Legal Concepts
What is the relationship between ethics and the law?
Laws are built upon a moral foundation and intended to reflect popular belief about the “rightness or wrongness” of particular acts.
What is constitutional law based on?
The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
What is a tort?
A wrong or injury that a person suffers because of someone else’s action, either intentional or unintentional.
What should a nurse do if there is a question about a medication order?
Clarify with the person who wrote the order.
What was the finding of the Institute of Medicine’s report "To Err is Human"?
Between 44 and 98 thousand people were dying in hospitals each year because of preventable medical errors.
What is the purpose of the law?
To enforce moral beliefs, promote social justice, and protect individual rights.
What does statutory law consist of?
Formal laws written and enacted by federal, state, or local legislatures.
What is the difference between negligence and malpractice?
Negligence is a failure to do something that a reasonable person would do, while malpractice is negligence committed by a professional.
What is the nurse’s role when witnessing an informed consent form?
Indicating that the client has voluntarily signed the consent form.
What are "never events"?
Serious reportable events that are so unambiguous, serious, and preventable that they should never happen.
Name one reason for discrepancies between what is legal and what is ethical.
Differences between ethical points of view.
What is administrative law?
Legal powers granted to administrative agencies by legislative bodies and the rules that the agencies make to carry out their powers.
What are the four components of malpractice?
Duty to the patient, breach of duty, injury or harm to the patient, and causation.
What should a nurse do if a patient refuses medication?
Respect the patient’s decision and not administer the medication.
What are some critical factors to reduce the threat of malpractice suits?
Good communication, conscientious practice, autonomy, and sufficient liability insurance.
What are the four sources of law that affect nursing practice?
Constitutional law, statutory law, administrative law, and common law.
What drives common law?
Precedents (earlier court rulings in similar cases).
What is an example of an unintentional tort?
Leaving the siderails down and the client falls and is injured.
What is the nurse’s duty of care?
To act in the same way that an ordinary, prudent, reasonable nurse would act in similar circumstances.
What is the role of nurses as expert witnesses?
Examining evidence, reviewing pertinent nursing literature, giving depositions, and testifying in court.
What is the difference between public and private law?
Public law deals with the relationship between persons and the government, while private law deals with the relationship between people.
What is the difference between felonies and misdemeanors?
Felonies are serious crimes with significant fines and jail sentences, while misdemeanors are less serious crimes, usually punishable by fines, short jail sentences, or both.
What is an example of an intentional tort?
Assault, battery, false imprisonment, defamation, invasion of privacy, or fraud.
What should nurses do to limit liability?
Maintain good communication, clinical competence, autonomy, and sufficient liability insurance.
What influences the effectiveness of an expert witness?
Breadth of experience, degree of preparation, depth of knowledge, and confident delivery.