Legal Aspects of Nursing, Ethics and Morality, Asepsis, Infection, Inflamation, Immune Response, and Nursing Process

Flashcards about Legal Aspects of Nursing, Ethics and Morality, Asepsis, Infection, Inflamation, Immune Response, and Nursing Process

Why is it important for nurses to know the basics of legal concepts?

Nurses are accountable for their professional judgments and actions. Knowledge of laws that regulate and affect nursing practice is needed to ensure decisions are consistent with current legal principles and to protect the nurse from liability.

How does law function in nursing?

It provides a framework for establishing legal nursing actions, helps establish the boundaries of independent nursing action, and assists in maintaining a standard of nursing practice by making nurses accountable under the law.

What are the primary sources of law?

Constitutional law, legislation law, administrative law, and common law.

What is the difference between civil and criminal actions?

Civil actions deal with relationships among individuals in society, while criminal actions deal with disputes between an individual and society as a whole.

What are the five steps in the civil judicial process?

Complaint, answer, discovery, trial, and decision/verdict (with possible appeal).

How is nursing practice regulated?

Through nurse practice acts that legally define and describe the scope of nursing practice and control it through licensing requirements.

What is credentialing in nursing?

The process of determining and maintaining competence in nursing practice, involving licensure and certification.

What are the two categories of nursing standards of care?

Internal standards (job description, education, institutional policies) and external standards (nurse practice acts, professional organizations, federal guidelines).

What is the legal definition of liability for nurses?

The state of being legally responsible for one’s obligations and actions, especially in preventing harm or injury to clients and maintaining standards of care.

What is Respondeat superior?

Legal doctrine where the master (employer) assumes responsibility for the conduct of the servant (employee), including professional negligence.

What are the elements of informed consent?

Agreement by a client to accept treatment or a procedure after being provided complete information, including benefits, risks, alternatives, and prognosis without treatment.

What are the types of consent?

Express consent (oral or written agreement) and implied consent (indicated by nonverbal behavior).

Under what exceptions can minors consent to their own medical treatment?

In some states, minors can consent for blood donations, substance abuse treatment, mental health treatment, and reproductive health concerns (e.g., STIs or pregnancy).

What does a nurse's signature on a consent form confirm?

Client gave consent voluntarily, signature is authentic, and client appears competent to give consent.

What is the definition of sexual harassment?

Sexual harassment is a violation of an individual’s rights and a form of discrimination. The victim or the harasser may be male or female. The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex.

What are advance health care directives?

Legal and lay documents that allow persons to specify aspects of care they wish to receive if they become unable to make or communicate their preferences, including living wills and health care proxies.

What is a Health care proxy?

A health care proxy is a living will provides specific instructions about what medical treatment the client chooses to omit or refuse (e.g., ventilatory support) in the event that the client is unable to make those decisions.

What is the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act?

Under the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and the National Organ Transplant Act in the United States, people 18 years or older and of sound mind may make a gift of all or any part of their own bodies.

Define unintentional torts.

Negligence, gross negligence, and malpractice.

What is res ipsa loquitur?

A doctrine where harm cannot be traced to a specific healthcare provider but does not normally occur unless there has been a negligent act.

Define assault and battery.

Assault is an attempt or threat to touch another person unjustifiably, and battery is the willful touching of a person that may or may not cause harm.

What is false imprisonment?

The unjustifiable detention of a person without legal warrant to confine the person.

What should a nurse do if a client wants to leave against medical advice (AMA)?

The client has a right to insist on leaving even though it may be detrimental to health. In this instance, the client can leave by signing an AWA (absence without authority) or AMA (against medical advice) form.

What does HIPAA stand for?

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 - nationwide legislation to protect privacy for health information.

What are Good Samaritan acts?

Laws designed to protect healthcare providers who provide assistance at the scene of an emergency

What is the nurse’s responsibility regarding a physician’s orders?

To analyze procedures and medications ordered by the physician or primary care provider and seek clarification of ambiguous or seemingly erroneous orders from the prescriber.

What is the function of the incident reports?

Identifies the client by name, initials, and hospital or identification number. Give the date, time, and place of the incident. Describe the facts of the incident. Avoid any conclusions or blame.

Define ethics and morality.

Ethics studies the morality of human behavior, while morality refers to private, personal standards of right and wrong.

What is autonomy?

Respecting the right to make one’s own decisions.

What are the moral principles?

Autonomy, nonmaleficence, beneficence, justice, fidelity, and veracity.

What is medical asepsis?

Includes all practices intended to confine a specific microorganism to a specific area Limits the number, growth, and transmission of microorganisms

What is surgical asepsis?

Sterile technique Practices that keep an area or object free of all microorganisms Practices that destroy all microorganisms and spores Used for all procedures involving sterile areas of the body

What are the principles of aseptic technique?

Sterile objects become unsterile when touched by unsterile objects. Sterile items that are out of vision or below the waist level of the nurse are considered unsterile. Sterile objects can become unsterile by prolong exposure to airborne microorganisms. Fluids flow in the direction of gravity.

Give an example that describes the following:

The skin cannot be sterilized and is unsterile. Conscientiousness, alertness and honesty are essential qualities in maintaining surgical asepsis

What are signs of systemic infection?

Fever, increased pulse and respiratory rate if the fever is high, malaise and loss of energy, anorexia, and enlargement and tenderness of lymph nodes.

What are anatomic and physiologic barriers against infection?

Intact skin and mucous membranes, mucous membranes and cilia of the nasal passages, alveolar macrophages, tears, high acidity of the stomach, resident flora of the large intestine, peristalsis, low pH of the vagina, and urine flow through the urethra.

What are the components of chain of infections?

Etiologic agent (Microorganism) Where the pathogen normally lives and multiplies (e.g., human body, animals, water, food, soil).

How can one break the chain of infection?

Covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing

Differentiate exogenous infection, iatrogenic infection and endogenous infection

these nosocomial infections are directly related to the client’s treatment or diagnostic procedures; an example of an iatrogenic infection would be a bacterial infection that results from an intravascular line

The course of infection

the time between initial contact with an infectious agent until the first signs of symptoms the incubation period varies from different pathogens; microorganisms are growing and multiplying during this stage

What are the types of isolation protocols

Standard Precautions • Used in the care of all hospitalized persons regardless of their diagnosis or possible infection status

What are the airborne infection types and personal protective equipment to handle?

N95 or Higher Level Respirators, Airborne Infection Isolation Room (AIIR)

Body's Response to inflamation

The “inflammatory response” begins with vasoconstriction that is followed by a brief increase in vascular permeability; the blood vessels dilate allowing plasma to escape into the injured tissue

What is the humoral response

the ability of the body to develop a specific antibody to a specific antigen (antigen-antibody response)

What are the five steps of nursing process?

It used to be a 3-step process, then a 4-step process (APIE), then a 5- step (ADPIE), now a 6-step process (ADOPIE) Assessment, Diagnosis, Outcome, Identification, Planning, Implementation and Evaluation.

What is the goal of nursing process?

nurse make her objective based on client’s health needs

What is involved in the nursing process?

Skill in Decision-making – nurse makes important decisions related to client care, she choose the best action/steps to meet a desired goal or to solve a problem.

What is purpose of nursing process?

To identify a client’s health status; his Actual/Present and potential/possible health problems or needs. To establish a plan of care to meet identified needs.

What are the purpose of assessment?

To establish a data base (all the information about the client): Nursing health history Physical assessment

What the four types of assessments?

Initial assessment – assessment performed within a specified time on admission Ex: nursing admission assessment

What are the activities of assessment?

Collection of data Validation of data

How is methods of data collected?

A planned, purposeful conversation/communication with the client to get information, identify problems, evaluate change, to teach, or to provide support or counseling Use to gather data by using the 5 senses and instruments.

What are the types of nursing diagnosis assessment data?

• Actual Nursing Diagnosis – a client problem that is present at the time of the nursing assessment. It is based on the presence of sign and symptoms.

What does a data analysis achieve?

Nurse records all data collected about the client’s health status

What activities occur during planning?

Is an educated guess made as a broad statement about what the client’s state or condition will be AFTER the nursing intervention is carried out Are written to indicate a desired state.

What is a nursing evaluation?

Evaluates progress toward attainment of goals and outcomes. Both the patient status and the effectiveness of the nursing care must be continuously evaluated and the care plan modified as needed.

What is nursing care plan?

A written summary of the care that a client is to receive. •It is the “blueprint” of the nursing process.

What is a priority in nursing?

Consider something that is very important to the client. Actual problems take precedence over potential concerns.