Table Of Contents
Learning Objectives:

After completing this course you will be able to:

1. Describe the importance of obtaining proper consent from the patient prior to undergoing any procedure.

2.a. Define proximate cause in the context of medical malpractice.

b. Describe two essential elements that constitute a conduct which becomes the proximate cause of an injury.

3. a. Describe what "a chance of survival" means in medical negligence cases.

b. Describe the importance of reading and following patient progress charts and specific instructions of treatment.

4. Describe conduct that would constitute sexual harassment in workplace.

5. Describe the interrelationship between the standard of care and medical malpractice.

6. a. Describe how faulty recordkeeping can lead to a finding of medical malpractice.

b. Explain major pitfalls of charting by exception.

c. List 3 essential elements to establish a prima facie case of medical malpractice.

7. Describe the importance of reading and following employee handbook, and the policies and procedures of the hospital.

8. a. Describe the 3 essential elements of medical malpractice.

b. Explain the importance of effectively communicating orders to assigned caregivers.

9. a. Describe 3 elements of conduct that accord official immunity protection to public employees from liability.

b. Differentiate between "ministerial" acts and "discretionary" acts of government employees.

10. a. Explain the nursing code as it relates to the revocation of a nursing license, if the licensee is unfit or incompetent due to the use of alcohol.

b. Describe 4 acts that would lead to the revocation of a nursing license.

11. Define public policy and list 4 elements that describe the duties of a professional registered nurse in the context of public policy.

12. a. Differentiate between ordinary negligence and medical malpractice.

b. Explain the consequences of unauthorized disclosure of patient records.

13. a. Define the term battery in a medical setting.

b. Describe wrongful death and wrongful living as they apply to legal liability for medical professionals.

14. Explain the principle of estoppel.

15. Explain how the constitution protects professional medical personnel when they speak out upon matters of public concern.

16. a. Differentiate between professional ethics and personal moral convictions as they relate to the duties of a nurse.

b. Explain the ANA code for nurses as it relates to a nurse’s refusal to treat patients.

17. Explain the duties of a health care worker in protecting the public from the actions of a mental patient under care.

18. Explain the significance of proper charting to avoid claims of medical malpractice.

19. List 8 circumstances that determine the status of a worker as an employee as against an independent contractor.

20. a. Define vicarious liability.

b. List 4 factors that would determine whether an employer is liable for the acts of an employee.

21. Describe how Good Samaritan statutes protect health care workers when they render treatment to an individual in an emergency.

22. a. Describe how worker’s compensation laws protect a worker in the event of an injury in the course of employment.

b. List 4 exceptions to the "going and coming" rule as applied to worker’s compensation.

23. a. Define the "captain-of-the-ship" doctrine.

b. Describe the circumstances that would determine whether a nurse works for the hospital or for the physician.

24. Explain how proper charting could exonerate health care providers from medical malpractice.

25. Describe the responsibilities of a nurse to comply with the floating policy of a hospital.

26. Describe the rights of an employee against termination without just cause.

27. Describe how proper communication with a patient could avoid legal liability for the hospital.

28. Describe how the law protects health care providers from legal liability when they follow from the various recognized methods of treatment.

29. Explain the recommended course of action for a nurse when she observes a doctor doing something improper, something that is against the policies and rules of the hospital.

30. Define the legal principle of the statutes of limitations.

31. Explain how a hospital has a duty to make its equipment and premises safe for patients.

32. Explain the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act and list the classes of persons authorized to give consent in behalf of the decedent for donation of organs.

33. Describe the importance of providing a specially trained professional nurse to supervise for patient care.

34. Describe how the worker’s compensation law applies to a situation where a worker gets injured away from the workplace.

35. Explain how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) protects a pregnant nurse against sexual discrimination.

36. a. Explain how AFP testing is used to detect spina bifida.

b. Describe the significance of obtaining informed consent and recording the consent in proper forms to avoid claim of medical malpractice.

37. Differentiate between the nursing services rendered by a nurse as opposed to the services rendered to a nurse, and their importance in protecting the privacy of a nurse.

38. Explain how Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, sex, religion or national origin.

39. a. Define the tort of retaliatory discharge.

b. Describe how the law treats moral convictions when they come to interfere in the discharge of nursing duties.

40. Define extreme and outrageous conduct.

41. Explain the notice requirements upon the occurrence of an injury with regards to worker’s compensation law.

42. Define the responsibilities of the emergency department in a hospital with respect to patients who are in need of medical service but are unable to pay for them immediately.

45. a. Define foreseeable harm.

b. List 2 factors that impose duty on a health care provider to control the conduct of a third person to prevent injury to patients.

Table of Contents

1. Informed Consent: Patient Did Not Ask, Doctor Did Not Tell

2. Proximate Cause: Nurse Uses Rubber Catheter on a Pregnant Patient Allergic to Rubber

3. Loss of Chance: Nurses Leave Patient in Distress

4. U.S. Supreme Court Defines Sexual Harassment 

5. Nursing-Home Negligence: Patient Chokes on Food

6. Charting By Exception: Conservative Treatment Before Resorting to Surgery

7. Nurse Claims Hospital Should Have Disciplined Her Progressively 

8. Nurse Fails to Spot Inconsistent Physicians’ Instructions 

9. Court Turns Down Paramedics’ Assertion of Governmental Immunity 

10. "Qualified and Talented" Nurse Falls Victim to Alcohol Abuse 

11. Nurse Terminated For Refusing to "Stay Out Of It" 

12. Unauthorized Disclosure: Nurse Spreads Word That Patient Has AIDS 

13. Wrongful Living: Nurse Resuscitates Patient Despite No "Code Blue" 

14. Nurse Threatens Patient That Filing a Lawsuit Will Result in Blacklisting 

15. Freedom of Speech: Nurse Is Suspended For Speaking Out 

16. Nurse Refusing to Treat Terminally Ill Patient Is Herself Terminated 

17. Schizophrenic Patient Escapes Psychiatric Center And Commits Murder 

18. Nurse Is Second Guessed After Patient Suffers Severe Mental Retardation 

19. Is a Nurse Working for a Registry an Employee or Independent Contractor? 

20. Employer Held Vicariously Liable For the Criminal Acts of Employee 

21. Good Samaritan Immunity Lasts Till the Emergency Lasts 

22. Workers’ Compensation Awarded to Nurse Injured on Way to Work 

23. Captain-of-the-Ship Doctrine: Does the Nurse Work For the Hospital or the Physician? 

24. Charting Was the Weakest Link 

25. Refusal to "Float" Sinks The Nurse 

26. Termination Without Just Cause: Inexperienced Nurse Gets Fired After Four Weeks 

27. Patient Asked to Leave If He Didn’t Like How Hospital Was Run 

28. Law Does Not Permit Monday Morning Quarterbacking 

29. Speaking Out: Nurse Reports Doctor Examining Patient in the Lobby 

30. Statute of Limitations: Patient Discovers a Sponge 13 Years Later 

31. Automatic Doors Get Closed on the Patient, Hospital Gets Pinched 

32. Organ Donation: Good Faith Effort to Obtain Relative’s Consent 

33. Hospital Fails to Provide Specially-Trained Professional Nurse 

34. Overworked Nurse Falls Asleep At the Wheel on the Way Home 

35. Pregnant Nurse Refuses to Treat HIV-Infected Patient, Gets Terminated 

36. AFP Testing Would Have Detected Spina Bifida 

37. Nurse’s Medical Records Cannot Be Subpoenaed For Disciplinary Purposes 

38. Nurse Faces Retaliation For Speaking Tagalog On the Job 

39. Nurse Disobeys Orders to Remove Patient, Is Herself Removed 

40. Nurses Lack Bedside Manner 

41. Nurse "Pulled Something" After Lifting 200- to 300-lb. Patient 

42. Patient Dumping: Hospital Refuses Treatment to an Indigent Patient 

43. Patient Sexually Assaulted by Intruder: Was Harm to Patient Forseeable?

Post-Test 

" You carry a great selection of topics. This course was very interesting. I'd like to see another course like it."  -  C.O., Columbus, OH

" Excellent course - enjoyed reading the different legal situations. "  -  L.J., McDonough, GA
 

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