101 ETHICO-LEGAL Flashcards
governed by many legal concepts
nursing practice
is an essential concept of professional nursing practice and the law
accountability
two reasons why the knowledge of laws regulate and affect nursing practice
- to ensure that the nurse’s decisions and actions are consistent with current legal principles
- to protect the nurse from liability
can be defined as “the sum total of rules and regulations by which a society is governed
law
is created by people and exists to regulate all persons
law
sources of law
constitutional law, legislation (statutory law), administrative law, common law
it establishes the general organization of the federal government, grants certain powers to the government, and places limits on what federal and state governments may do
constitutional law
creates legal rights and responsibilities and is the foundation for a system of justice
constitution
laws made by the this branch of government that are designed to declare, command or prohibit
legislation (statutory law)
when a state legislature passes a statute, an administrative agency is given the authority to create rules and regulations to enforce the statutory laws
administrative law
laws evolving from court decisions
common law
law that is is continually being adapted and expanded
common law
in deciding specific controversies, courts generally adhere to the doctrine of _
stare decisis “to stand by things decided”
types of law
public law, private (civil) law,
refers to the body of law that deals with relationships between individuals and the government and governmental agencies
public law
is an important segment of public law, which deals with actions against the safety and welfare of the public
criminal law
examples of public law
homicide, manslaughter, theft
crimes can be classified as either
felonies or misdemeanors
is the body of law that deals with relationships among private individuals
private or civil law
private or civil law can be categorized into variety of legal specialties such as _
contract law and tort law
a law that involves the enforcement of agreements among private individuals or the payment of compensation for failure to fulfill the agreements
contract law
a law that defines and enforces duties and rights among private individuals that are not based on contractual agreements
tort law
examples of tort laws applicable to nurses
negligence, malpractice, invasion of privacy, assault, battery
kinds of legal actions
civil actions, criminal actions
an action that deals with the relationships among individuals in society
civil action
example: a man may file a suit against a person who he
believes cheated him
civil action
an action that deals with disputes between an individual and the society as a whole
criminal action
example: if a man shoots a person, society brings him to trial
criminal action
if found guilty in a civil action, such as malpractice, the defendant will have to what?
pay a sum of money
if found guilty in a criminal action, the defendant may what?
lose money, be jailed, or be executed and, if a nurse, could lose his or her license
the action of a lawsuit is called
litigation
lawyers who participate in lawsuits may be referred to as
litigators
primarily functions to settle disputes peacefully and in accordance with the law
civil judicial process
has strict procedural rules
lawsuit
document is called a
complain
person filed a complaint is a
plaintiff
the one who claims that his or her legal rights have been infringed on by one or more other persons or entities
defendants
made by defendants, a written response
answer
both parties engage in pretrial activities
discovery
the judge renders a _, or the jury renders a _
decision, verdict
how many members are the jury
12
a nurse may be called to testify in a legal action
nurses as witnesses
it is advisable that any nurse who is asked to testify in such a situation seek the advice of an attorney before providing testimony
nurses as witnesses
is the basis of the relationship between a nurse and an employer
contract
is an agreement between two or more competent persons, on sufficient consideration (remuneration), to do or not to do some lawful act
contract
can be written or oral
contract
is the quality or state of being legally responsible for one’s obligations and actions and for making financial restitution for wrongful acts
liability
it refer to the nurse’s duty of care, that is, duty to render care, established by the presence of an expressed or implied contract
contractual obligations
refer to the nurse’s duty of care, that is, duty to render care, established by the presence of an expressed or implied contract
contractual relationship
this type of legal relationship creates the ancient legal doctrine
known as
respondeat superior ( “let the master answer”)
is a privilege or fundamental power to which an individual is entitled unless it is revoked by law or given up voluntarily
right
is the obligation associated with a right
responsibility
is the formalized decision-making process between representatives of management (employer) and representatives of labor (employee) to negotiate wages and conditions of employment, including work hours, working environment, and fringe benefits of employment
collective bargaining
through a written agreement, both management and
employees legally commit themselves to observe the terms and conditions of employment
collective bargaining
is an organized work stoppage by a group of employees to express a grievance, enforce a demand for changes in conditions of employment, or solve a dispute with management
strike
is a violation of the individual’s rights and form of discrimination
sexual harassment
two types of advance health care directives
living will and the health care proxy or surrogate
provide specific instructions about what medical treatment the client chooses to omit or refuse in the event that the client is unable to make those decisions
living will
is a notarized or witnessed statement appointing someone else to manage health care treatment decisions when the
client is unable to do so
health care proxy
is an examination of the body after death and is performed only in certain cases
autopsy or postmortem examination
autopsy must be performed within
48 hrs of admission to a hospital
formal determination of death, or pronouncement, must be performed by a physician, a coroner, or a nurse
certification of death
DNR
do not resuscitate
is generally written when the client or proxy has expressed the wish for no resuscitation in the event of a respiratory or cardiac arrest
DNR order
is written to indicate that the goal of treatment is a comfortable, dignified death and that further life-sustaining measures are not indicated
DNR order
is the act of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from
incurable or distressing disease
euthanasia
“mercy killing”
euthanasia
is a legal inquiry into the cause or manner of a death
inquest
inquest is conducted under the jurisdiction of a _
coroner or medical examiner
is an act committed in violation of public (criminal) law and punishable by a fine or imprisonment
crime
is a crime of a serious nature, such as murder, punishable by a
term in prison
felony
is an offense of a less serious nature and is usually punishable by a fine or short-term jail sentence, or both
misdemeanor
is a civil wrong committed against a person or a person’s property
tort
usually litigated in court by civil action between individuals
tort
tort may be classified as _
unintentional or intentional
examples of unintentional torts
negligence and malpractice
is misconduct or practice that is below the standard expected of an ordinary, reasonable, and prudent person
negligence
involves extreme lack of knowledge, skill, or decision making that the person clearly should have known would put others at risk for harm
gross negligence
is “professional negligence,” that is, negligence that occurred while the person was performing as a professional
malpractice
can be described as an attempt or threat to touch another person unjustifiably
assault
is the willful touching of a person (or the person’s clothes or even something the person is carrying) that may or may not cause harm
battery
is the “unjustifiable detention of a person without legal warrant to confine the person“
false imprisonment
is a direct wrong of a personal nature
invasion of privacy
is communication that is false, or made with a careless disregard for the truth, and results in injury to the reputation of a person
defamation
is a defamation by means of print, writing, or pictures
libel
is defamation by the spoken word, stating unprivileged (not
legally protected) or false words by which a reputation is damaged
slander
are laws designed to protect health care providers who provide assistance at the scene of an emergency against claims of malpractice unless it can be shown that there was a gross departure from the normal standard of care or willful wrongdoing on their part
good samaritan acts
is a major legal safeguard for nurses
competent practice
is a legal document and can be produced in court as evidence
client’s medical chart
is an agency record of an accident or unusual occurrence
incident report
