to the patient.
• What is the purpose of professional liability insurance?

  Protect the nurse's best interests, limitations of employer's coverage, care or care or advice given outside work
• What is the relationship between accountability and advocacy?

  accountability- to answer for one action

  advocacy- to speak and support a cause on someones behalf
• What is the difference between crime and tort?

  • Crime- violation punishable by the state
  • Tort- act of wrong doing for which nurses may be held accountable
• what are some examples of nursing tort

  Unintentional (malpractice, negligence)

  Intentional (false imprisonment, assault, battery,  

  defamation of character, fraud)
• What is the difference between negligence and malpractice?

  Negligence is defined as performing an act that a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances would not do or, conversely, failing to perform an act that a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances would do. As the definition implies, an act of negligence may be an act of omission or commission.

  Malpractice is the term generally used to describe negligence by professional personnel. 
• what are the nursing malpractice prevention?

  • Failure to ensure patient safety
  • Improper treatment
  • Failure to monitor and report
  • Medication errors and reactions
  • Failure to follow facility policy/procedure
  • Documentation
  • Equipment use
  • Adverse incidents
• What is the good Samaritan act?

  • Designed to protect individuals who provide emergency care to an injured person
• what is the nurses role in rendering emergency care?

  Nurses are covered in some states but not in others; in some states, only certain acts are covered. While in many states no person has a legal obligation to help another (except in employment situations), and a health care provider, like any other person, may choose to help or to leave the scene of an emergency, other states consider it mandatory for anyone to give help. Refer to the specific laws in your state. Regardless, in many situations, nurses may have an ethical responsibility to assist.
• what information is needed to be included in an incident report?

  • Complete name of person and names of witnesses
  • Factual account of incident
  • Date, time, and place of incident
  • Pertinent characteristics of person involved
  • Any equipment or resources being used
  • Any other important variables
  • Documentation by physician of medical examination of person involved 
• What are the ways nurses and nursing students can minimize their chances of liability?

  Documentation, following standard of care
• what is the nursing code of ethics

  • Practice with compassion and respect
  • Primary commitment to the patient
  • Promote advocacy
  • Responsible for own nursing practice
  • Owe same duties to self as to others
  • Maintain an ethical environment
  • Responsible for own professional development
  • Collaborate to protect human rights and reduce health disparities
  • Maintain integrity of the profession