laws (ch.3)

ethics

The knowledge of right and wrong.

laws

Rules set by the government to help people live peacefully together and to ensure order and safety.

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (OBRA)

A law passed by the federal government that includes minimum standards for nursing assistant training, staffing requirements, resident assessment instructions, and information on rights for residents.

Minimum Data Set (MDS)

A detailed form with guidelines for assessing residents in long-term care facilities.

Residents’ Rights

Numerous rights identified in the OBRA law that relate to how residents must be treated while living in a facility; they provide an ethical code of conduct for healthcare workers.

informed consent

The process in which a person, with the help of a doctor, makes informed decisions about their health care.

neglect

The failure to provide needed care that results in physical, mental, or emotional harm to a person.

negligence

Actions, or the failure to act or provide the proper care, that result in unintended injury to a person.

malpractice

Injury to a person due to professional misconduct through negligence, carelessness, or lack of skill.

abuse

Purposeful mistreatment that causes physical, mental, or emotional pain or injury to someone.

physical abuse

Any treatment, intentional or not, that causes harm to a person’s body.

psychological abuse

Emotional harm caused by threatening, scaring, humiliating, intimidating, isolating, or insulting a person.

verbal abuse

The use of spoken or written words, pictures, or gestures that threaten, embarrass, or insult a person.

assault

A threat to harm a person, resulting in the person feeling fearful that she will be harmed.

battery

The intentional touching of a person without their consent.

sexual abuse

The forcing of a person to perform or participate in sexual acts against his or her will; includes unwanted touching, exposing oneself, and sharing pornographic material.

financial abuse

The improper or illegal use of a person’s money, possessions, property, or other assets.

domestic violence

Physical, sexual, or emotional abuse by spouses, intimate partners, or family members.

workplace violence

Verbal, physical, or sexual abuse of staff by other staff members, residents or visitors.

false imprisonment

The unlawful restraint of someone that affects the person’s freedom of movement.

involuntary seclusion

The separation of a person from others against the person’s will.

sexual harassment

Any unwelcome sexual advance or behavior that creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

substance abuse

The repeated use of legal or illegal substances in a way that is harmful to oneself or others.

mandated reporters

People who are legally required to report suspected or observed abuse or neglect.

ombudsman

A legal advocate for residents in long-term care facilities who helps resolve disputes and settle conflicts.

confidentiality

The legal and ethical principle of keeping information private.

protected health information (PHI)

Information that can be used to identify a person and relates to the patient’s condition, any health care that the person has had, and payment for that health care.

electronic health records (EHR)

An electronic version of a patient’s medical record that can be shared between healthcare organizations.

advance directives

Legal documents that allow people to decide what medical care they wish to have in the event they are unable to make those decisions themselves.

living will

A document that outlines the medical care a person wants, or does not want, in case he becomes unable to make those decisions.

durable power of attorney for health care

A signed, dated, and witnessed legal document that appoints someone else to make the medical decisions for a person in the event they become unable to do so.

Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST)

A medical order that specifies the treatments a person wishes to receive when he is very ill.

do not resuscitate (DNR)

A medical order that instructs medical professionals not to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of cardiac or respiratory arrest.

cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)

Medical procedures used when a person’s heart or lungs have stopped working.

do not intubate (DNI)

A medical order that tells medical professionals not to place a breathing tube in a person.

do not hospitalize (DNH)

A medical order that states that a person should not be sent to a hospital for treatment, though treatment is continued where the person is residing.