Legal Ethics: Chap 12 & 13

What did the Equal Pay Act implement?

- Gender discrimination prohibited
- Fair wages for work performed

Do employees have the right to refuse to participate in certain aspects of patient care and treatment?

Yes, but must be disclosed prior to hire

Provides the employer or employee the option to terminate employment for any or no reason

Common-Law/"Employee at Will"

What is an exception to the Common Law/"Employee at Will"?

If there is a contract in place that specifies terms and duration of employment

Do you have the right to suggest to the patient or family to change physicians?

Yes

Duty to communicate, counsel, and provide options related to health care

Public policy

Prohibits the discharge of employees on the basis of handicap, age, race, color, religion, gender, national origin, pregnancy, or filing of safety violation complaints

Public policy

True or False: Public policy favors exposure of crime

True

What act prohibits the threat of discharge as a means of oppression?

National Labor Relations Act

Should you avoid the paternalistic approach to medical care?

Yes

What federal law prohibits employers from discriminating in the hiring process based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin?

Title VII

What federal law defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities?

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

What federal law prohibits discrimination against a person with a qualified disability?

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

What federal law prevents employers from giving preferential treatment to younger workers to the detriment of the older workers?

Age Discrimination in Employment Act

Who does the Age Discrimination in Employment Act apply to?

Workers 40 y/o and older and workplaces with 20 or more employees

True or False: The Age Discrimination in Employment Act prevents an employer from favoring older employees over younger employees

False

What federal law provides regulation as to the duration of workdays and breaks an employer must provide?

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

What federal law governs applicable salary and overtime requirements set out by the federal government?

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)

True or False: Employers try to cheat their workers out of overtime pay by wrongly claiming they are independent contractors when they are actually employees

True

True or False: If an employee receives salary, they may be entitled to receive overtime

True

Death caused by self-directed injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior

Suicide

Non-fatal, self-directed, potentially injurious behavior with intent to die as a result of the behavior

Suicide attempt

Thinking about, considering, or planning suicide

Suicidal ideation

What is the lead mechanism of death of suicides?

Firearms

Among males, the suicide rate was highest for those aged _______

65 y/o or older

Among females, the suicide rate was highest for those aged _______

45-54 y/o

Do males or females have a higher rate of suicide?

Males

What profession has the highest risk of suicide?

Medical doctors

What type of questions should you ask a patient who might be experiencing suicidal ideation?

PHQ-9 questions

Voluntary agreement by a person who possess sufficient mental capacity to make intelligent choice to allow another person to perform a proposed medical procedure on himself/herself

Consent

Determined by some act of silence, which raises presumption that consent in authorized

Implied consent

Legal concept that provides a patient has a right to know the potential risks, benefits, and alternatives of a proposed procedure

Informed consent

True or False: The US Supreme Court has held that a competent adult person has the right to decline any and all forms of medical intervention, including lifesaving or life-prolonging treatment

True

Without informed consent, a medical procedure is considered _______

Battery

True or False: Hospitals have the duty to obtain informed consent

False

True or False: It is the duty of a physician/PA who has education, expertise, skill, and training necessary to treat a patient and to determine what information a patient should have in order to give informed consent

True

A patient is considered competent to make decisions UNLESS what 2 things?

- Court determines them otherwise
- 2 physicians declare them incapacity

What code determines if a patient is considered competent to make a decision?

American Medical Association Code of Medical Ethics

What signatures must a written consent have?

Patient's, Physician's/PA's (whoever is doing the procedure, and witness

What is an example of nonemergency consent/implied consent?

Vaccinations: when a patient presents for immunizations, consent is implied

Patient leaves clinic before being seen or from inpatient before being discharged

Against Medical Advice (AMA)

True or False: You do NOT need patient's verbal consent before teams (attending and any students) goes into the room or performs a procedure

False