Nurse's Legal
Advisor
Behavioral Objectives
After completing this course you will be able to:
- Describe the importance of obtaining proper consent from the patient prior to
undergoing any procedure.
- Define proximate cause in the context of medical malpractice.
- Describe two essential elements that constitute a conduct which becomes the
proximate cause of an
injury.
- Describe what "a chance of survival" means in medical negligence cases.
- Describe the importance of reading and following patient progress charts and specific instructions of
treatment.
- Describe conduct that would constitute sexual harassment in workplace.
- Describe the interrelationship between the standard of care and medical malpractice.
- Describe how faulty record keeping
can lead to a finding of medical malpractice.
- Explain major pitfalls of charting by exception.
- List 3 essential elements to establish a prima facie case of medical malpractice.
- Describe the importance of reading and following employee handbook, and the policies and procedures of
the hospital.
- Describe the 3 essential elements of medical malpractice.
- Explain the importance of effectively communicating orders to assigned caregivers.
- Describe 3 elements of conduct that accord official immunity protection to public employees from
liability.
- Differentiate between "ministerial" acts and "discretionary" acts of government employees.
- 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.
- Describe 4 acts that would lead to the revocation of a nursing license.
- Define public policy and list 4 elements that describe the duties of a professional registered nurse in the
context of public policy.
- Differentiate between ordinary negligence and medical malpractice.
- Explain the consequences of unauthorized disclosure of patient records.
-
Define the term battery in a medical setting.
- Describe wrongful death and wrongful living as they apply to legal liability for medical professionals.
- Explain the principle of estoppel.
- Explain how the constitution protects professional medical personnel when they speak out upon matters of
public concern.
- Differentiate between professional ethics and personal moral convictions as they relate to the duties of
a nurse.
- Explain the ANA code for nurses as it relates to a nurse's refusal to treat patients.
- Explain the duties of a health care worker in protecting the public from the actions of a mental patient
under care.
- Explain the significance of proper charting to avoid claims of medical malpractice.
- List 8 circumstances that determine the status of a worker as an employee as against an independent
contractor.
- Define vicarious liability.
- List 4 factors that would determine whether an employer is liable for the acts of an employee.
- Describe how Good Samaritan statutes protect health care workers when they render treatment to an
individual in an emergency.
- Describe how worker's compensation laws protect a worker in the event of an injury in the course of
employment.
- List 4 exceptions to the "going and coming" rule as applied to worker's compensation.
- Define the "captain-of-the-ship" doctrine.
- Describe the circumstances that would determine whether a nurse works for the hospital or for
the physician.
- Explain how proper charting could exonerate health care providers from medical malpractice.
- Describe the responsibilities of a nurse to comply with the floating policy of a hospital.
- Describe the rights of an employee against termination without just cause.
- Describe how proper communication with a patient could avoid legal liability for the hospital.
- Describe how the law protects health care providers from legal liability when they follow from the various
recognized methods of treatment.
- 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.
- Define the legal principle of the statutes of limitations.
- Explain how a hospital has a duty to make its equipment and premises safe for patients.
- 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.
- Describe the importance of providing a specially trained professional nurse to supervise for patient care.
- Describe how the worker's compensation law applies to a situation where a worker gets injured away from
the workplace.
- Explain how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) protects a pregnant nurse against sexual
discrimination.
- Explain how AFP testing is used to detect spina bifida.
- Describe the significance of obtaining informed consent and recording the consent in proper forms to
avoid claim of medical malpractice.
- 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.
- Explain how Title VII prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, color, sex, religion or
national origin.
- Define the tort of retaliatory discharge.
- Describe how the law treats moral convictions when they come to interfere in the discharge of
nursing duties.
- Define extreme and outrageous conduct.
- Explain the notice requirements upon the occurrence of an injury with regards to worker's compensation
law.
- 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.
- Define foreseeable harm.
- List 2 factors that impose duty on a health care provider to control the conduct of a third person to
prevent injury to patients.