Ethical and Legal Issues

• living will
• power of attorney

• - Autonomy : respect for an ind. right for self-determination 
• Nonmalficence : do or cause no harm to another Beneficence: do good to others and maintain balance between benefits and harm
• Justice-
• Veracity: obligation to tell the truth
• Fidelity: duty to do what one has promised

• conducts that falls below std of care  
• can include acts of omission and commission
• in tort law - negligence applies to harm caused by carelessness, not intentional harm.

type of negligence (negligence on the part of the nurse) - determined if nurse owed a duty to a client and did not carry out the duty and the client was injured bc the nurse failed to perform the duty

concerned with enforcement of agreement among private individuals --> nurse-pt relationship

concerned with relationships amongst persons and the protection of a person’s right - violation may cause harm to a person or a property but no threat to society exist

relationships between ind and gvts, acts that threaten society and its order ( crime = offense against soceity that violates a law) -->  felony/ misdemeanor

• civil wrong other than a breach of contract in which the law allows the injured person to seek damages from the person who caused the injury  - intentional ( fraud, assault, defamation, false imprisonement, invasion of privacy)
• - unintentional ( negligence malpractice)

• Parental or guardian consent should be obtained before treatment is initiated for a minor except in the following cases: 
•  - emergency
•  - situations in which the consent of the minor is sufficient ( treatment r/t substance abuse, STI, HIV, test for AIDS, BC services, pregnancy or physhiatric services)
•  - emancipated minor
•  - court order or other legal authorization has been obtained.

• Emancipated minor - can sign informed consent.
•  - marriage
•  - pregnancy
•  - service in the armed force
•  - by court order

• gunshot wounds, stab wounds, assault homicides, suicides 
• abuse of any form - child abuse, domestic violence- dog bites, certain communicable disease

• Incident reports should not be placed in client’s record  
• make no reference to the incident report form in the client’s record.
• The incident report is not documented in the nurse’s note

the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation

a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation

• - gathers information relevant to case
• identify own values regarding the issue
• verbalizes the pb ( in simple sentence)
• considers possible courses of action
• negotiate outcome
• evaluates the action