Legal Dimensions in Nursing

Deals with an individuals relationship to the state

Constitutional, Administrative, and Criminal

• set of basic laws that defines and limits the powers of the government
• Nurse maintains rights as an individual
• Constitutional rights, civil rights, state constitution

developed by groups who are appointed to governmental administrative agencies

Ex:  Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, Social Security Act, Nurse Practice Act

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
• Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA or more commonly known as the Patient Dumping Act)
• Mental Health Parity Act (MHPA)
• Uniform Anatomical Gift Act
• Living Wills, Durable POA
• Advance Directives
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA)
• Restraints

• Licensure
• Good Samaritan law
• Public Health Laws (OSHA, CDC)

Acts or offenses against the welfare or safety of the public

Controlled Substance Act; Criminal Codes

• Deals with crimes against a person or person in such legal matter as:
• Contracts
• Torts
• Protective Reporting Law

• *They are state regulated
• Statutory Law: (Nurse Practice Acts)
• -Criminal Law (felonies or midemeanors)
• -Civil Law
• Regulatory Law: (administrative law)
• Common Law: (judicial system)

• They are legal guidelines for defining nursing practice and identifying the minimum acceptable nursing care
• Best known comes from the ANA
• Set by every state
• Set by state and federal laws that govern where nurses work
• The Joint Commission requires policies and procedures (P&P)

• the enforcement of duties and rights
• crime against a person or property (Damages)
• Someone always get paid

ex: nurse whose practice fell below standards

• Accidental Overdose of Meds
• Falls
• Emersion Burns
• Omission in Documentation
• Failure to assess abnormal findings and report

• Negligence & Malpractice
• Assault & Battery
• False Imprisonment
• Restraints or seclusion
• Invasion of Privacy
• Defamation
• Fraud

• -A breach of duty
• -the failure of an individual to provide care that a reasonable nurse would ordinarily use in a similar circumstance
• -defendant is the person being sued
• -plaintiff is the party who initiates the lawsuit that seeks damages

an obligation one has incurred or might incur thru any act or failure to act

• refers to the behavior of a professional persons wrongful conduct, improper discharge of professional duties, or failure to meet the standards of acceptable care which result in harm to another person
• -a specific type of negligence

• 1. The Nurse owed a duty to the client
• 2. The nurse did not carry out the duty or breached it
• 3. The client was injured
• 4. The client's injury was caused by the nurse's failure to carry out that duty (hardest to prove)

• Duty
• Derelection of duty
• Direct Cause
• Damages

• failure to assess and/or monitor; including making a nursing diagnosis
• failure to notify the hcp of problems
• failure to follow orders
• failure to follow the six rights of medication administration

• assault: the intentional creation of reasonable apprehension of a battery without actually touching (threatening leading to fear)
• Battery: touching of another person without the person's consent

• Libel: written
• Slander: verbal

* must effect a person's ability to work/make $

• Does the client need more clarification?
• Witness the signature

Provider of service; ensures that client receives competent, safe, and holistic care

• 1. Deceptive Practice/Fraud
• 2. Criminal acts
• 3. Previous action by another state board
• 4. Negligence
• 5. Physical/mental impairment such as addiction

File the report but DO NOT record it in the patient's record!