I. NURSING LAW AND JURISPRUDENCE
Must recognize its obligations to society by
LAW
• System of rules and guidelines that are created
and enforced through social or governmental
institutions to regulate conduct.
• “An Ordinance of reason for the common good,
made by him who has care of the community and
promulgated.” St. Thomas Aquinas
JURISPRUDENCE
• Science or philosophy of law.
• The application of law to a particular set of facts by
the Supreme Court.
NURSING JURISPRUDENCE
• Department of law which comprises all the legal
rules and principles affecting the practice of
nursing.
• Includes the study and interpretation of rules and
principles and their application in the regulation of
the practice of nursing.
FUNCTION OF LAW OF NURSING
1. Provides a FRAMEWORK for establishing what
nursing actions in the care of patients are legal;
2. Delineates the nurse’s RESPONSIBILITIES
from those of other professionals;
3. Helps to ESTABLISH the boundaries of
independent nursing actions;
4. Assists in maintaining a STANDARD OF
NURSING PRACTICE by making nurses
accountable to the law.
II. NURSING AS A PROFESSION
• Profession – “an occupation or calling requiring
advanced training and experience in some specific
or specialized body of knowledge which provides
service to society in that special field.”
CRITERIA OF A PROFESSION
1. Satisfy an indispensable social need and must
be based upon well established and socially
accepted scientific principles;
2. Demand adequate pre-professional and cultural
training;
3. Demand possession of a body of specialized
and systematized training;
4. Give credence of needed skills which the public
does not possess; that is, skills which are partly
inherent and partly acquired;
5. Scientific technique which is the result of tested
experience;
6. Require the exercise of discretion and judgment
as to time and manner of the performance of
duty;
7. Has group consciousness designed to extend
scientific knowledge in technical language;
8. Has sufficient self-impelling power to retain the
members throughout life. Must not be used as a
stepping stone to other occupations;
9.
insisting that its members live up to an
established code of ethics.
PROFESSIONAL NURSE
• A PROFESSIONAL NURSE is one who has
completed a basic nursing education program and
is licensed in his country to practice professional
nursing
SCOPE OF NURSING PRACTICE
• Defined by Republic Act (RA) 9173 (Philippine
Nursing Act of 2002), Art. VI, Sec. 28.
Art. VI – NURSING PRACTICE
 Sec. 28. Scope of Nursing. A person shall be
deemed to be practicing nursing within the
meaning of this Act when he/she singly or in
collaboration with another, initiates and performs
nursing services to individuals, families and
communities in any health care setting. It
includes, but is not limited to, nursing care
during conception, labor, delivery, infancy,
childhood, toddler, pre-school, school age,
adolescence, adulthood, and old age. As
independent practitioners, nurses are primarily
responsible for the promotion of health and
prevention of illness. As members of the health
team, nurses shall collaborate with other health
care providers for the curative, preventive, and
rehabilitative aspects of care, restoration of
health, alleviation of suffering, and when
recovery is not possible, assistance towards a
peaceful death. It shall be the duty of the nurse
to:
(a) Provide nursing care through the utilization of the
nursing process. Nursing care includes, but is not
limited to, traditional and innovative approaches,
therapeutic use of self, executing health care
techniques and procedures, essential primary
health care, comfort measures, health teachings,
and administration of written prescription for
treatment,
Therapies, oral, topical and parenteral medications,
internal examination during labor in the absence of
antenatal bleeding and delivery. In case of
suturing of perineal laceration, special training
shall be provided according to protocol
established;
(b) Establish linkages with community resources and
coordination with the health team;
(c) Provide health education to individuals, families and
communities;
(d) Teach, guide and supervise students in nursing
education programs including the administration of
nursing services in varied settings such as
hospitals and clinics; undertake consultation
 services; engage in such activities that require the
utilization of knowledge and decision-making skills
of a registered nurse;
(e) Undertake nursing and health human resource
development training and research, which shall
include, but not limited to, the development of
advanced nursing practice;
Provided,
That this section shall not apply to nursing students who
perform nursing functions under the direct
supervision of a qualified faculty: Provided further,
that in the practice of nursing in all settings, the
nurse is duty-bound to observe the Code of Ethics
for Nurses and uphold the Standards of Safe
Nursing Practice. The nurse is required to
maintain competence
By continual learning through continuing professional
education to be provided by the accredited
professional organization or any recognized
professional nursing organization: Provided,
finally, That the program and activity for the
continuing professional education shall be
submitted to and approved by the Board.
QUALIFICATIONS AND ABILITIES OF A
PROFESSIONAL NURSE
A. Professional Preparation
1. Has license to practice nursing
2. With a BSN degree; and
3. Physically and mentally fit.
B. Personal Qualities and Professional
Proficiencies
1. Interest and willingness to work and learn with
individuals/groups in a variety of settings;
2. Warm personality and concern for people;
3. Resourcefulness and creativity as well as a well-
balanced emotional condition;
4. Capacity and ability to work cooperatively with
others;
5. Initiative to improve self and service;
6. Competence in performing work through the use
of nursing process;
7. Skill in decision-making, communicating, and
relating with others and being research oriented;
and
8. Active participation in issues confronting nurses
and nursing.
BSN CURRICULUM
• Competencies of a BSN graduate.
1. Utilize nursing process in the care of individuals,
families and community by
1.1. assessing the client’s healthcare status
1.2. planning with client and/or significant
others the nursing action based on
identified needs and problems
1.3. implementing appropriate nursing
interventions (wholly compensatory,
partially compensatory, supportive,
educative)
1.4. modifying interventions, and
1.5. evaluating the results of nursing
interventions accordingly based on criteria
established
2. Communicate effectively at all levels of
healthcare in various settings by
2.1. applying “therapeutic use of self”
2.2. documenting and reporting observations,
responses to nursing actions, and
2.3. relating with clients, families, communities, and
groups and members of the health team;
3. Utilize the elements of management in any
healthcare setting by
3.1. utilizing management process in the delivery of
health care,
3.2. participating in the formulation and
implementation of policies, and
3.3. working independently and/or in collaboration
with others on matters promoting a better quality
of life;
4. Utilize research findings in the care of clients; and
5. Assume responsibility for personal and professional
growth and development by
5.1. promoting professional and personal
growth;
5.2. accepting accountability for professional
action, and
5.3. participating in the solution of health/social
problems.
BSN program goals
 To produce graduates who exhibit the following
behaviors:
1. caring behavior (compassionate, competent,
and committed);
2. ability to practice legal, ethico-moral, social
responsibilities/accountabilities;
3. critical and creative thinking; and
4. skill in practicing KSA and values for the
promotion of health, prevention of illness,
restoration of health, alleviation of suffering;
assisting clients to face death with dignity and in
peace.