Legal and Consent Flashcards
Consent: CNO ETPs
- ensure informed consent is provided
- support clients in making informed decisions
- advocate for clients and representatives, especially when clients cannot advocate for themselves
Health Care Consent Act (HCCA) provicincal
- promoting individuals autonomy and communication among clients and HCP INCLUDING - specific treatments - admission to care facility - personal assistance needs
HCP only have authority to make decisions for patients in an emergency when no authorized person is available
Principles of Informed Consent
- pts have right to refuse consent of treatments (even if in best interest)
- nurses should always explain treatments or procedures they are performing
- informed consent does not always have to be written (verbal for taking BP)
- nurses should assume the patient is capable unless there is reasonable grounds to believe otherwise
Minimum age of consent
None. HCP uses judgement to determine if young client is capable of understanding benefits and risks relevant to making decision
Conditions for informed consent (CNO)
- patients must have the ability to make decisions
- medical providers must disclose information (benefits and risks)
- patient can comprehend info
- consent is voluntary
- consent must be specific to treatment/procedure
- consent must specify who will perform treatment/procedure
Substitute Decision Act (SDA)
if the person is incapable, consent/refusal is obtained from the highest ranked available SDM from the HCCA hierarchy, who is willing to make the decision
Nurses promoting patient autonomy
- explore needs/concerns of pt at all stages of treatment (consent is ongoing process)
- understanding the meaning of the experience form the perspective of the pt
- be awareness of personal biases/assumptions
- avoid denying autonomy
- provide adequate time and counselings to ensure patient understands
Legal liability in nursing
standards are used to determine if a nurse acted reasonably and the same as a nurse with similar credentials would have
- ignorance of laws or standards is not a defence of negligence
Intentional Torts
intentional wrong doing
1. Assault: verbal or physical acts that create fear (give a pt a needle against will)
- Battery: intentional physical contact without consent (give the pt the needle)
- Invasion of Privacy: unwanted intrusion into personal life (breaching private info)
- False imprisonment: holding someone voluntarily (preventing someone from leaving health care facility, inappropriate use of restraints)
Unintentional Tort
Negligence: care that does not meet standard or law
- committed by inattention, thoughtlessness or carelessness
- perform a procedure nurse in not competent to do, and patient harm is the result
ex: med error, IV infection, burns from bath, failure to use aseptic technique, failure to give report, failure to monitor pts condition adequately.
Prevent negligence
follow standard of care
- appropriate orientation
- continue education
- adequate staffing
- maintain good communication
- document (timely, truthfully, accurate)
Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA)
and Consent
- balances protecting pt data and HCP need to know info for effective care
- clients have the right to withdraw consent of the use of their data at anytime
According to PHIPA, a nurse can collect data without patient consent when:
- the client cannot provide consent (unconscious)
- obtaining consent would affect timeliness of care (emergency)
- the accuracy of info is questionable (cognitive impairment)
CNO standard on Personal Health Information Practices
nurses share relevant info with health care team - explain to patient and give general composition of team
- access only info you need
Nursing student and Legal Liability
- must know own competencies and refuse tasks that they aren’t competent in
- responsible for clarifying policies, procedures or assignments that are unclear
- clear communication between educator, CI
- student determines goals with educator and CI
