Ethical and Legal Responsibilities in Nursing PDF

ETHICO-MORAL-LEGAL § Freedom of movement in all directions must be RESPONSIBILITIES IN NURSING limited....

ETHICO-MORAL-LEGAL § Freedom of movement in all directions must be RESPONSIBILITIES IN NURSING limited. § The time of confinement does not matter § No charges can be brought against a hospital or Ethical Principles of Professional Patient Relationship its employees for compelling a client with a contagious disease to remain in the hospital. Veracity - telling the truth, which is essential to the § Mentally ill clients may also be confined to the integrity of client-provider relationship hospital if there is a danger that the client may harm himself or others Fidelity - being faithful to one’s commitments and promises. 5. INVASION OF PRIVACY - Invasion of privacy is the intrusion into the personal life Privacy - Nurses protect patient privacy by ensuring of another, without just cause that the patient’s body is appropriately § It encompasses workplace monitoring, Internet covered, by not discussing irrelevant physical privacy, data collection, and other means of features etc. disseminating private information. § In the routine course of clientcare, absolute Confidentiality - requires that information about the privacy is invaded, but this type of invasion is client be kept private. deemed acceptable by the courts. § Negligent disregard for right to privacy, Privileged Communication - information given to a particularly when the patient is unable to protect professional who is forbidden by law himself, such as in the case of unconsciousness from disclosing the information in a or immobility, is legally actionable. court without the consent of the person § Hospitals, physicians and nurses may become who provided it. liable for invasion of privacy if they divulge information from a medical record to improper Legal roles of nurse sources. § such as reporting the following incidents: Communicable diseases, child abuse, and elder 1. Provider of Service - the nurse is expected to abuse and gunshot wounds. provide safe and competent care so that harm to the recipient of service is prevented. 6. DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION - Disclosure of Information is somewhat similar to 2. Liability - is the quality or estate of being legally invasion of privacy. responsible for one’s obligations and actions and to § It occurs when a client's problems are make financial restitution fro wrongful acts. inappropriately discussed with any third party. 3. Standards of care - by which the nurse acts or fails 7. DEFAMATION OF CHARACTER to act are legally defined by nurse practice acts and by - Defamation is an act of communication that causes rule of reasonable and prudent professional. someone to be shamed, ridiculed, held in contempt, lowered in the estimation of the community, or to lose RIGHTS - are privileges or fundamental powers to which employment status or earnings or otherwise suffer a an individual is entitled unless they are revoked by law damaged reputation. or given up voluntarily. - Libel and slander are subcategories of defamation. RESPONSIBILITIES - are the obligations associated with rights. i.e. to protect the rights of the recipient of - Accusing someone of a crime care - Accusing someone of having a horrible disease Legal issues in nursing Using words which affect a person's profession or business 1. TORT 8. MISREPRESENTATION AND FRAUD - A tort is a civil wrong committed against a person or - Misrepresentation and fraud can occur when a health property (real or personal) and is punishable by professional misleads a client to prevent the discovery of damages (i.e., monetary compensation) rather than a mistake in treatment. imprisonment. Not only the physician but also the hospital may be held A] Intentional Torts - a high degree of certainty that liable for failure to disclose negligent acts to an injured harm to another would result party. B] Unintentional/negligent tort - carelessness 9. INFLICTION OF MENTAL/EMOTIONAL DISTRESS - Intentional infliction of emotional or mental distress is a 2. ASSAULT tort claim for intentional conduct that results in a mental - This is the causing of an apprehension of an immediate reaction. harmful, offensive or unauthorized contact to a person and a willful attempt or threat to injure. This includes imposing mental suffering resulting from painful emotions, such as grief, public humiliation, 3. BATTERY despair, shame, wounded pride, etc. - Harmful, offensive or unauthorized touching of another person. 10. NEGLIGENT TORTS Negligent tort means a tort committed by failure to act 4. FALSE IMPRISONMENT as a reasonable person to someone to whom s/he - An act or failure to act by the defendant that confines owes a duty, as required by law under the the plaintiff to a confined area. circumstances. a person who sues another person or accuses another person of a crime in a court of law. Negligent torts are not deliberate, and there must be an injury resulting from the breach of the duty. Examples of negligent torts are car accidents, slip and fall accidents, and most medical malpractice cases. There are two degrees of negligence: 1. ORDINARY NEGLIGENCE is the failure to do (or not do) what a reasonable and prudent person would do (or not do) under the same circumstances in the situation in question. 2. GROSS NEGLIGENCE is more severe and includes the intentional omission of proper care or the commission of an act constituting the improper delivery of care. (Malpractice is very similar to negligence, but it is more specific.) MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - is the failure of a medical professional to follow the accepted standards of practice of his or her profession, resulting in harm to the patient Malpractice includes four elements: 1. Duty of care - a relationship between the medical professional and the patient at the time of the alleged injury. 2. Breach of duty - is defined as the failure to adhere to the standard of care set by the nursing profession, thus departing from a specific duty owed to the client. 3. The element of injury not only includes physical harm but also mental anguish and other invasions of the patient's rights. 4. The element of proximal cause (also called causation) involves the concept of "foresee ability"; that is, a logical link must exist between the nurse's act and the injury suffered. Examples of malpractice: According to Reising and Allen, common malpractice claims arise against nurses when nurses fail to: 1. Assess and monitor. 2. Follow standards of care. 3. Use equipment in a responsible manner. 4. Document. 5. Act as a patient advocate and follow the chain of command.