Summer 2013 -NURS 4332 Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course helps students identify current ethical
issues facing nursing today. It also looks at legal issues that have affected
nursing in the past and are currently affecting nursing today.
CREDIT: 3 Credit Hours (4 class hours)
PROGRAM LEVEL: III
TEXTBOOKS:
Aiken, T. (2004). Legal, Ethical, and political issues in nursing (2nd Edition).
Philadelphia: F.A. Davis.
Willman, J. (2009) (2010 Supplement) Annotated Guide-RN to the Texas
Nursing Practice Act (9th Edition), Texas Nurses Association
COURSE COORDINATOR: Heather Flores, RN, MSN.
OFFICE HOURS
Monday through Friday mornings 9 am – 6 p.m. and by appointment.
CONTACT INFORMATION
phone: 719-235- 1257
EMAIL (best): heather.flores@wayland.wbu.edu
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this course, the student will be able to:
1. Compare the basis of decision-making in law and ethics as they apply to
nursing.
2. Relate specific legal and ethical issues to the Texas Nurse Practice Act.
3. Discuss strategies that can be employed to address legal and ethical
issues in nursing practice.
4. Comprehend component of the preventive law paradigms for health care
that serve to prevent legal problems from occurring, becoming larger or
resulting in losses.
5. Identify ethical principles that guide health care decision making.
6. Describe current literature related to legal and ethical nursing practice
dilemmas.
7. Discuss the interaction between professional nursing values and personal
values. Use critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making
models as they relate to ethical issues in nursing practice.
EVALUATION AND GRADING: A point system will be used to determine the
grade in Ethical and Legal Issues in Nursing.
A = 90-100
B = 80-89
C = 75-79
D = 70-74
F = 69 and below
There will be 4 exams each valued as 25% of the grade.
Class Attendance
1. The student must attend the class(es) for which he/she is enrolled.
2. A student enrolled at Wayland Baptist University should make every effort
to attend all class meetings. All absences must be explained to the
satisfaction of the instructor, who will decide whether the omitted work
may be made up.
3. A student who misses twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the regularly
scheduled class meetings will receive a grade of “F” for that class.
4. When a student reaches a number of absences considered by the
instructor to be excessive, the instructor will so advise the student and file
an Unsatisfactory Progress Report at the San Antonio Campus.
5. The instructor may count three tardies as one absence.
If an instructor fails to appear or fails to send notification of arrival within
the first ten minutes of a class period, the student may leave without
incurring an absence.
Testing
Test dates and content will be published in the course syllabi purchased by the
students at the beginning of each term from the bookstore. A test blueprint will
be prepared by the faculty and distributed to the student at least one week prior
to the exam. The blueprint will provide the student with the subject content of the
exam, the number of questions in that subject area and the type of question. The
type of question will be categorized two ways. First the question will be
categorized by the areas of the nursing process; assessment, planning,
implementation and evaluation. The question will also be categorized by
cognitive level; knowledge, analysis, application, and comprehension. In the
event a faculty must change a test date, they must notify the students at least
one week before the scheduled exam. If the student must miss an exam, they
must notify the faculty that they will not be present for the exam and schedule a
date for the make-up exam within one week of the date of the exam.
ESSAY QUESTIONS ON THE ETHICAL AND LEGAL EXAMS WILL USE THE
DECISION TREE FOUND ON PAGES 104 THRU 106 IN THE TEXT. EVERY
ESSAY QUESTION WILL INVOLVE ALL COGNITIVE LEVELS: KNOWLEDGE,
ANALYSIS, APPLICATION AND COMPREHENSION. STUDENTS WILL BE
ADVISED 2 WEEKS PRIOR TO EVERY EXAM IF THAT EXAM WILL INVOLVE
ETHICAL ISSUE SCENARIOS IN WHICH THEY HAVE TO USE THE
DECISION TREE.
Make-up Tests
Occasionally a student will miss a test that is scheduled for a class. A student
should contact his/her instructor to arrange the make-up test.
Course Outline
Unit 1:
Unit 2:
Unit 3:
Unit 4:
Unit 5:
Nursing Practice
Nursing and The Law
Nursing Ethics
Liability in Professional Practice
Professional Issues