Question | Answer |
laws | complex set of rules that prescribe how a person should act in society, they sanction acceptable behavior, and prohibit unacceptable behavior |
liability | legal responsibility |
depositions | out-of-court statements made by a witness under oath |
verdict | a decision rendered based upon the facts of the case, or evidence and testimony presented, the credibility of the witnesses, and the laws that pertain to the issues |
standards of care | define acts that are permitted to be performed or prohibited from being performed. Give direction to the nurse defining what should or should not be done for a patient |
accountablility | being responsible for one's own actions |
advocate | one who defends or pleads a cause or issue on behalf of another |
malpractice | professional negligence and one legal action that a nurse may be charged with for failing to meet the standards of care |
informed consent doctrine | a person's agreement to allow a particular treatment based on full disclosure of the facts needed to make an intelligent (informed) decision |
euthanasia | letting a person die |
customs | habits, ways of acting established that members of a family are expected to behave in a certain way |
mores | folkways; accepted traditional customs, moral attitudes, or manners of a particular social group |
values | personal beliefs about the worth of an object, an idea, a custom, or an attitude |
value clarification | process of self-evaluation that helps a person gain insight into individually held values |
ethical dilemmas | situations that do not have a clear right or wrong answer |
nonmaleficence | the duty to protect life, to do no harm |
criminal law | conduct in issue is offensive to society in general, detrimental to society as a whole, involves public offenses, law's purpose is to punish for the crime and prevent further crimes |
civil law | violates a person's rights, conduct is detrimental to that individual, law's purpose is to make the aggrieved person whole again, to restore the person |
statutory law | developed by federal, state, and local govts |
common law (case law) | laws developed in response to specific legal questions brought before the court and usually follows precedent |
precedent | previous rulings on an issue |
civil litigation | a lawsuit in civil court |
plaintiff | the complaining party |
complaint | statement by the plaintiff |
defendant | the person alleged liable |
damages | compensation sought by the plaintiff |
summons | court order that notifies the defendant of legal action |
answer | detailed response to the charges outlined in the complaint |
discovery | pretrial process allowing both sides to interview witnesses and look at documents |
interrogatories | written questions that must be answered in writing |
deliberate | to decide the guilt or innocence of the defendant |
sentence | penalty decided based on the severity of the crime, defendant's past criminal record, and applicable laws |
prudent | wise |
scope of nursing practice | what she or he can and cannot do while providing nursing interventions |
nurse practice acts | define and limit the scope of nursing practice |
interstate compact | a legal agreement entered into by a growing number of states that allows multistate practice of nursing |
abandonment of care | wrongful termination of providing patient care |
assault | an intentional threat to cause bodily harm to another; does not have to include actual bodily contact |
battery | intentional touching of another person without informed consent |
competency | a legal presumption that a person who has reached the age of majority can make decisions for himself unless proved otherwise (declared legally incompetent) |
defamation | spoken or written statements made maliciously and intentionally that may injure the subject's reputation |
harm | injury to a person or the person's property that gives rise to a basis for legal action against the person that caused the damage |
libel | a malicious or untrue writing about another person that is brought to the attention of others |
malpractice | failing to meet a legal duty that results in harm to another |
negligence | commission (doing) of an act or the omission (not doing) of an act that a reasonably prudent person would have done in a similar situation that leads to harm of another person |
slander | malicious or untrue spoken words about another person that are brought to the attention of others |
tort | a type of civil law that involves wrongs against a person or property; torts include negligence, assault, battery, defamation, fraud, false imprisonment, and invasion of privacy |
malpractice insurance | insurance that provides protection for the nurse while on and off duty |
mandatory | mandated legally and professionally to report |
ethics | refers to the values that influence a person's behavior; it is an individual's feelings and beliefs about what is right and wrong |
man | historically defined as a member of a group known as a family |
culture | refers to accepted values, beliefs, and behaviors that are shared by a particular group of people |
respect for people | first of the ethical principles that says all human life is viewed as sacred, with each individual having inherent worth as a person. To the nurse, no one person is more important than another; each patient has the same worth and entitled to respect |
autonony | 2nd ethical principle that refers to personal freedom of choice, a right to be independent and make decisions freely. Nurses can assist patient in decisions, but can't make decisions for the patients |
benefience | 3rd ethical principle that means doing what is good; primary importance to nurses as nurse has ethical duty to promote the well-being of all patients |
nonmaleficence | 4th ethical principle which means to do no harm; nurse has ethical and legal duty to prevent harm to a patient |
justice | 5th ethical principle which is the concept of what is fair; means that all patients have the same right to nursing interventions |
health care proxy | a proxy is another person who will speak for the patient and will act on the patient's behalf making decisions regarding care |
Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) | order written when patient has little hope for recovery; nurse has duty to follow the order |