Chapter 8 Definitions

Question 1

malpractice

Answer 1

liabiltiy-generating conduct associated with the adverse outcome of patient treatment

Question 2

breach of contract

Answer 2

an unexcused failure to perform the services specified i a contract, either formal or informal

Question 3

tort

Answer 3

a legal wrong, other than breach of contract, for which a remedy will be provided, usually in the form of monetary damages

Question 4

negligence

Answer 4

a type of tort in which an athletic trainer fails to act as a reasonably prudent athletic trainer would act under the circumstances

Question 5

omission

Answer 5

a failure to act when there was a legal duty to do so

Question 6

commission

Answer 6

an action that violates a legal duty

Question 7

abandonment

Answer 7

the desertion of a patient-practitioner relationship by the health care proveder without the consent fo the patient

Question 8

standard of care

Answer 8

the legal duty to provide health care services consistent with what other health care practitioners of the same training, education, and credentialing would provide under the circumstances

Question 9

actual cause

Answer 9

the degreee to which a health care practitioner’s actiosn are associated with the adverse outcomes of a patient’s care

Question 10

proximate (legal) cause

Answer 10

the degree to which the harm caused by a health care practitioner was foreseeable

Question 11

foreseeability

Answer 11

the abiltiy to project the likely outcome of an act

Question 12

medical practice act

Answer 12

a state law regulating the practice of medicine, usually by specifying who may preactice and under what circumstances

Question 13

licensure

Answer 13

a form of state credentialing, established by statute and intended to protect the public, that regulates the practice of a trade or profession by specifying who may practice and what duties they may perform

Question 14

certification

Answer 14

a form of title protection, established by state law or sponsored by professional associations, designed to ensure that practitioners have essential knowledge and skills usfficient to protect the public

Question 15

registration

Answer 15

a type of state credentialign that requires qualified members of a progession to register with the state in order to practice

Question 16

exemption

Answer 16

a legislative mechanism used to release members of one profession from the libabilty of violating another profession’s practice act

Question 17

risk management

Answer 17

a process designed to prevent losses of all kinds for everyone associated with an organization, including its directors, administrators, employees, and clients

Question 18

emergency action plan

Answer 18

a blueprint for handling emergencies that helps establish accountability for their managment

Question 19

drug administration

Answer 19

provision of a single dose of medication to a patient by order of a physician

Question 20

drug dispensing

Answer 20

preparing and packaging medication for subsequent use by a patient

Question 21

over-the-counter medication (OTC)

Answer 21

a medication that can be purchased without a physician’s prescription

Question 22

statutes of limitations

Answer 22

laws that fix a certain length of time beyond which legal actions cannot be initiated

Question 23

sovereign (governmental) immunity

Answer 23

a legal doctrine that holds that neither governments nor their agents can be held liable for negligent actions

Question 24

assumption of risk

Answer 24

a legal defense that attempts to claim that an injured plaintiff understood the risk on an activity and freely chose to undertake the activity regardless of the haxards associated with it

Question 25

good samaritan laws

Answer 25

statutes intended to shield certain health care practitioners from certain types of legal liability when they voluntarily come to the aid of injured or ill persons under specific circumstances

Question 26

comparative negligence

Answer 26

a legal doctrine intended to determine the degree to which a plaintiff contributed to the harm caused by a defendant

Question 27

testimony

Answer 27

legally binding statements offered as evidence to the facts in a legal proceeding

Question 28

subpoena

Answer 28

the legal authority used to compel a person to provide testimony