Untitled Flashcards Set

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): 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; also details what to do if resident problems are identified.

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 his or her health care.

Abuse: purposeful mistreatment that causes physical, mental, or emotional pain or injury to someone.

Neglect: harming a person physically, mentally, or emotionally by failing to provide needed care.

Malpractice: injury to a person due to professional misconduct through negligence, carelessness, or lack of skill.

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, or by treating him as a child; also includes verbal abuse.

Verbal abuse: the use of spoken or written words, pictures, or gestures that threaten, embarrass, or insult a person.

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 the sharing of pornographic material.

Financial abuse: the act of stealing, taking advantage of, or improperly using the money, property, or other assets of another person.

Assault: the act of threatening to touch a person without his or her permission.

Battery: the intentional touching of a person without his or her consent.

Domestic violence: physical, sexual, or emotional abuse by spouses, intimate partners, or family members.

Workplace violence: verbal, physical, or sexual abuse of staff by residents or other staff members.

False imprisonment: the unlawful restraint of someone which affects the person’s freedom of movement; includes both the threat of being physically restrained and actually being physically restrained.

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; includes requests for sexual favors, unwanted touching, and other acts of a sexual nature.

Substance abuse: the use of legal or illegal drugs, cigarettes, or alcohol in a way that is harmful to the abuser or to others.

Active neglect: the purposeful failure to provide needed care, resulting in harm to a person.

Passive neglect: the unintentional failure to provide needed care, resulting 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.

Mandated reporters: people who are legally required to report suspected or observed abuse or neglect because they have regular contact with vulnerable populations, such as the elderly in care facilities.

Ombudsman: the legal advocate for residents; person or persons who help resolve disputes and settle conflicts.

Confidentiality: the legal and ethical principle of keeping information private.

Protected health information (PHI): a person’s private health information, which includes name, address, telephone number, social security number, e-mail address, and medical record number.