Importance of Law to the Nurse

 Nurses have more responsibility  Increased numbers of Advanced Practice Nurses  Law is there to assist in the decision-making

process involved in nursing practice

 Law is for the protection of nursing practice  Law is there for the identification of the risk of

liability

 Comes from the word which means that which is

laid down or fixed

 Law is a rule or standard of human conduct

established & enforced by authority, society, or custom

 Law is established for the welfare of society  Law is not stagnant--changes when society s

directs a change

Physical Law Moral Law Divine Law

 Public law  Constitutional  Administrative  Criminal

Private or civil law  Tort  Contract  Protecting and reporting

Deals with relationship between individuals and government

Deals with relationship between private persons

Branch of civil law Most common law affecting nursing practice Concerns legal wrongs committed by one person against another person or property of another Catgorized into: unintentional and intentional

 Negligence  Failure of a person to perform an act

(omission) or to perform an act (comission) that a reasonable person would or would not do in a similar situation  involves harm resulting from the failure of people conducting themselves in a reasonable and prudent ways

 Malpractice  Negligent acts of people with specialized

education  Reflects negligence  Not all negligence is malpractice  Common causes: medication errors, not clarifying an incomplete or ambiguous order, and technique in giving injections

Medical malpractice: negligent acts of any health care professional when conducting patient care responsibilities Nursing malpractice: refers specifically to nurses conducting their patient care responsibilities

Assault Battery False imprisonment Invasion of privacy Defamation of character  Libel  Slander

 Assault  Mental disturbance of personal integrity

including fright and humiliation and a threat to touch a person without justification such as If you don t I will force you  Does not include actual contact

 Battery  Involves unpermitted and intentional

contacts with one s person or extension of the body such as clothing, object in the hand, car, etc  Absence of the plaintiff s consent to the defendant s contact  May include: Touching in an embarrasing or wrngful way, causing injury or without permission

Grounds for civil actions regarding assault and battery include: Forcefully handling an unconscious patient Forcing patient out of bed to walk Forcing patient to submit to treatment even if consent had been signed Lifting a protesting patient from bed to stretcher or chair Threatening to strike or striking a child or adult unless in self- defense

False Imprisonment  Willful detention without consent or authority of law  Intentional infringement of the right of a person to move freely and without hindrance  The client has the right to leave even if that is harmful to that person unless the person is considered incompetent or committed to a legal process

 Invasion of Privacy  Violation of person s right to make personal

choices without interference and to not be subjected to uninvited publicity

 Defamation  Verbal or written communication that injures

someone s reputation  Slander: oral defamation  Libel: written defamation

Constitutions Statutes Administrative agencies Court decisions

Constitution > Defines the structure, power and limits of government and it guarantees citizens certain fundamental rights

 Statutory or Legislative law  Passed by local, state or federal legislators  Regulates employment issues like worker s

compensation and health & retirement benefits and can be expanded, amended or repealed by action of legislature

 Administrative agencies  Create rules and regulations that enforce

statutory laws  Administrative laws are valid only when they are within the scope of the authority granted to them by the legislative body  State boards of nursing are administrative agencies that implement and enforce the state nurse practice act

 Court decisions  Are called tort laws  Interprets most malpractice law  Initial trial courts usually have single judge,

intermediary appeal courts have three justices and the highest court of appeals have nine justices  Two levels of court: Trial and Appellate  Supreme Court is the highest appellate court and hears and determines appeals from the division courts and constitutional questions

Tomey, A.M. (2009). Nursing Management and Leadership 8TH Edition

Prepared by: Abegail Love H. Mislang, RN