Ch 3

Medical, Legal, and Ethical Issues

Assault

Unlawfully placing a patient in fear of bodily harm

Abandonment

A unilateral termination of care

Advance directive

A written documentation that specifies treatment

Battery

Touching without consent

Certification

A process that recognizes that a person has met set standards

Competent

Being able to make rational decisions

Consent

The granted permission to provide treatment or care

Duty to act

The legal responsibility to provide care

Ethics

The philosophy of right and wrong

Expressed consent

The specific authorization to provide care expressed by the patient

Forcible restraint

Confining a person who presents a significant risk to themselves or others

Implied consent

The legal assumption that treatment was desired

Medicolegal

Relating to law or forensic medicine

Negligence

The failure to provide the standard of care

Standard of care

An accepted level of care consistent with training