week 4
Chapter 6
Ethics and Legal Issues
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CHAPTER 6 OBJECTIVES
- Apply ethical principles to decision making.
- Discuss the importance of ethics to the nursing profession and its professional recognition.
- Summarize current ethical issues.
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CHAPTER 6 OBJECTIVES
- Define major legal terms.
- Discuss the relevance of legal issues to nursing practice.
- Explain how malpractice relates to nursing practice.
- Discuss examples of ethical and legal issues.
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INTRODUCTION
- Nursing profession has ethical responsibilities
- Legal issues arise that every nurse must understand
- Ethics and legal issues involve
- professionalism
- health policy
- reimbursement issues
- the organizations that provide health care.
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ETHICS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (1 of 4)
- Definitions
- Ethics: a standard code or guide to behavior
- Morals: an individual’s code of acceptable behaviors
- Ethical Principles
- Autonomy: focuses on the patient’s right to make decisions about matters that impact the patient
- Beneficence: relates to doing something good and carding for the patient
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ETHICS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (2 of 4)
- Ethical Principles
- Justice: is about treating people fairly
- Veracity: is truth
- Other suggested principles:
- Advocacy
- Caring
- Stewardship
- Respect
- Honesty
- Confidentiality
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ETHICS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (3 of 4)
- Ethical Decision Making
- Ethical dilemma: occurs when a person is forced to choose between 2 or more alternatives, none of which is ideal.
- Involvement
- Assessment
- Plan
- Implementation
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ETHICS AND ETHICAL PRINCIPLES (4 of 4)
- Professional Ethics and Nursing Practice
- Benner et al, 2010
- Nursing education needs to focus more on ethical comportment
- Students need to develop skills to respond ethically to errors and to make ethical decisions.
- American Nurses Association Code of Ethics
- Reporting Incompetent, Unethical, or Illegal Practices
- Role of the State Board of Nursing
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CURRENT ETHICAL ISSUES
(1 of 2)
- Rationing Care: Who Can Access Care When Needed
- Healthcare Fraud and Abuse
- Ethics and Research
- Informed consent
- Institutional review boards (IRBs)
- Physical harms
- Psychological harms
- Social and economic harms
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CURRENT ETHICAL ISSUES
(2 of 2)
- Organizational Ethics
- Reimbursement compliance
- Compliance officer
- Whistle-blowing
- False Claims Act
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LEGAL ISSUES: AN OVERVIEW (1 of 4)
- Licensure
- Nurse practice act
- Critical Terminology
- Assault
- Battery
- Civil law
- Criminal law
- Doctrine of res ipsa loquitur
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LEGAL ISSUES: AN OVERVIEW (2 of 4)
- Critical Terminology
- Emancipation
- Expert witness
- False imprisonment
- Good Samaritan laws
- Malpractice
- Negligence
- Proximate cause
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LEGAL ISSUES: AN OVERVIEW (3 of 4)
- Critical Terminology
- Respondent superior
- Standards of practice
- Statutory law
- Tort
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LEGAL ISSUES: AN OVERVIEW (4 of 4)
- Malpractice: Why Should This Concern You?
- Negligence occurs in nursing and can lead to a malpractice suit
- Nurse has duty to patient
- Duty was breached
- Breach of duty was cause of harm
- Damage or injury to the patient occurred
- Need to prove all elements for successful suit
- Professional liability insurance for nurses
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CRITICAL ETHICAL AND LEGAL PATIENT-ORIENTED ISSUES
- Confidentiality and Informed Consent
- Advance Directives, Living Wills, Medical Power of Attorney, and Do-Not-Resuscitate
- Organ Transplantation
- Assisted Suicide
- Social Media and Ethical and Legal Issues: A New Concern
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