Exam 2 - Legal Flashcards
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)
Federal statute
Consumer rights and protections
Affordable health care
Increased access to care
Stronger Medicare
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Federal statute
Protects rights of people with physical/mental disabilities
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)
Hospital ER must treat PT, including PT in labor, regardless of their background or ability to pay
PTs can’t be transferred/discharged until condition is stable
Mental Health Parity Act under PPACA
Strengthens mental health services
Disallows discrimination against PT w/mental illness
Advance Directive
Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA)
Federal statute
Anyone 18+ can be organ donor
Anyone 18+ can donate their body to science
Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)
Requires health care institutions to provide written information to patients concerning their rights under state law to make decisions, including the right to refuse treatment and formulate advance directives
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
Federal statute
Ensures patient record privacy
Ensure PT access to their own records
Protects PTs from losing insurance if they switch jobs
Health Information Technology Act (HITECH) under HIPAA
Federal statute
Ensures security and privacy of PT health record in event of breach or disclosure on internet
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)
Common law
Some states require viability tests if fetus gestational age > 28 weeks
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Common law
Right to privacy includes woman’s right to have an abortion
American Nursing Association (ANA)
Develops standards for nursing practice, policy statements, and similar resolutions outlining the scope, function, and role of the nurse in practice
Nursing Licensure
State Statute
State Board of Nursing Nursing licenses all registered nurses in the state where they practice, and specifies requirements for that licensure.
Nurse Practice Act
State Statutes
Define the scope of nursing practice, distinguishing between nursing and medical practice and establishing education and licensure requirements for nurses.
Uniform Determination of Death Act
State Statute
Establishes criteria for declaring PT dead
1) irreversible cessation of cardiopulmonary function or
2) irreversible cessation of brain function, including brain stem function
Death with Dignity/Physician-Assisted Suicide
State Statute
Provides medical aid in dying
Physician prescribes the meds
PT must administer them
Medical Restraint
Guidelines from The Joint Commission (TJC), Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS), American Nursing Association (ANA)
Used (1) only to ensure the physical safety of the patient or other patients, (2) when less restrictive interventions are not successful, and (3) only on the written order of a health care provider
Good Samaritan Laws
State Statute
Person may render aid to someone in distress and not be criminally or civilly liable
NOT duty-to-save
Public Health Laws
State Statutes
Protect populations, advocate for the rights of people, regulate health care and health care financing, and ensure professional accountability for care provided
Living Will
Form of advance directive
Written documents that direct treatment in accordance with a patient’s wishes in the event of a terminal illness or condition
Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
Form of advance directive
Legal document that designates a person or people of one’s choosing to make health care decisions when the patient is no longer able to make decisions on his or her own behalf. This agent makes health care treatment decisions on the basis of the patient’s wishes
Autopsy
State Statute
Governs when autopsies can be ordered and performed
1) suspicious death - murder
2) family request
3) PT in hospital < 24 hrs - death under suspicious circumstances
Intentional Tort
Willful acts that violate another’s rights
Assault
Intentional tort
intentional threat toward another person that places the person in reasonable fear of harmful, imminent, or unwelcome contact
Actual contact not required
Battery
Intentional tort
Any intentional offensive touching without consent or lawful justification. The contact can be harmful to the patient and cause an injury, or it merely can be offensive to the patient’s personal dignity
Requires actual contact
False Imprisonment
Unjustified restraint of a person without a legal reason. This occurs when nurses restrain a patient in a confined area to keep the person from freedom.
Requires that the patient be aware of the confinement.
Libel
Quasi-intentional tort
Written publication of false statements that defame one’s character
Slander
Oral publication of false statements that damage one’s character
Invasion of Privacy
Quasi-intentional tort
release of a patient’s medical information to an unauthorized person
Negligence
Unintentional tort
Conduct that falls below the generally accepted standard of care of a reasonably prudent person.
Malpractice/Professional Negligence
Unintentional Tort
The nurse (defendant) owed a duty of care to the patient (plaintiff)
The nurse did not carry out or breached that duty.
The patient was injured and the nurse’s failure to carry out the duty caused the injury
Informed Consent
Agreement to allow care based on full disclosure of risks, benefits, alternatives, and consequences of refusal
Patient signs to give consent
Nurse signs as witness
Felony
Criminal law
Serious offense that results in significant harm to another person or society in general
Misdemeanor
Criminal law
Crime that, although injurious, does not inflict serious harm
