Legal Aspects and Ethics Ppt

At the end of the class you will be able to: Define ethics, bioethics, and legal. Apply essential ethical principles to the care that you give. Apply some legal principles to the care that you give. When encountered with ethical and legal situation, identify the moral and legal principles involved. Describe ways in which healthcare provider can enhance their ethicolegal decision making and practice

Definition

LEGALLIFEsystematic approach to define social and individual morality the fundamental standards of right and wrong

Based on LAW

Ethics as applied to Life

o Respect for person

o Respect for autonomyo Nonmaleficence o Beneficence o Justice

Principles of Bioethicso The bioethical principles provide a foundation for healthcare professionals practice.

o The most fundamental of these principles is the respect for persons.

The most fundamental principle of professional

behavior is the respect for persons. This principle emphasizes that all people should treat others as a worthy individual.

Refers to every individuals having freedom to make their own choices.

For a client to make an autonomous decision and action, he or she must be offered enough information and options to make up his or her mind free of coercion or external and internal influences. Informed Consent

Principles that

require care provider to act in ways that benefit clients. Good Samaritan Law

Requires healthcare provider to act in such a way as to avoid causing harm on to clients.

Justice is the promotion of

equity or fairness in every situation you encounters. It is the obligation to be

fair to all people.

o Veracityo Confidentiality o Fidelity

Duty to tell the

truth to someone who has the right to know the truth.

o Principle states that its the healthcare provider

responsibility to safeguard the clients right to privacy by protecting information of a confidential nature.

Hippocratic OathWhat I may see or hear in the course of treatment or even outside of treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account must be noised abroad, I will to myself holding such things shameful to be spoken about.

Duty to keep

promises. It is a moral principle that obligates individual to be faithful to agreements and responsibilities one has undertaken.

Legal Aspects of Care

Legal Aspects of Care

o What is Liability?o Is a penalty or sanction suffered by a

healthcare provider if found guilty of violation of any of the existing laws in the Philippines as well as implementing rules and regulation.

Types of LAW Public Criminal Law Intentional Felony Misdemeanor Assault/battery Abandonment Invasion of Privacy Libel Slander Unprofessional Conduct Defamation Private/Civil Tort Unintentional Negligence Malpractice

What is TORT? A tort is a private or civil wrong or injury,

for which the court will provide a remedy in the form of an action for damages. Classification:1. Unintentional Tort 2. Intentional Tort

Unintentional Tort

Professional Negligenceo It means that you failed to do something that you should have

done.o Negligence results from injury that is unintentional due to failure to take the usual precautions expected or the legal standards of care.

Unintentional TortThere are four elements in proving negligence:o Duty. That there is a duty in the

circumstances to take care. o Breach of Duty. When a healthcare professional fails to act in accordance with standards of care. o Damage. That the plaintiff (injured party) has suffered injury or loss making the claim to prove negligence. o Causation. It is the breach of duty which is proven to have legally caused the injury.

Unintentional TortThe Doctrine of Res Ipsa Loquituro "The thing speaks for itself

o When the harm that resulted from negligence and the responsibility for the harm are clear that anyone would agree on it, the term res ipsa loquitur is used.

Unintentional Tort

Specific examples of negligenceo Failure to report observations to the Nurse

in-charge and attending Physicianso Mistaken Identityo Defects in the equipment such as stretchers

and wheelchairs may lead to falls thus injuring the patients

Unintentional Tort

Malpracticeo It means that you did something wrong that you should have known was wrong.

o Implies the idea of improper or unskillful care of a patiento It also denotes stepping beyond one's professional duty (scope of practice) with serious consequences

Unintentional Tort

Examples of Malpracticeo Caregiver giving the medication of the patient in a hospital. o Caregiver does NOT wash his hands between patients and some of the patients get a serious infection

Legal Aspects of Care

Doctrine of Force Majeureo It is an irresistible or superior force, one that cannot be foreseen or prevented a unexpected event and an act of God o No person shall be held liable for nonperformance of what was expected of him/her if the cause of

nonperformance was a force majeure

Legal Aspects of CareDoctrine of Respondeat Superioro Means let the superior answer, let the principal answer for the acts of his agent.

o The doctrine is founded on the principle that he who expects to develop advantage from an act which is done by another for him must answer for any injury which a third person may sustain from it.

Intentional Tort

Abandonmento Abandonment is when a person leaves patients without the care that they need.

Example: A nursing assistant has abandoned the patients when they leave their place of work and go home before the end of the shift without tell the nurse.

Intentional Tort

Unprofessional ConductUnprofessional conduct is when a person does NOT follow standards of practice even when NO harm or injury has come to a patient.

Intentional Tort

Assault and Batteryo Assault is defined as the threat of bodily harm that reasonably causes

fear of harm in the victim.o Battery is the actual physical impact on another person.

Intentional Tort

Invasion of Privacy Injures the privacy of a person and does not take into account the effect of revealed information on the standing of the person. Liability can result if the healthcare provider breaches the confidentiality by passing along confidential client information to others not within the healthcare team.

o Know your standards of care. Follow your

standards of care. Make sure that you do things exactly like you were taught in school and in the place that you work. o Make sure that you do all the things that are listed in the policies and procedures where you work. If you are NOT sure about how to do a task, ask the nurse. Do NOT do anything if you are not sure that you can do it in the right way.

o Do NOT do anything that is NOT in your scope

of practice. Ask the nurse what to do if you are asked to do something that you think is NOT in your scope of practice. o Give high quality care to all of your patients. o NEVER leave your patients unless the nurse tells you that you can leave.

o Keep your knowledge current. Take all the classes you need to give safe care.

Case StudyAmy, a recently licensed care assistant/ caregiver, has been assigned to an elderly client in a nursing home hospital. On the third day of orientation, her preceptor tells her that she has been doing an excellent job and that she has decided to assign her to perform suture care/ wound care.

1. Amy is asked to perform a skill that she has never done. Which action would be best to ensure the safety of the client? 2. How can Amy apply the principles of autonomy of the patient? 3. Amys client asked for medication for a pain. Amy decides to give Tylenol (acetaminophen) for pain. What can Amy be charged with? Why? 4. Amy witnesses a nursing assistant being verbally

abusive to a client in the nursing home facility. What can the nursing assistant can be charged with? Why?

AnswersAmy is asked to perform a skill that she has never done. Which action would be best to ensure the safety of the client? If she is not comfortable with the tasks assigned to her, she should refuse the assignment and immediately contact the nurse in charge. Amy should ask the preceptor to allow her to watch the skill performed and then perform the task herself with the preceptor watching. This action would allow her time and orientation to the task and ensure the safety of the client

o How can Amy apply the principles of autonomy of the

patient?

By explaining to the client what she will going to do, why is it necessary, and how the client can cooperate.o Amys client asked for medication for a pain. Amy decides to

give Tylenol (acetaminophen) for pain. What can Amy be charged with? Why?

Amy can be accused of malpractice if harm comes to the client because shes stepping beyond one's professional duty(scope of practice) with serious consequences.

Amy witnesses a nursing assistant being verbally abusive to a client in the nursing home facility. What can the nursing assistant can be charged with? Why? The nursing assistant can be charged of assault because he/she is threatening the patient of bodily harm that reasonably causes fear of harm on the patient.

To God be the Glory!