Chapter 3
Laws and Ethics
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Laws
• Rules of conduct established and enforced
by government
• Intended to protect both the general public
and each person
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Laws: Six Categories
• Constitutional laws
– Founders of the United States wrote the
first formal laws
o Divided power among three branches
of government
o Protected the entire nation
o Identified rights and privileges of
U.S. citizens
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Laws: Six Categories (cont’d)
• Statutory laws
– Laws enacted by federal, state, or local
legislatures: public acts, codes, or
ordinances
– Nurse practice acts: common elements
o Define scope of nursing practice;
establish the limits to practice
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Laws: Six Categories (cont’d)
• Statutory laws (cont’d)
– Nurse practice acts (cont’d)
o Identify titles: licensed practical nurse
(LPN); licensed vocational nurse (LVN);
or registered nurse (RN)
o Authorize a board of nursing to oversee
nursing practice
o Determine what constitutes grounds for
disciplinary action
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Laws: Six Categories (cont’d)
• Administrative laws
– Legal provisions: federal, state, and local
agencies maintain self-regulation
– State boards of nursing
– Nurse licensure compacts
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Laws: Six Categories (cont’d)
• Common laws
– Decisions based on prior similar cases:
judicial law
– Based on the principle of stare decisis
– Refers to litigation: falls outside the
realm of constitutional, statutory, and
administrative laws
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Laws: Six Categories (cont’d)
• Criminal laws
– Penal codes: protect citizens from people
who pose a threat to the public good
– Used to prosecute those who commit
crimes
– Misdemeanors or felonies
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Laws: Six Categories (cont’d)
• Civil laws
– Statutes: protect personal freedoms and
rights
– Disputes between individual citizens
– Civil cases: torts
o Intentional
o Unintentional
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Laws: Civil Law
• Intentional torts
– Assault
– Battery
– False imprisonment
– Invasion of privacy
– Defamation
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Laws: Civil Law (cont’d)
• Unintentional torts
– Negligence
– Malpractice
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Question
• Which of the following is an unintentional
tort?
a. Assault
b. Battery
c. False imprisonment
d. Negligence
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Answer
d. Negligence
Negligence is an unintentional tort, whereas
assault, battery, and false imprisonment are
intentional torts.
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Professional Liability
• Liability insurance
– Contract between a person or corporation
and a company willing to provide legal
services and financial assistance:
policyholder involved in malpractice
lawsuit
– Necessary for all nurses: accountable for
their actions during clinical practice
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Professional Liability (cont’d)
• Liability insurance (cont’d)
– Provides legal protection in the event of a
lawsuit
– Liability insurance available through:
o Private insurance companies
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Professional Liability (cont’d)
• Mitigating liability
– Good Samaritan laws
– Statutes of limitations
– Principles regarding assumption of risk
– Appropriate documentation
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Professional Liability (cont’d)
• Reducing liability
– Risk management
– Incident reports
– Anecdotal records
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Question
• Is the following statement true or false?
Good Samaritan laws protect health care
workers against being sued.
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Answer
True.
Good Samaritan Laws protect health care
workers against being sued. They provide
legal immunity to passersby who provide
emergency first aid to victims of accidents.
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Professional Liability (cont’d)
• Malpractice litigation
– Successful outcome in a malpractice
lawsuit depends on physical evidence
and attorney expertise
– Appearance, demeanor, and conduct of
the nurse defendant can help or
damage the case
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Ethics
• Moral or philosophical principles: direct
actions as being either right or wrong
• Codes of ethics
– List of written statements describing ideal
behavior
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Ethical dilemmas
– Choice between two undesirable
alternatives
– Occur when individual values and laws
conflict
– Nurses actions may be legal but
personally unethical; or ethical but illegal
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Ethical theories
– Nurses use one of two ethical problemsolving theories to solve ethical dilemmas
o Teleology
o Deontology
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Ethical principles
– Beneficence
– Nonmaleficence
– Autonomy
– Veracity
– Fidelity
– Justice
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Question
• Is the following statement true or false?
Nonmaleficence means “doing good” or
acting for another’s benefit.
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Answer
False.
Nonmaleficence means “doing no harm” or
avoiding an action that deliberately harms a
person.
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Values and ethical decision-making
– Values: person’s most meaningful beliefs
o Basis: decisions about right or wrong
– Guidelines to ethical decision making
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Ethics committees
– Ethical decisions are complex and can
affect the lives of clients
– Cross-section of professionals and
nonprofessionals debate about ethical
issues
– Called on to offer advice to protect
clients’ best interests and to avoid legal
battles
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Common ethical issues
– Truth telling
– Confidentiality
– Withholding or withdrawing treatment
– Code status
– Allocation of scarce resources
– Whistle-blowing
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Truth telling
– All clients have the right to complete and
accurate information
– Physicians’ and nurses’ duty to report
truth regarding client health matters
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Confidentiality
– Safeguarding a person’s health
information from public disclosure
– Must not divulge health information to
unauthorized people without client’s
written permission
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Withholding/withdrawing treatment
– Advance directives
o Two types
 Living will
 Durable power of attorney
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Code status
– During cardiac or respiratory arrest,
refers to how health care personnel are
required to manage care
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Allocation of scarce resources
– Process of deciding how to distribute
limited life-saving equipment or
procedures
o First come, first served
o Intent to produce most good to most
people
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Ethics (cont’d)
• Whistle blowing
– Reporting incompetent or unethical
practices and unsafe or potentially
harmful situations
o Involves personal risks
o Ethical priority: protecting clients
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