Unit 7 Lesson 5: Laws & Orders

Question 1

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

Answer 1

malpractice

Question 2

What is malpractice

Answer 2

Malpractice is defined as conduct of a professional that does not meet the standard of competence for the profession and has caused harm.

Question 3

negligence

Answer 3

failure to act with care and/or failure to perform actions that are expected of the profession

Question 4

Malpractice can include a claim of

Answer 4

negligence

Question 5

Any professional who could be sued or found criminally responsible for patients is required to carry what to protect themselves

Answer 5

liability insurance to protect themselves

Question 6

how to get liability insurance

Answer 6

Some employers provide this for their workers, while others require employees to purchase their own.

Question 7

What does liability insurance cover and what does it not cover

Answer 7

While liability insurance covers legal costs and payouts for malpractice claims, it generally excludes coverage if the act was intentionally harmful

Question 8

All of the things that can go wrong are different types of torts, what does tort mean

Answer 8

a fancy term lawyers use for an action that leads to legal liability.

Question 9

What may happen due to a HIPPA violation

Answer 9

. 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.

Question 10

What does a medical professional have to do to be charged with libel

Answer 10

if a medical professional expresses negative statements about patients in any written form, including social media, they could be charged with libel

Question 11

What is libel

Answer 11

false accusation intended to cause harm

Question 12

What is slander

Answer 12

Furthermore, if the untrue words about a patient are spoken, then it is considered slander.

Question 13

If a medical professional fails to obtain informed consent before a procedure, what could they be charged with

Answer 13

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.)

Question 14

What is false imprisonment

Answer 14

False imprisonment, or holding someone against their will

Question 15

Describe the crime of false imprisonment

Answer 15

. False imprisonment, or holding someone against their will, is the crime that can be charged if medical staff restrain a patient without reason.

Question 16

Does physical restriant have to be used for false imprisonment to occur

Answer 16

But physical restraint does not even need to be used for this crime to occur

Question 17

physical restraint does not even need to be used for false imprisoment to occur; elaborate

Answer 17

if medical staff tell a patient that they cannot leave, that could also be considered false imprisonment.

Question 18

if medical staff tell a patient that they cannot leave, that could also be considered false imprisonment. Why is that

Answer 18

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.

Question 19

What’s it called when you leave a hospital when your doctor has told you it is dangerous to do so?

Answer 19

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.