Legal Flashcards

1
Q

What is the purpose of laws in healthcare

A

Protection for the patient and the nurse

- big emphasis on protecting pt from us tho

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2
Q

highest law in the US

A

constitution

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3
Q

statutes

A

statutory law that is passed by legislators and must be signed by president/govenror

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4
Q

administrative agencies

A

executive branches that establish rules

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5
Q

court decisions

A

tort laws; where court interprets the statutes that set the standard

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6
Q

criminal law burden

A

beyond a reasonable doubt ; incarceration, probation, fines

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7
Q

civil law burden

A

preponderance of evidence ; monetary damaged

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8
Q

administrative burden

A

clear and convincing standard

; suspension or loss of licenses

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9
Q

statute governing nurses in their states

A

nurse practice act

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10
Q

agency designated to apply nursing laws to indiviudalsq

A

board of nursing

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11
Q

T/F

all states have the same nursing practice act

A

false - it is different per state

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12
Q

describe legal accountability trend for nurses

A

with the more independence + pay, there is increased legal accountability for us.

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13
Q

how has nursing grown

A

we now do things that were once considered to be medical practices only (not nursing)

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14
Q

malpractice insurance dilemma

A

if you have malpractice insurance, there’s a good chance you’re getting sued

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15
Q

negligence

A

omission to do something that. a reasonable person would do

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16
Q

malpractice

A

when the professional acts irresponsible and prudent in their practice
(professional version of negligence)

17
Q

5 standards for malpractice/professional negligence.to occur

A
  1. standard of care is in place
  2. failure to meet standards
  3. foreseeability of harm must exist
  4. proven correlation
  5. actual in jury must occur
18
Q

can a patient sue a doctor because they got herpes after having surgery

A

no - theres no proven correlation

19
Q

can a patient sue a nurse if the nurse decided to not read the bracelet before passing meds

A

yes - they knew it was a risk and they took it but there must have been a bad outcome

20
Q

can a patient sue you if you forgot to put then bed rails up but they were fine

A

no- no actual injury occured

21
Q

t/f

it is the nurses duty to upgrade their skills as times change

22
Q

what can nurses model their practice after?

A

hospital facility protocols and evidence based practice

23
Q

do you include incident reports in the patients chart

A

nooooo - these are confidential communications .

24
Q

records of unusual or unexpected incidents are what

A

incidence report

25
What is a tort
Denial of a persons legal rights due to a failure to comply with our duty and that harms another patient
26
Intentional torts
assault or battery false imprisonment invasion of privacy defamation of character (slander vs libel)
27
assault
threat of harm
28
battery
actual harm done ; more than the threat
29
false imprisonment
restraining someone against the need to
30
invasion of privacy
not pulling curtain, breaching confidentiality,
31
slander
spoken defamation
32
libel
written defamation
33
how does the board protect patients from nurses
RN licensing Educational standards Continuing education Disciplinging nurses
34
Informed consent criteria
1. procedure is being performed 2. risks 3. desired outcome 4. expected complications or side effects that may occur as ar result of treatment 5. alternatives
35
nurses role in informed consent?
witness & make sure to assess whether you think your patient understands what they were told (if they dont, you call the doctor to come explain again)
36
who can give consernt
``` competent adult legal guardian , DPOA Emancipated/married minor mature minor parent court order ```
37
patient medical record
hospital made it but patient owns info; patient gets reasonable access to it - make sure doctor is there
38
patient self determinationact
gave patient right to self determine
39
emtala
prevents hospitals form dumping patient if they don't want to take care of them - labor