| Accountability | Being responsible for one's own actions |
| Advocate | One who defends/pleads a cause/issue on behalf of another |
| Deposition | Witnesses undergoing questioning by attorneys |
| Doctrine of Informed Consent | Full disclosure of facts needed by the patient to make an informed decision prior to any invasive treatment/procedure |
| Ethical Dilemmas | No clear right/wrong answer |
| Ethics | Values that influence a person's behavior and their feelings/beliefs about what is right/wrong |
| Euthanasia | Withholding lifesaving treatment
Letting a person die
A form of passive neglect |
| Laws | Sanction acceptable behavior
Prohibit unacceptable behavior |
| Liability | Legal responsibility |
| Liable | Legally responsible |
| Malpractice | Professional neglect |
| Non-maleficence | To do no harm |
| Standards of Care | Define acts whose performance is required/permitted/prohibited |
| Value Clarification | Process of self-evaluation
gain insights into personal beliefs/values |
| Values | Personal beliefs about the worth of an object/idea/custom/attitude |
| Verdict | Decision based on evidence/testimony/credibility of witness/laws pertaining to the issue |
| Criminal Law | Offensive/detrimental to society in general
Involves public offenses
Purpose of laws=punish for the crime and prevent further crimes |
| Civil Law | Violates an individuals rights
detrimental to that individual
purpose of laws=make the aggrieved person whole again |
| Negligence | Absence of due care |
| 4 key elements for the concept of malpractice | 1. Duty: relationship between patient/nurse
2. Breach: failure to perform duty
3. Harm has occurred
4. Proximate cause is breach of duty |
| Abandonment of Care | Wrongful termination of providing patient care |
| Assault | Intentional threat to cause bodily harm |
| Battery | Unlawful touching without consent |
| Competency | Legal presumption that at the age of majority, the person can make their own decisions (unless proved otherwise) |
| Defamation | Malicious and intentional statements that may injure one's reputation |
| Harm | Injury to person/property that gives rise to basis of legal action |
| Libel | Malicious/untrue writing about another person |
| Lander | Malicious/untrue spoken words |
| Tort | A type of civil law that involves wrongs against a person/property |
| Most common areas of litigation against nurses
Performance failures in: | Standard of care
Use of equipment
Documentation
Patient advocacy |
| Preventable Omissions in Nursing
Failures to: | Collaborate with other team members
Clarify interdisciplinary orders
Ask for/offer assistance
Utilize evidence based performance
Communicate info to patients/families
Limit overtime
Adequate staff with appropriate credentialed staff |
| Standards of care paired with the scope of nursing practice does what? | Define the obligations of the nurse, including those activities that are obligatory and those that are prohibited |
| The Patient Self-Determination Act | Requires that institutions maintain written policies and procedures regarding advance directives, the right to accept or refuse treatment and to fully participate in health care related decisions |
| What is the goal of the American Hospital Association (AHA) | To promote the public's understanding of their rights and responsibilities as consumers of health care |
| Health care institutions are obligated to uphold the patient's rights to_____ | 1. Access to health care without any prejudice
2. Treatment with respect and dignity at all times
3. Privacy and confidentiality
4. Personal safety
5. Complete info about one's own condition and treatment |
| Patients' responsibilities to health care institution | 1. Providing accurate info about themselves
2. Giving info regarding their known conditions
3. Participating in decision making regarding treatment and care |
| Consent for treatment does not_______ | Waive the right to privacy |
| How to avoid a lawsuit | WORK WITHIN YOUR SCOPE OF PRACTICE |
| Claims-made policy | Provides protection when claim for nursing/negligence is made while policy is in force |
| Occurrence-basis policy | Protects against claims made about events that occurred during the policy period/extended coverage period |
| Tail agreement | Extended coverage for nurse |
| Advance directives | Signed and witnessed documents that provide specific instructions for health care treatment if a person is unable to make these decisions personally at the time they are needed. |
| Living will | Written document that directs treatment in accordance with a patient's wishes in the event of a terminal illness or condition |
| Durable power of attorney | An agent, surrogate, or proxy to make health care decisions on the patient's behalf based on patient's wishes |
| To clarify values, you do what? | 1. Select the belief or behavior and examine it
2. Decide it's value
3. Incorporate value into daily responses |
| Respect for people | To view all human life as sacred, with each individual having inherent worth as a person |
| Autonomy | Freedom of personal choice
A right to be independent and make decisions freely |
| Beneficence | Doing/acting for someone's good |
