Chapter 7: crime v.s torts

Crime

wrong committed against a person or that person’s property that is punished by the state and can be against the public as well

tort

•  wrong committed by a person against another person to that person's property, tried in civil, DOES NOT affect the public 

Intentional torts

• Assault 

• Battery 

• Defamation of character 

• Invasion of privacy 

• False imprisonment

• Fraud

Assault

threat and attempt to make bodily contact with another person without the person’s consent

Battery

the threat/assault is actually carried out

examples of battery

Forcibly removing a patient’ s clothing, administering an injection after the patient has refused it, and pushing a patient into a chair

defamation of character

an intentional tort in which one party makes derogatory remarks about another that diminishes the other party’s reputation 

slander

spoken defamation of character

libel

written defamation of character

invasion of privacy

4th amendment gives citizens the right of privacy and the right to be left alone 

• State courts have strongly protected a patient's right to have information kept confidential

• Patient name and all identifiers, such as address, telephone number, email address,  social security number,etc  

false imprisonment

Unjustified retention or prevention of the movement of another person without proper consen

fraud

• Willful and purposeful misrepresentation that could cause, or has caused, loss or harm to a person's property 

fraudulent acts

• A person fraudulently misrepresenting themself to obtain a license to practice nursing may be prosecuted under the state’ s nurse practice act

• misrepresenting the outcome of a procedure or treatment may constitute fraud. 

• Nurses who report vital signs or other assessment data that they have not obtained are acting fraudulently.

negligence

• Performing an act that a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances would not do 

• Failing to perform an act that a reasonably prudent person under similar circumstances would do 

• May be an act of omission or commission 

malpractice

Term used to describe negligence by professional personal

malpractice examples

• Failure to follow standards of care 

  • You fail to follow the standards for administering insulin or other injectable medication 

• Failure to use equipment in a responsible manner: 

  • You attempt to use a bariatric patient lift for the first time without getting help, and the patient falls