RIGHTS
• Civil – basic legal rights held by
all U.S. citizens
• Constitutional – afforded to all
citizens through the U.S.
Constitution
• Human – fundamental rights of
all people regardless of
citizenship status
Legal and Ethical
Practices
Law – a rule that must be
followed
• Created and enforced by
– Federal gov.
– State gov.
– Local gov.
Litigation – legal proceeding in court
(lawsuit)
Branches of Legal System
• Public: government vs. citizens
• Criminal
• Constitutional
• Administrative
• Civil: private citizen vs. private
citizen
TYPES OF LAW
1. Common
• Traditional civil law of area or region
• Based on judge’s rulings of cases
2. Statutory
• Enacted by legislatures
• Enforced by courts
• statutes command or prohibit something, or declare
policy
3. Tort
• Wrongful act causing harm
• Requires restitution
• Intentional vs. unintentional
Informed Consent
The patient / client understands the
reason for treatment.
They understand:
1. What will be done.
2. Who will do it.
3. How it will be done.
4. Expected outcomes.
5. Patient must also understand
treatment alternatives and the
consequences of not having
treatment.
Public Law = Criminal Law!
Criminal Law - deals with offences
against all persons, property, and society
Offender can go to prison or jail.
Examples of Criminal Law
* Practicing in a health care profession
without
a license.
* Misuse of narcotics.
* Theft.
* Murder
Felony
(Serious criminal law)
• Carries a penalty of
imprisonment for more
than one year and
possibly the death
penalty
• Ex: Withholding Rx for
a terminally ill patient,
and the patient dies
prematurely
Private Law = Civil Law!
(This primarily affects health care)
Civil Law - deals with legal
relationships between people and the
protection of a person’s rights
Two Types of Civil Law:
– Torts
– Contracts
CONTRACT
• Agreement between 2 or
more parties
1. OFFER – competent person
forms relationship with
healthcare provider and
‘offers’ to be patient
2. Acceptance – HCP gives appt.
or examines/treats patient
3. Consideration – payment made
by patient for services
IMPLIED CONTRACTS
• Obligations that are
understood without
verbally expressed
terms
–Ex: patient taking
medication
EXPRESSED
CONTRACTS
• Stated in clear language
– Verbal
– Written
– Ex: consent for surgery
BREACH of CONTRACT =
legal action
LEGAL DISABILITY
• Lacking the legal capacity to
form a contract
–
–
–
–
Minors
Mentally incompetent
Semi or unconscious
People under influence of drugs
• AGENT: person working under
the employer (principal)
• PRINCIPAL: responsible for
actions of agent and can be
required to pay or compensate
people who have been injured
by agent
Intentional Torts
Assault - any willful
attempt or threat to
injure another person with
the apparent ability to do
so.
Battery - unlawful
touching of another person
without consent.
Intentional Torts
Defamation of
Character - damaging a
person’s name and reputation
by making
public statements that are false
and malicious
There are 2 types:
Libel
- if the information
released is written.
Slander - if the information
released is spoken.
Intentional Torts
False Imprisonment
Restraining an individual or
restricting an individual’s
freedom.
Could be holding someone
in a facility against their will
or physically restraining
them.
Sometimes treated as a crime.
Intentional Torts
Invasion of Privacy
Unnecessary exposure
of an individual or
revealing personal
information about an
Individual without
consent.
Intentional Torts
Abuse
Any care that results in
physical harm, pain, or
medical anguish.
Abuse can be classified as:
Physical - hitting, forcing
persons against their will,
restraining movements,
depriving of food or H2O, or
not providing physical care.
Intentional Torts
Abuse (continued)
Verbal Abuse –
talking harshly, swearing
or shouting, teasing,
ridiculing, intimidating a
person.
Intentional Torts
Abuse (continued)
Sexual Abuse – any
unwanted sexual
touching or act.
Intentional Torts
** Laws in all
states require
reporting of any
form of abuse
to proper
authorities. **
Unintentional Torts
Negligence
- Person at
fault failed to do what a
reasonable and careful person
would have done, or did what a
reasonable and careful person
would not have done.
Also can be defined as
failure to take reasonable
precautions to protect others
from the risk of harm.
Unintentional Torts
Malpractice Interpreted as “bad
practice” and includes
providing improper or
unprofessional treatment
or care that results
in injury to the patient.
Health Care Records
Contains information on the
care that has been provided to the
patient.
• Medical records belongs to the
health care provider but the
patient has the right to obtain
a copy.
• The medical record is a legal
document and may be
subpoenaed as evidence in court.
Health Care Records
Records must be kept
until the statues of
limitations has passed
(2-7 years.)
When records are
destroyed, they should be
shredded or burned.
[An example of criminal
law is:
A. [A divorce]
B. [Practicing Medicine without a
license]
C. [Child custody and child
support]
D. [Breech of contract]
[Chelsea charges a hospital with false
imprisonment. What might have happened?]
A. [A doctor would not write an order for
Mrs. Daniel to be discharged]
B. [A nurse applied physical restraints on
Mrs. Daniel without justification]
C. [A nursing assistant put up the bedside
rails while Mrs. Daniel was sleeping]
D. [A ward secretary sent Mrs. Daniel’s chart
to her insurance company without her
permission]
[Two health care workers were overheard
discussing a co-worker who was admitted to
the hospital drunk and violent. What legal
standard was violated by the two workers?]
A.
B.
C.
D.
[Libel]
[Malpractice]
[Assault and battery]
[Invasion of privacy]
[Grant is angry at a physical therapist who
will not date him. He starts spreading ugly
rumors around town about her. What is
this?]
A.
B.
C.
D.
[Libel]
[Malpractice]
[Invasion of privacy]
[Slander]
[An RN who has been fired from a medical
practice has been making negative, untrue
statements about her boss. What could
he/she be charged with?]
A.
B.
C.
D.
[Immorality]
[Defamation]
[Invasion of Privacy]
[Negligence]
[A health assistant wished to watch an
operation on a patient, even though she is
not directly involved in the patient’s care.
Whose permission is needed?]
A.
B.
C.
D.
[No one]
[Doctor]
[Patient]
[Both the doctor and the
patient]
[Dr. Williams is charged with assault and
battery. What situation might have caused
this charge?]
A. [A patient’s bandage will not
stay on]
B. [The patient leaves the
hospital without being
discharged]
C. [Dr. Williams operates on a
patient without consent]
D. [Dr. Williams accidentally
removes the wrong body part.]
[If a nursing assistant uses water that is too
hot when bathing a patient and the patient is
burned, what type of standard has been
violated?]
A.
B.
C.
D.
[Legal]
[Cognitive]
[Ethical]
[Personal]
[Which situation is malpractice if the patient
is injured as a result of a health care workers
actions?]
A. [A health care worker fails to wipe up
some water that he/she spilled on the
floor.]
B. [A health care worker forgets to put up
the patient’s bedside rail.]
C. [A health care worker performs a special
procedure on a patient that he/she is not
instructed to perform.]
D. [A heating pad with a defective cord is
used on a patient even though the health
care worker knows it is defective.]
[Meredith is moving to Cleveland and needs
to take her medical records. She is aware
that patients’ medical record are the
property of the:]
A. [State]
B. [Patient and his or her family ]
C. [Owners of the facility where
they were created]