Exam 2 - Legal

Question 1

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA)

Answer 1

Federal statute

Consumer rights and protections

Affordable health care

Increased access to care

Stronger Medicare

Question 2

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Answer 2

Federal statute

Protects rights of people with physical/mental disabilities

Question 3

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)

Answer 3

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

Question 4

Mental Health Parity Act under PPACA

Answer 4

Strengthens mental health services

Disallows discrimination against PT w/mental illness

Question 5

Advance Directive​

Question 6

Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA)

Answer 6

Federal statute

Anyone 18+ can be organ donor

Anyone 18+ can donate their body to science

Question 7

Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)

Answer 8

Federal statute

Ensures patient record privacy

Ensure PT access to their own records

Protects PTs from losing insurance if they switch jobs

Question 9

Health Information Technology Act (HITECH) under HIPAA

Answer 9

Federal statute

Ensures security and privacy of PT health record in event of breach or disclosure on internet

Question 10

Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)

Answer 10

Common law

Some states require viability tests if fetus gestational age > 28 weeks

Question 11

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Answer 11

Common law

Right to privacy includes woman’s right to have an abortion

Question 12

American Nursing Association (ANA)

Answer 12

Develops standards for nursing practice, policy statements, and similar resolutions outlining the scope, function, and role of the nurse in practice

Question 13

Nursing Licensure

Answer 13

State Statute

State Board of Nursing Nursing licenses all registered nurses in the state where they practice, and specifies requirements for that licensure.

Question 14

Nurse Practice Act

Answer 14

State Statutes

Define the scope of nursing practice, distinguishing between nursing and medical practice and establishing education and licensure requirements for nurses.

Question 15

Uniform Determination of Death Act

Answer 15

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

Question 16

Death with Dignity/Physician-Assisted Suicide

Answer 16

State Statute

Provides medical aid in dying

Physician prescribes the meds

PT must administer them

Question 17

Medical Restraint

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Good Samaritan Laws

Answer 18

State Statute

Person may render aid to someone in distress and not be criminally or civilly liable

NOT duty-to-save

Question 19

Public Health Laws

Answer 19

State Statutes

Protect populations, advocate for the rights of people, regulate health care and health care financing, and ensure professional accountability for care provided

Question 20

Living Will

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Autopsy

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Intentional Tort

Answer 23

Willful acts that violate another’s rights

Question 24

Assault

Answer 24

Intentional tort

intentional threat toward another person that places the person in reasonable fear of harmful, imminent, or unwelcome contact

Actual contact not required

Question 25

Battery

Answer 25

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

Question 26

False Imprisonment

Answer 26

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.

Question 27

Libel

Answer 27

Quasi-intentional tort

Written publication of false statements that defame one’s character

Question 28

Slander

Answer 28

Oral publication of false statements that damage one’s character

Question 29

Invasion of Privacy

Answer 29

Quasi-intentional tort

release of a patient’s medical information to an unauthorized person

Question 30

Negligence

Answer 30

Unintentional tort

Conduct that falls below the generally accepted standard of care of a reasonably prudent person.

Question 31

Malpractice/Professional Negligence

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Informed Consent

Answer 32

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

Question 33

Felony

Answer 33

Criminal law

Serious offense that results in significant harm to another person or society in general

Question 34

Misdemeanor

Answer 34

Criminal law

Crime that, although injurious, does not inflict serious harm