Unit 7 Lesson 5: Laws & Orders Flashcards
When a healthcare worker performs an act that is outside of the legal scope of practice or harms a patient through action or failure to act it is called
malpractice
What is malpractice
Malpractice is defined as conduct of a professional that does not meet the standard of competence for the profession and has caused harm.
negligence
failure to act with care and/or failure to perform actions that are expected of the profession
Malpractice can include a claim of
negligence
Any professional who could be sued or found criminally responsible for patients is required to carry what to protect themselves
liability insurance to protect themselves
how to get liability insurance
Some employers provide this for their workers, while others require employees to purchase their own.
What does liability insurance cover and what does it not cover
While liability insurance covers legal costs and payouts for malpractice claims, it generally excludes coverage if the act was intentionally harmful
All of the things that can go wrong are different types of torts, what does tort mean
a fancy term lawyers use for an action that leads to legal liability.
What may happen due to a HIPPA violation
. Any HIPAA violation might be prosecuted and fined by the government, but an individual patient could also sue for invasion of privacy or failure to respect patient confidentiality.
What does a medical professional have to do to be charged with libel
if a medical professional expresses negative statements about patients in any written form, including social media, they could be charged with libel
What is libel
false accusation intended to cause harm
What is slander
Furthermore, if the untrue words about a patient are spoken, then it is considered slander.
If a medical professional fails to obtain informed consent before a procedure, what could they be charged with
If a medical professional fails to obtain informed consent before a procedure, they could be charged with assault (making a physical attack), battery (offensive touching without consent), or abuse (cruel or violent treatment.)
What is false imprisonment
False imprisonment, or holding someone against their will
Describe the crime of false imprisonment
. False imprisonment, or holding someone against their will, is the crime that can be charged if medical staff restrain a patient without reason.
Does physical restriant have to be used for false imprisonment to occur
But physical restraint does not even need to be used for this crime to occur
physical restraint does not even need to be used for false imprisoment to occur; elaborate
if medical staff tell a patient that they cannot leave, that could also be considered false imprisonment.
if medical staff tell a patient that they cannot leave, that could also be considered false imprisonment. Why is that
It all comes back to the idea of patient autonomy. Even if a doctor says that it is dangerous for the person to leave the hospital, it is still the patient’s right (or the patient’s parents right if they are a minor) to make the decision to leave anyway.
What’s it called when you leave a hospital when your doctor has told you it is dangerous to do so?
Against Medical Advice (AMA). It is likely that if you choose to do this, you will have to sign a discharge paper that puts in writing that the doctor doesn’t think you should leave, but you are exercising your right to do so. This protects the doctor and the hospital from you coming back to sue later should your health get worse.
