Legal Issues

• protect the nurse from liability 
• protect the clients rights 

developed through general customs and precedent

concerned with relationships between people 

• Defamation 
• slander ( spoked defamation ) 
• libel(written defamation ) 

• felony 
• misdemeanor 
•   assault( will attempt to harm another) 
•    battery (touching without consent) 
• ex. restraining someone with out need 

state board of nursing : Nurse Practice Acts 

• broadly defines legal scope of legal scope of nursing practice (know what your status allows you to do ) 
• NEed___  accreditation ; licensure ;certification 

• guidelines for nursing practice
• national: ANA 
• State: Nurse Practice ACt 
• Institutional: Policy/procedures 
• Was your nursing care "reasonable and prudent" 
• something you should be doing judgement calls 

liability insurance 

• Confidentiality (HIPPA, mandatory reporting;mentally , physically harmed) 
• Informed Consent 
• Staffing 
• Adoption 
• Drugs 
• AIDS/HIV (don't have the right to refuse care to pts with this ) 
• Death/Dying (assisted suicide )
• organ donation (don't ever say what you would do ) 

• Malpractice is negligence committed by a professional that violates the practice act 
• (failure to make an accurate assessment) 

negligence --doesn't do what they are supposed to do 

malpractice failed to carry out stand of care 

• failed to carry out medical order 
• failed to make accurate assessment 
• failed to report inadequate care 
• abandoned patient needed care 
• follow chain of command 

Duty-*scope of care or delegation* obligation to use due care( accurate assessment of pt, assigned to their care)

• Breach of Duty- failure to meet standard of care (failure to execute and document use of appropriate safety measures)
• falls below standard care

Actual harm to pt

shows that breach actually caused injury or harm

record at the time of the event 

• use concrete honest terms 
• avoid summarization 

avoid words like seems to or appears to,,,,be detailed