Jen ch 23

Question 1

statutory law

Answer 1

Of or related to laws enacted by a legislative branch of the government.

Question 2

Nurse Practice Acts

Answer 2

Statutes enacted by the legislature of any of the states or the appropriate officers of the districts or possessions that describe and define the scope of nursing practice.

Question 3

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Answer 3

ADA protects the rights of individuals who are disabled in the workplace, in educational institutions, and throughout our society

Question 4

regulatory/administr4ative law

Answer 4

reflects decisions made by administrative bodies such as State Boards of Nursing when they pass rules and regulations. An example of a regulatory law is the requirement to report incompetent or unethical nursing conduct to the State Board of Nursing

Question 5

Common Law

Answer 5

results from judicial decisions made in courts when individual legal cases are decided. Examples of common law include informed consent, the patient’s right to refuse treatment, negligence, and malpractice.

Question 6

Civil laws

Answer 6

protect the rights of individuals within our society and provide for fair and equitable treatment when civil wrongs or violations occur. Civil law violation ex. for a nurse - negligence and malpractice

Question 7

Criminal laws

Answer 7

protect society as a whole and provide punishment for crimes, which are defined by municipal, state, and federal legislation

Question 8

felony

Answer 8

a crime of a serious nature that has a penalty of imprisonment for longer than 1 year or even death

Question 9

misdemeanor

Answer 9

less serious crime that has a penalty of a fine or imprisonment for less than 1 year

Question 10

Standards of care

Answer 10

the legal requirements for nursing practice that describe minimum acceptable nursing care

Question 11

American Nurses Assoc. (ANA)

Answer 11

develops standards for nursing practice, policy statements, and similar resolutions. These standards outline the scope, function and role of the nurse in practice

Question 12

Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA)

Answer 12

This act provides that, when a patient comes to the emergency department or the hospital, an appropriate medical screening occurs within the capacity of the hospital. If an emergency condition exists, the hospital is not to discharge or transfer the patient until the condition stabilizes. (stops what is referred to as “patient dumping”)

Question 13

Mental Health Parity Act

Answer 13

forbids health plans from placing lifetime or annual limits on mental health coverage that are less generous than those placed on medical or surgical benefits.

Question 14

Advanced Directives

Answer 14

include living wills, health care proxies, and durable powers of attorney. Are based on values of informed consent, patient autonomy over end-of-life decisions, truth telling and control over the dying process

Question 15

Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA)

Answer 15

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 16

Living will

Answer 16

written documents that direct treatment in accordance with a patient’s wishes in the event of a terminal illness or condition. With this legal document the patient is able to declare which medical procedures he or she wants or does not want when terminally ill or in a persistent vegetative state.

Question 17

Healthcare proxy/durable power of attorney for healthcare (DPAHC)

Answer 17

legal document that designates a person or persons 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

Question 18

privacy vs confidentiality

Answer 18

privacy is the right of patient to keep personal info from being disclosed - confidentiality protects private patient info once it has been disclosed in healthcare setting.

Question 19

restraints

Answer 19

very last thing to do - can use to 1 ensure safety of resident and other residents 2 when less restrictive interventions fail 3 only with a written order from a healthcare provider

Question 20

Good Samaritan Law

Answer 20

These laws limit liability and offer legal immunity if a nurse helps at the scene of an accident, but only provide care in your scope of practice

Question 21

Uniform Determination of Death Act

Answer 21

states that health care providers can use either the cardiopulmonary or the whole-brain definition to determine death. Be aware of legal definitions of death because you need to document all events that occur when the patient is in your care

Question 22

Tort

Answer 22

civil wrong made against a person or property. classified as intentional, quasi-intentional and unintentional

Question 23

Intentional torts

Answer 23

willful acts that violate another’s rights such as assault, battery and false imprisonment

Question 24

Quasi-intentional torts

Answer 24

acts in which intent is lacking but volitional action and direct causation occur as in invasion of privacy abd defamation of character

Question 25

unintentional tort

Answer 25

includes negligence or malpractice

Question 26

assault

Answer 26

any action that places a person in apprehension of a harmful or offensive contact without consent. No actual contact is necessary. It is an assault for a nurse to threaten to give a patient an injection or to threaten to restrain a patient for an x-ray procedure when the patient has refused consent

Question 27

battery

Answer 27

any intentional touching without consent. The contact can be harmful to the patient and cause an injury, or it can be merely offensive to the patient’s personal dignity. In the example of a nurse threatening to give a patient an injection without the patient’s consent, if the nurse actually gives the injection, it is battery

Question 28

negligence

Answer 28

Careless act of omission or commission that results in injury to another.

Question 29

malpractice

Answer 29

Injurious or unprofessional actions that harm another.

Question 30

informed consent

Answer 30

a person’s agreement to allow something to happen such as surgery or an invasive diagnostic procedure, based on a full disclosure of risks, benefits, alternatives, and consequences of refusal

Question 31

Occurrence/incident report

Answer 31

Confidential document that describes any patient accident while the person is on the premises of a health care agency