| Legal Aspects of Nursing - 1 | Legal Aspects of Nursing - 2 |
| Autopsy | Postmortem examination - examination of body after death. |
| Health care proxy | also known as Durable power of attorney for health care. Is notarized or witnessed statement to appoint someone else to manage health care decisions |
| Decision | Rendered by Judge |
| Plaintiff | Person who claims that his legal rights have been infringed |
| Euthanasia | Act of painlessly putting to death persons suffering from incurable or distressing disease. |
| Impaired Nurse | Nurse whose ability to perform functions of a nurse is diminished by chemical dependency on drugs, alcohol or mental illness |
| Legislation (Statutory Law) | laws enacted by the legislation are called statutory laws. Federal laws supersede state laws; state laws supersede local laws. Regulation of nursing is a function of state law. State legislatures pass statutes that define & regulate “nurse practice acts" |
| Implied Consent | Individuals nonverbal behavior indicates agreement |
| Mutual recognition model | Allows multistate licensure |
| Litigators | Lawyers who participate in lawsuits |
| Contractual relationships | Vary among practice settings. Nurse-Client, Employer-Employee |
| Inquest | Legal inquiry into cause of manner of a death. |
| Expert witness | Special training, experience or skill in relevant area and allowed by court to offer an opinion in some issue within in his or her area of expertise |
| License | Legal permit that the government agency grants to individuals to engage in the practice of a profession and use a particular title |
| Private Law or Civil Law | deals with relationship amongst private individuals |
| Administrative Law | when state legislature passes a law, an administrative agency is given authority to create rules and regulations to enforce the statutory laws. |
| Answer | Written response made by defendants |
| Burden of proof | Duty of proving an assertion of wrongdoing |
| Civil Actions | Deal with relationships among individuals in society. |
| Discovery | Both parties engage in pretrial activities, in an effort to obtain facts of the situation. |
| Verdict | Rendered by Jury |
| Contract Law | involves enforcement of agreements among private individuals or the payment of compensation for failure to fulfill agreements |
| Respondent Superior | Let the master answer ie, employer assumes responsibility for the conduct of the employee |
| Mandated reporters | A person who can assess and identify cases of violence against others. They must report the situation to appropriate authorities |
| Coroner | Public official, not necessarily a physician, appointed or elected to inquire into the death, where appropriate. |
| Responsibility | Obligation associated with a right |
| Certification | Voluntary practice of validating that an individual nurse has met minimum standards of nursing competence in specialty areas such as maternal-child health, pediatrics etc. |
| Law | sum total of rules and regulations by which society is governed. Created by the people and exists to regulate all persons. |
| Express consent | Oral or written agreement |
| Complaint | Document filed by plaintiff |
| Interstate Compact or Nurse Licensure Compact (NLC) | Mechanism used to create mutual recognition among states. |
| Standards of Care | Skills and learning commonly possessed by members of a profession. Legal guidelines for nursing practice. |
| Informed Consent | Agreement by client to accept a course of treatment of procedure after being provided complete information, including the benefits and risks of a treatment. |
| Living Will | Provides specific instructions about what medical treatment the client chooses to omit or refuse in the event the client is unable to make those decisions |
| Advance health care directives | Include variety of legal and lay documents that allow persons to specify aspects of care they wish to receive should they become unable to make or communicate their preferences |
| Constitutional Law | supreme law of the country – federal government. Creates legal rights and responsibilities and is the foundation for a system of justice |
| Criminal Actions | Deal with disputes between an individual and the society as a whole. |
| Strike | Organized work stoppage by a group of employees to express grievance, enforce demand for changes in conditions of employment, or solve a dispute with management |
| Contractual obligations | Nurse's duty of care, that is, duty to render care, established by the presence of an expressed or implied contract |
| Common Law | evolves from court decisions. Courts adhere to the doctrine of stare decisis “to stand by things decided,” usually referred to as “following precedent.” |
| Delegation | transfer of responsibility for performance of an activity from one person to another while retaining accountability for the outcome |
| Trial | All relevant facts are presented to a jury or only to a judge. |
| Criminal Law | actions against safety and welfare of the public |
| Tort | Civil wrong committed against a person or person's property. |
| Defendants | Persons or entities claimed by plaintiff to have infringed his rights |
| Implied contract | Not be explicity agreed to by the parties but the law nevertheless considers to exist |
| Negligence | Misconduct or practice that is below the standard expected of an ordinary, reasonable, and prudent person. |
| Contract | Agreement between two or more competent persons, on sufficient consideration (remuneration), to or not to do some lawful act. |
| Felony | Crime serious in nature, such as murder, punishable by a term in prison. |
| Manslaughter | Second-degree murder |
| Liability | Quality or state of being legally responsible for one's obligations and actions and make financial restitution for wrongful acts |
| Medical Examiner | Physician, usually has advanced education in pathology or forensic medicine. |
| Litigation | Action of a lawsuit. |
| Public Law | body of law that deals with relationships between individuals and government / governmental agencies |
| Right | Priviliege or fundamental power to which an individual is entitled unless it is revoked by law or given up voluntarily |
| Misdemeanor | Offense of a less serious nature and is usually punishable by a fine or short-term imprisonment, or both. |
| Credentialing | Process of determining and maintaining competence in nursing practice. One way of maintaining standards. Includes licensure, certification and accreditation. |
| Crime | Act committed in violation of publc (criminal) law and punishable by a fine or imprisonment. |
| Tort Law | duties and rights among private individuals that not based on contractual agreements (ex. malpractice, invasion of privacy). |
| Do Not Resusitate (DNR) or "no code" order | for clients who are in the stage of terminal, irreversible illness ore expected death and expressed wish for no resusitation in an event of a cardiac or respiratory arrest |
