Surgical Technology Legal Concepts, Risk Management, and Ethical Issues

Vocabulary terms, legal definitions, doctrines, intentional and unintentional torts, consent concepts, and professional ethical principles covering Chapter 2 of Surgical Technology.

Accountability

The obligation to disclose details for evaluation; commonly used to mean 'to be held responsible for'.

Affidavit

A voluntary statement of facts sworn to be true before an authority.

Allegation

A claim that someone has done something wrong or illegal.

Bona fide

In good faith or innocently.

Case law

All legal decisions reported on a given legal subject.

Complaint

The first pleading filed by the plaintiff's attorney in a negligence action.

Defendant

The accused individual in a criminal case, or the person or organization whom a filed lawsuit is against in a civil court.

Deposition

A recorded method of pretrial discovery in which questioning occurs under oath.

Federal law

Jurisdiction given to federal courts in cases involving the interpretation and application of the U.S. Constitution, acts of Congress, and international treaties.

Guardian

A court-appointed protector for a person incapable of making their own decisions.

Iatrogenic injury

An injury resulting from the activity of healthcare professionals.

Indictment

The formal written accusation from a grand jury.

Jury

A group of citizens that decides the outcome of a criminal or civil trial.

Larceny

The taking or theft of another's property without consent.

Law, Common

The evolving set of principles based on court decisions.

Law, Statutory

Any law prescribed by the action of a legislature.

Liability

An obligation either to do or not do something.

Liability, Corporate

An obligation either to do or not do something that is the responsibility of the corporate body.

Liability, Personal

An individual's obligation either to do or not do something.

Malpractice

Professional misconduct that results in harm to another; professional negligence.

Negligence

Either the omission (not doing) or commission (doing) of an act that a reasonable and prudent individual would not do under the same conditions; may be associated with the phrase 'departure from the standard of care'.

Negligence, Criminal

Reckless disregard for the safety of another; willful indifference.

Perjury

Intentionally providing false testimony under oath.

Plaintiff

The person who initiates a lawsuit.

Precedent

A legal principle, created by a court decision, that provides an example or authority for judges deciding similar issues later.

Standard of care

The expected conduct of a professional in each circumstance.

State law

State statutes, regulations, principles, and rules having the force of law.

Subpoena

A court order to appear and testify or produce required documents.

Tort

A civil wrong; can be either intentional or unintentional.

Trial

The presentation of evidence in a court of law to achieve a resolution or, in a criminal act, to determine a person's innocence or guilt.

Aeger primo

'The Patient First,' a guiding principle of AST.

Doctrine of a borrowed servant

Principle stating a person controlling or directing an employee has a greater responsibility than a person paying the employee.

Doctrine of corporate negligence

Principle stating the healthcare institution is negligent if it fails to ensure an acceptable level of patient care was provided.

Doctrine of foreseeability

The ability to predict an outcome in advance; reasonable anticipation that harm or injury might result from certain acts or omissions.

Doctrine of personal liability

Principle stating each person is responsible for their own conduct, even though others might be liable as well.

Doctrine of the reasonably prudent person

Principle stating people of ordinary intelligence should act as would any reasonable person with ordinary prudence.

Nonmaleficence

The obligation of healthcare providers to not harm the patient.

Primum non-nocere

'Above all, do no harm'.

Res ipsa loquitur

'The thing speaks for itself'; harm that comes from a given act or thing of which the defendant had sole control.

Respondeat superior

'Let the master answer'; an employer is legally responsible for the actions of an employee.

Utilitarianism

Ethical principle where an action is judged right or wrong based on its consequences, specifically whether it produces pain or minimizes pain.

Assault

Touching or threatening to touch another person in an offensive, insulting, or physically harmful manner without consent or authority to do so.

Battery

The actual act of harmful or unwarranted contact with a person, including contact without proper consent.

Defamation

Slander (an oral statement) or libel (a written statement) damaging a person's reputation or good name.

False imprisonment

The illegal detention of a person without consent.

Intentional infliction of emotional distress

Making disparaging remarks about a patient that result in emotional distress.

Invasion of privacy

Disclosing private information concerning a patient or photographing a patient without their consent.

Express consent

A direct verbal or written statement granting permission for treatment.

Implied consent

Consent occurring under circumstances that would lead a reasonable healthcare provider to believe that the patient had given consent, although no direct or verbally expressed words were given.

Informed consent

Agreement or permission accompanied by full notice about what is being consented to.

Advance directive

A set of written instructions that address an incapacitated patient's right to self-determination.

Risk management

The healthcare facility's effort to collect and use data to decrease the chance of harm to patients and staff or damage to property.

Safe Medical Device Act

Federal act effective November 28, 1990, expanding FDA authority to regulate medical devices and requiring device tracking and incident reporting.

HIPAA

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act; federal standards to protect patients' medical records and health-related information.

Ethics

The moral principles and rules that become standards for professional conduct; defines what is good for the individual and society.

Morals

Codes of conduct put forward by a society and used as a guide to behavior by members of that society.

Deontology

Ethical theory stating that the morality of an action should be based on whether that action itself is right or wrong based upon a series of rules, rather than the consequences of the action.

Registration

A formal process by which qualified individuals are listed in a registry.

Certification

The recognition by an appropriate body that an individual has met a predetermined standard.

Licensure

A legal right granted by a government agency in compliance with a statute that authorizes and oversees the activities of a profession.