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fundamentals of nursing > Legal and Ethical Principles of Nursing Review For Quiz #2 > Flashcards

Legal and Ethical Principles of Nursing Review For Quiz #2 Flashcards

1
Q

Public law

A

Government is directly involved, regulates relationships between individuals and the government

Ex: law of no texting while driving

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2
Q

Private law

A

AKA civil law

Regulates relationships between people involving ownership of property, practice of nursing, medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry

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3
Q

Criminal law

A

Involves criminal actions, like theft

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4
Q

Nurse Practice Act

A

Law that affects nursing practice, each state has its own defining the legal scope of practice of nurses to protect the public

Each nurse is required to strictly work within their defined limits

If the nurse goes outside of their limits, that is when the legal aspect is involved

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5
Q

Scope of practice

A

Activities an individual healthcare practitioner is permitted to perform within a specific profession

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6
Q

Action WITHIN the scope of practice

A

Example: nurse has a patient who just had an appendectomy, scope of practice for that patient would be to assess for pain, dressing changes, possible infection, assessing drains, and giving medication

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7
Q

Action OUTSIDE the scope of practice

A

Nurse performs the appendectomy

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8
Q

Crime

A

A wrong against a person or his or her property, but the act is considered to be against the public as well

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9
Q

Tort

A

A wrong committed by a person against another person, or his or her property; regulated by civil law

*a nurses actions can become criminal if it does harm to the public. for example, medication errors to more than one patient

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10
Q

Intentional Torts

A

Assault or battery

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11
Q

Assault

A

Threat or attempt to do bodily harm

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12
Q

Assault example

A

A nurse making verbal threats to restrain a patient unnecessarily

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13
Q

Battery

A

Unauthorized physical contact; contact that takes place without the patient’s consent

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14
Q

Battery example

A

Forcing or administering medication after a patient has refused it

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15
Q

What are the exceptions for battery?

A

If a patient puts a nurse at risk, unauthorized contact is permitted to protect themselves from harm, but nurse needs to document all of that

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16
Q

Invasion of privacy

A

Occurs when confidential information is compromised

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17
Q

What are examples of intentional torts?

A

Trespassing or illegal search
Revealing personal information like a patient’s name
Photographing
Allow an unauthorized person to review chart

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18
Q

False imprisonment

A

Unjustified retention or prevention of the movement of another person without proper consent

Cannot detain a person without consent

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19
Q

What are false imprisonment examples?

A

Use of restraints, if it is not warranted
Patient cannot be forced to sign the AMA (against medical advice)
Unless it is a prisoner or mentally ill person who are dangerous to themselves or others

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20
Q

What are unintentional torts?

A

Negligence
Malpractice
Liability

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21
Q

Negligence

A

Harm because a person did not act reasonably ( ex: committing professional malpractices)

Based on what constitutes common sense

22
Q

Malpractice

A

AKA professional negligence
Holds professionals to a higher standard

23
Q

What is an example of malpractice?

A

You failed to follow the standards for administering insulin or other injectable medications

24
Q

What is liability?

A

The obligation that legally binds an individual to settle a debt; has to meet four elements, including duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages

25
Q

Duty

A

An obligation to provide care

Ex: nurses assignment to patients

26
Q

Breach of duty

A

Failure to provide appropriate care

27
Q

What is an example of a breach of duty?

A

A nurse has a patient with high blood pressure. However, the nurse did not re-check the blood pressure or notify the physician.

28
Q

Causation (from 4 elements of liability)

A

Action or lack of action that caused harm

29
Q

What is an example of causation?

A

A patient had a stroke because of high blood pressure but the nurse doesn’t know if it’s because of not checking the blood pressure or another reason

30
Q

Damages

A

Physical, psychological, or financial harm / injury

31
Q

What is an example of damages?

A

Cerebral vascular accident (CVA), a.k.a. stroke, paralysis on the left side for not checking blood pressure

32
Q

How do you reduce liability?

A

Through the use of incident reports, maintaining HIPAA regulations, Good Samaritan laws, student liability, and malpractice insurance

33
Q

What is an incident report?

A

Reports used by hospitals to document occurrences of anything of the ordinary that has potential to harm the patient

34
Q

What is an example of when you would use an incident report?

A

When a patient falls out of bed because they didn’t want to call for assistance

35
Q

What are Good Samaritan laws??

A

A law designed to help protect healthcare providers when giving aid in emergency situations outside of the hospital setting

How to maintain scope of practice

36
Q

What is an example of one of you would use a Good Samaritan law?

A

if a nurse is on their way to work, and they witnessed a car accident, they can stop and help provide care. CPR is in their scope, however they break one of the patients ribs, but the nurse would not be liable for that.

37
Q

What is malpractice insurance?

A

Protects the nurses best interest

For example, they are given an attorney in court and have monetary support if a case came to the conclusion that the nurse was liable for harm to the patient

38
Q

What is informed consent?

A

When a patient gives the hospital staff permission to make physical contact

39
Q

How are consent forms used?

A

The patient is asked to sign general permission for care which allows permission for care and treatment

Additional consents required for tests and surgery; must be signed by the patient/legal guardian

In an emergency, a consent is implied — immediate threat to life, and the physicians agreed to an emergency then consent can be implied if the patient or legal guardian can’t communicate this.

40
Q

What is the procedure involved with informed consent?

A

It is the responsibility of the person performing the procedure (the surgeon) to inform the patient about the risks and benefits of the procedure

The forms have to be signed by parent / guardian for minors

41
Q

What is the nurses role in informed consent?

A

If a patient is having a surgery, the nurse has to check if the patient signed a consent form, and all questions are answered by the person perform the surgery

If a patient is hesitant, the nurse has to contact the healthcare provider that will perform the surgery to explain the purposes/benefits/risks of the procedure

42
Q

What are the HIPAA regulations?

A

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

National standards for the protection of health information

Infractions are punishable by fines and / or prison

43
Q

What are the patient rights in HIPAA regulations?

A

They are able to get a copy of their medical record, notice of privacy rights, and have the choice of how to receive health information

44
Q

What HIPAA regulations are the nurse to abide by?

A

Protected health information

For example, demographics (name, address, birthday, Social Security number, MR number, health plan, name of relatives), diagnosis

45
Q

How is health information protected?

A

By avoiding: discussion in public places, printed/electronic information in public view, client charts in open areas, protected health information in regular trash, unauthorized hearing of patient sensitive information, display of patient’s name and/or diagnosis, removing information from healthcare facility with identifying information, sharing information with individuals NOT involved in the care of the patient

46
Q

What are ethics?

A

Philosophical principles that direct actions as being right or wrong

47
Q

Code of Ethics

A

A list of written statements, describing ideal behavior, which serves as a model of conduct

Refer to the ANA code of ethics

48
Q

What is involved and ethical decision making?

A

Ethical dilemma and ethical distress, as well as the nursing process

49
Q

Ethical dilemma

A

Occurs when two or more clear, moral principles apply to a situation, but support mutually inconsistent courses of action

50
Q

Ethical distress

A

Occurs when the nurse knows the “right” thing to do but personal or institutional factors make doing the “right” thing difficult

fundamentals of nursing (11 decks)

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