abandonment
A health professional's failure to provide care to a patient,
especially when there is an implied contract to do so.
accountability
Accepting responsibility for one's actions. In a professional
context, this means the roles and actions accepted by an individual
within the context of their occupation, require the person to accept
responsibility for the consequences.
administrative law
Laws made by government agencies.
advance directive
A document in which a person gives instructions about his or her
medical care in the event that the individual cannot speak for himself
or herself.
ex living will, medical power of attorney
damages
money awarded in a civil lawsuit to compensate the injured party
defamation
derogatory statement concerning another person's skill, character, or reputation
delegation
Assignment of duties to another person. In medicine, the person who
delegates a duty retains accountability.
deposition
testimony of a witness given under oath and transcribed by a court
reporter during the pretrail phase of a civil lawsuit.
dilemma
a situation or personal conflict that arises from a need to make a
decision when none of the choices are acceptable
ethical dilemmas
situations in which ethical choices involve conflicting values
ethics
core values that are based on knowledge of right and wrong-- not
based on culture, religion or time.
are universal
evidence based practice
professional practices and their standards based on established
scientific research rather than opinion and tradition.
hospital policy
A set of rules or regulations that hospital employees are required to
follow, created to protect patients and employees from harm and to
ensure the smooth operation of the hospital
incident report
A written description of any event that caused harm or presented the
risk of harm to a patient or staff in the course of normal healthcare.
informed consent
A written description of any event that caused harm or presented the
risk of harm to a patient or staff in the course of normal healthcare
laws
standards of conduct that apply to all people in a given society.
liable
legally responsible and accountable
living will
legal document stating patients wishes regarding care in the even
they cannot speak
libel
defamation in writing
malpratice
negligence committed by a professional
medical ethics
branch of ethics concerned with the practice of medicine
negligence
failure to act with the prudence that a reasonable person would
exercise under the same circumstances
perjury
the crime of making intentionally lying or falsifying info during
court testimony after a person has been sworn under oath
practice acts
State law that establish and regulate the conditions under which
professionals my practice including licensure, registration,
educational requirements, scope of duties, and functions.
professional ethics
Ethical behavior established by authoritative peers of a particular
profession, such as medicine or law.
retained foreign object
an item that is inadvertently left inside the patient during surgery
safe medical act
a federal regulation that requires the reporting of any incident
causing death or injury that is suspected to be the result of a
medical device
sentinel event
An unexpected incident resulting in serious physical injury,
psychological harm, or death. near miss injury or harm included
sexual harrassment
sexual coercion, sexual innuendos, or unwanted sexual comments,
gestures or touch
slander
spoken deflamation
standards of conduct
A set of rules or guidelines an organization writes for its members.
The rules pertain to how people behave and are based on the principles
that the organization values, such as professionalism and personal integrity.
statutes
laws passed by legislative bodies
TIMEOUT
A procedure for verifying the patient's identity, correct procedure
and location(side), verification of informed consent, and other
documents necessary to proceed with the procedure
tort
a legal wrongdoing that results in injury to a person or property
unretrieved device fragment
a portion of a medical device that has broken off or come apart in
the body and is not detected or removed;
ex fragments of a broken surgical needle or a hinge pin of a
surgical instrument
occupational safety and health administration (OSHA)
issues and enforces regulations that protect employees and patients
against risks in the work environment
environmental protection agency (EPA)
regulates the use of chemicals such as those used in disinfection,
sterilization, and environmental cleaning.
food and drug administration (FDA)
establishes laws that govern the safety of medicines and protect the
public from medical devices that might be defective, unsafe, or hazardous.
OSHA example
things caused by chemical, electrical devices, and risks associated
with blood borne diseases
FDA example
safe medical device
act, which requires hospitals to report any incident in which a
medical device is believed to be the cause of injury or death.
what is the most common cause for injury in the health care setting?
negligence
respondent superior
let the master respond"
Individual professionals on the surgical team are accountable for
their own acts whether they are unintentional , negligent, or delegated
res ipsa lquitur
the thing speaks for itself"
the defendant is judged to be guilty of an act of negligence even
though there are no direct evidence of harm
primum non nocere
first, do no harm"
professionals have a legal and ethical responsibility to ensure that
their care does not cause injury or harm
doctrine of foreseeability
based on the idea that health professionals should be able to predict
specific situation, equipment, or procedures that could injure a
patient, and he/she should takes steps to prevent harm to patient
center for disease control and prevention
(CDC)
monitors disease outbreaks, health topics, and emergency preparedness
department of health and human services
(DHHS)
protecting the health of all Americans nd providing essential human
services, especially for those who are least able to help themselves
oversees health care programs and the health and human concerns of
the nation.
have authority to regulate health care providers
scope of practice
the acceptable boundaries of practice of the healthcare professional.
based on the education and experience of the person, their role, and
the temperament of the client population within the practice environment