Legal Flashcards
What is the purpose of laws in healthcare
Protection for the patient and the nurse
- big emphasis on protecting pt from us tho
highest law in the US
constitution
statutes
statutory law that is passed by legislators and must be signed by president/govenror
administrative agencies
executive branches that establish rules
court decisions
tort laws; where court interprets the statutes that set the standard
criminal law burden
beyond a reasonable doubt ; incarceration, probation, fines
civil law burden
preponderance of evidence ; monetary damaged
administrative burden
clear and convincing standard
; suspension or loss of licenses
statute governing nurses in their states
nurse practice act
agency designated to apply nursing laws to indiviudalsq
board of nursing
T/F
all states have the same nursing practice act
false - it is different per state
describe legal accountability trend for nurses
with the more independence + pay, there is increased legal accountability for us.
how has nursing grown
we now do things that were once considered to be medical practices only (not nursing)
malpractice insurance dilemma
if you have malpractice insurance, there’s a good chance you’re getting sued
negligence
omission to do something that. a reasonable person would do
malpractice
when the professional acts irresponsible and prudent in their practice
(professional version of negligence)
5 standards for malpractice/professional negligence.to occur
- standard of care is in place
- failure to meet standards
- foreseeability of harm must exist
- proven correlation
- actual in jury must occur
can a patient sue a doctor because they got herpes after having surgery
no - theres no proven correlation
can a patient sue a nurse if the nurse decided to not read the bracelet before passing meds
yes - they knew it was a risk and they took it but there must have been a bad outcome
can a patient sue you if you forgot to put then bed rails up but they were fine
no- no actual injury occured
t/f
it is the nurses duty to upgrade their skills as times change
true
what can nurses model their practice after?
hospital facility protocols and evidence based practice
do you include incident reports in the patients chart
nooooo - these are confidential communications .
records of unusual or unexpected incidents are what
incidence report