- Internal Code :
- Subject Code : HLTENN008
- University : Victoria University
- Subject Name : Nursing
Apply Legal and Ethical Parameters to Nursing Practice
1.The three domains of EM standards of nursing practices are
Professional and collaborative domain: This domain deals with the legal and ethical foundations of the practices. It abides by following the rules and regulations for the enrolled nurses. It enables practices in nursing in the right ways keeping the respect and confidentiality of the people. The nurses are held accountable and responsible for further actions.
Provision of care: this domain is about the intrinsic care of the individual. The proper documentation provided for taking care. The well-trained candidates must be there so that they can enroll themselves in decision making and can guide the person who is to be cared for.
Reflective and analytical practice: this domain is about practicing nursing while having all information about it. The process of development as a nurse in the professional field is a must. The practice of nursing is done in a safe environment and by following the proper guidelines, which enable the execution of the treatment in a smoother way(Halcomb, Stephens, Bryce, Foley, & Ashley, 2017).
2.The functions of laws in nursing is a broader term. The legal standards that are maintained in nursing are laws.
The functions of laws in nursing are mainly to avoid malpractices among nurses.
The laws made help in the standardization of the care and nursing provided to the patients.
The laws help in protecting the individual needs and health of the working nurses in an organization preventing the chances of bullying, health hazards, and enhancing proper shifts.
The laws help in making nurses aware of the duty they have to perform in health care. It helps in their individual development as professionals and helps them provide the best of the standardized care to the population(Terry, 2017).
3.Law of Torts and its example in nursing: The torts are basically wrong done by one party against the other that may cause danger to life as well. The tort involves getting the compensation monetary and can also involve court orders. The wrong done by one can also require taking civil actions against the other. There are three types of torts:
Intentional tort where the harm is done on an intentional level. The torts include invasion, fraud, and a few more. The harm was done intentionally which can affect the mental, physical and emotional development. These torts can be taken to court for compensation. In this tort, it shows that the practitioner knew the consequences of the practice and still does it.
Negligence tort where the party fails to take care of the patient. It may include the misbehavior in a reasonable manner of taking care of the patient. The patient suffered more due to the inactions done by the caretaker. These main elements come in the negligence tort of nursing. In nursing, it can be evaluated as late recognition of ectopic pregnancy as an example where the patient has to suffer.
Strict liability torts are the torts where improper fix in the body is done or the use of drugs that are defective. In nursing, it can be elaborated as use of medicine that causes harm in place of treating the disease(Ronquillo, Pesce, & Varacallo, 2020).
4.Difference between common law and civil law:
Protects civil rights such as freedom from invasion of privacy and freedom from threats of injury
- Purpose of the child protection Act 2012: The purpose of the child protection act 2012 is to protect the children from any sort of sexual abuse and protection of children in the course of the work. It is implemented to restrict any kind of harassment, pornography by the adults in any organization irrespective of the gender. Any sort of harassment is an offense punishable by law. It provides a strategy to prevent child abuse in course of work and also protect them fro unfair practices.
- Principle of informed consent: Informed consent is the procedure where the health care provider informs a patient about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of the treatment that will be provided to him. It is followed so that the patient is voluntarily competent enough to take the decision and has knowledge about the systematic operations that would be carried forward. It is done by signing the contract or the legal documents required for the medications and operations.
- Euthanasia is a much shrouded and debatable topic in Australia and is an illegal act. It literally means good death. Generally, euthanasia is done at the request of the patient who is unable to lead a normal life. The code of nursing does not allow to let someone die. The nursing profession is about saving lives. It is an abuse of human rights as well. If the concept is seen aligning the religious term, life is a gift of God and it is not acceptable by any means to let it loose and finish it. Moreover, the relation between the doctor and the patient is hampered as the trust factor disappears(Pesut et al., 2019).
- Autonomy- Autonomy is concerned with decision making in nursing. It is principle-based on deciding on the type of medications and treatment required to be accessed by the individual.
Beneficence is about restricting the patient from getting harmed while being medicated. The norms that are followed must minimize harm possessing to the patient and the healthcare organization.
Nonmaleficence is the principle by which healthcare workers try to put as much as less harm on the patient while treating him. It means that nurses do not harm intentionally. It can occur while treating and must be in adherence with least inflicted.
Veracity in nursing is defined as being truth full and having honest relationships with the patients so that trust is built. Honesty and trust help in emotional well being initiating the process of treatment in a positive way. It also helps in decision making by the patients in regard to the treatment provided by the doctors.
Vicarious liability is the responsibility taken by the nurses for their actions while serving and treating the patients. It is an idea where the employer is responsible for his/her own behavior, service, and intentions and this applies to nurse as well(Haddad & Geiger, 2019).
- Law in nursing mainly deals with the laws that must be implemented to provide proper care to1 the patients. The laws are also implemented to avoid the hazards and harm that can affect the efficiency of the nurses while performing their duty
Negligence is intentional avoidance of the duty that just have been performed by the nurses in order to save the life patient or while curing them. It can be small ones or it can also be ones while going through the history of the [patients’ illness that can lead to problems in the health of patients.
Trespass is the invasion of a person's personal or public property. This is taken as documentation in nursing where the client needs to permit that while treatment the nurses will have access to some of their personal issues and it will not be condemned.
Assault is any kind of physical or mental harassment faced by the nurse. The laws are implemented where the assaults done by the client intentionally is a punishable crime. Any sort of assault that damaged self-esteem is not acceptable.
The battery is contacting the physical person without consent. In nursing, giving injection that is refused by the client is the battery. Touching a person's body, hair, bed, or any part is also considered a battery. To save this battery issue, clients have to sign a document permitting the nurses to touch them while treatment.
Legal capacity is the legal authority defined on the client. The legal decisions must be taken on the client’s behalf by the client or his family. The consent is kept on to the family or the individual himself.
Clinical incapacity is the state of the health care centers where they cannot provide all medication and equipment required by the patients. The incapacities must be elaborately mentioned to the client before starting major clinical operations or medications to avoid confusion.
False imprisonment is a situation when a person is asked to be confined to a certain place. It is unlawful until the person is a criminal. In nursing, it must be made sure that putting more pressure on the client for confinement is not acceptable.
Defamation is defaming the client on his code of conduct. Defamation is punishable by law and the person can comply with the fine from the organization.
Open disclosure is the disclosure of the issues regarding the patients. It is a norm in the medical profession to keep the issues of the particular patient undercover or secret from other patients. The clinics are not supposed to disclose it by any means. If done, can cause a reason for legal actions.
- Power of attorney, living will, advance care directives, guardianship deal with ethics in regards to the patients. These are included in the advanced health care procedures in regards to the patients and are ethically challenging situations.
- Power of attorney is an ethical situation that arises when the decision making goes from one hand to the other. In that case, treatment can be stopped at any moment as per the decision of the member who has the attorney.
Living wills in patients can suddenly decrease when he encounters a situation that affects his psychological health. The ethical situation then turns to good death which is not acceptable in the medical profession.
Advance care directives include the advance may of financial support, the media claims and the funding the medical equipment according to the requirement of the patients. The health care directive can be changed if the person is not satisfied with the services.
Guardianship is the decision making of family members. The guardianship can affect the medical care given to the patients. It can be withdrawal or change in accordance with the guardians
Refusal and withdrawal of treatment while treatment is going on. This can happen in surrogacy when the patient is not comfortable with the medications available at the hospitals.
- Person’s privacy and confidentiality in a hospital are legal and medical concerns. The right to privacy is endowed with all clients and the medical practitioners must make sure that they should respect the client’s need for privacy. Their problems must not be discussed with anyone other than their family. They must be given space to make themselves comfortable so that they can have the full advantage of the care that is given to them.
Home and community settings for the patients are the most vulnerable things and healthcare must make sure that they should not interfere with their personal property. The release of private information is punishable by law. Health professionals can be blamed for trespassing in this case. Privacy must be maintained in a community setting by not displaying the case history to the other patients through any means.
- Abortion is a dilemma situation in nursing. The process is very sensitive as it is concerned with life inside a life. Sometimes the situation is unavoidable which affects the health of the mother and the child. Sometimes the mother is underaged which is again a bad situation.
Tissue transplant is done by the permission and consent of the person who is into transplanting. The situation is far more acceptable because it is doing good for the other person as well.
Organ donation is again a guardianship decision where the donation is done on patients’ consent. It is a noble deed where one or many can be benefited by the donation if the deceased donate his vital organs.
Stem cell research is all about research and is done for the betterment of society in some way. The nurses and scientists involved in it must know that it is going to benefit the population in the future.
Not for resuscitation is an order where the hospitals will try their best to revive the breathing of the patients unless given orders by the government to not try it. The hospitals will try to revive the patients if their hearts stop beating or they can not breathe.
Euthanasia is not acceptable as far as ethics are concerned. The medical profession is all about saving lives and it has to be firm with the fact that one must not end life as it is God’s gift.
16.a. The restraints used on patients are physical, chemical, and environmental restraints. The physical restraints are the restraints given physically such as harness, belts around the bed, cloth band, and few more. The chemical restraints are the ones that restrict the patients using chemicals such as antidepressants, anti sedatives, and many more.
- The restraints that govern the patient in victoria are physical and chemical restraints. It is used during the treatment when the situation can be harmful to patients.
17.NMBA is the professional code of conduct for developing the standard of nursing and midwifery in Australia. It works on the development of the guidelines of the working of the nurses and the country and to provide the proper standardized care.
Nursing registration guidelines are the guidelines provided to the nurse working in the organization of the country. The nurses must follow the code provided by the organization and it is provided in the guidelines.
Professional indemnity insurance (PII) arrangements are meant for the nurses who have had losses in regards to civil means, loss arising by claims made out of negligence or error, or omission of code of conduct while being a nurse.
Re-entry into practice requirements is for those who want to again start the practice of nursing. It is for the ones who had a lapse of five years while serving, are no longer in the register, or have not been practicing for a longer time.
- EEO principles refer to the environment of the organization and workplaces which is free from harassment, discrimination, bullying, and other verbal and physical abuse. This is a requirement in nursing because the nurses are the ones treating the patients and they must be free from these considerations on basis of caste, creed, and so on.
- The legal and ethical considerations are
Consulting the NAEYC
Respecting the individual’s competence
Communication through CVADs
Legal issues connected with inclusion
- Health practitioner regulation laws are the laws made for practitioners who practice their occupation on health. There are norms that are to be followed by them for providing better service
NSQHS Standards are the standards helping in enabling the health standards of the country by putting rules to follow.
Health legislation on drugs and poison are rules for using the drugs and poison for treating the disease by putting less harm to the patients.
Mental health legislation is norms and regulations in concern with rising mental health issues.
Privacy act is the right to privacy for the patients who come to clinics, their diseases must be kept private in order to save their self-esteem.
The aged care act is about taking care of the aged people who are in the old age homes and the ones who come with vulnerable riks in the hospitals.
Carers recognition code is recognition of carers which help them in recognition as cares
The criminal code Act is based on the action taken on the practitioners who commit any negligence in regard to their services.
The disability discrimination act is providing privileges to the disabled in society and in the medical treatment.
Children and young people act revise on the giving equal chances to them in m medical and social facilities.
Working with children act is providing them with the equal opportunities in the field of medications and work without discrimination.
Workplace safety is providing a safe environment to the employees for safe working.
The role of nurse is held important because they work toward serving the community by helping them cure and making them fut to survive in the society
References for Nursing Ethical Considerations
Halcomb, E., Stephens, M., Bryce, J., Foley, E., & Ashley, C. (2017). The development of professional practice standards for Australian general practice nurses. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 73(8), 1958–1969. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13274
Terry, L. (2017). Understanding and meeting your legal responsibilities as a nurse. Retrieved from Rcni.com website: https://journals.rcni.com/nursing-standard/understanding-and-meeting-your-legal-responsibilities-as-a-nurse-ns.2017.e11015
Ronquillo, Y., Pesce, M. B., & Varacallo, M. (2020). Tort. Retrieved September 17, 2020, from PubMed website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441953/
Haddad, L. M., & Geiger, R. A. (2019, January 19). Nursing Ethical Considerations. Retrieved from Nih.gov website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK526054/
Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Greig, M., Fulton, A., Janke, R., & Vis-Dunbar, M. (2019). Ethical, Policy, and Practice Implications of Nursesʼ Experiences With Assisted Death. Advances in Nursing Science, 42(3), 216–230. https://doi.org/10.1097/ans.0000000000000276
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