Accountability and Responsibility

ACCOUNTABILITY
Being answerable for one’s nursing practice or actions.
client employer profession

RESPONSIBILITY
Obligation to perform
duties tasks roles

LAW
Rule of conduct prescribed by the supreme power in a state commanding what is
right and prohibiting what is wrong.

TYPES OF LAW ACCORDING TO SOURCE OF AUTHORIT

1. DIVINE LAW
2. HUMAN LAW

TYPES OF HUMAN LAW

1. PRIVATE OR CIVIL LAW
Deals with relationship among private individuals.

2. PUBLIC LAW Deals with relationship

between individuals and the government.
e.g. Criminal law Administrative law

3. INTERNATIONAL LAW
Regulates the intercourse of nations.

SOURCES OF LAW
Constitutional Law
Supreme law of the land.
Legislation (Statutory) Law
Laws enacted by any legislative body
Common Law
Laws evolving from court decisions.

LEGAL PROTECTION IN NURSING PRACTICE

Good Samaritan Acts
-A nurse who renders first aid or treatment at the scene of an emergency , acting in
good faith, is relieved of the consequences of the act.

LEGAL CONCEPTS & ISSUES IN NURSING

Liability
-An obligation or debt enforced by law.
e.g. Malpractice
Damages
Compensation in money.
Negligence
-Failure to do something which a reasonable and prudent person should have done.

Types of Negligence
Commission
Wrong doing
Omission
Total neglect of care – didn’t do anything.

Examples of Negligence
Burns.
-Objects left in the patient’s body. Falls of elderly, children. Failure to observe & take
appropriate action as needed.

Examples of Negligence
-Failure to report observations to attending physicians.
Mistaken identity. Wrong medicine, wrong
concentration, wrong route, wrong dose.

Res ipsa loquitor “the thing speaks for itself”

Negligence from the very nature of an accident or injury.
Respondeat superior “let the master answer”
Doctrine that a party is responsible for acts of their agents.
Force majeure “superior force”
Frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event beyond
their control, prevents them from fulfilling their obligations under contract.

MALPRACTICE
Acts or conduct not licensed to perform resulting to injuries.

Examples of Malpractice
Misdiagnosis of an illness. Birth injuries.
Surgical complications. Prescription errors.
Failure to provide treatment.

INCOMPETENCE
Lack of ability, legal qualifications or fitness to discharge the required duty .

Five Rights of DELEGATION

Right task.
Right circumstances. Right person.
Right direction/communication. Right supervision.

■ A means of communication

– To provide legal documentation

– To obtain third party payments (health insurance)

■ “If information was not charted, it was not done or observed”

■ CHARTING DONE BY STUDENT NURSES

When a nurse or clinical instructor counter signs the charting of the nursing student,
he/she has personal knowledge of information and that such is accurate and
authentic.
It is an administrative report required of nurses if there are violations of standards
and policies whether or not injury occurs.

CONSENT “free and rational act that

presupposes knowledge of the thing – given by a person who is legally capable to
give consent
INFORMED CONSENT “the person understands the nature of the procedure”
 Who must consent? Patient of legal age
Parents give consent of minors Mentally & physically competent üParental consent is
not needed if the patient is married or emancipated

 Refusal to consent üPatient who is mentally and legally competent

TORT Law
A ‘private or civil wrong or injury”
A Tort can be:
a. Denial of person’s legal rights. b. Failure to comply with public
duty.
c. Failure to perform private duty that harms another person.

Unintentional Tort
Malpractice. Neglect.
Intentional Tort
Assault. Battery.
Defamation of character

Tort Charges
Assault. Battery.
False imprisonment. Invasion of privacy. Defamation. (Slander or Libel ) Fraud.
False Imprisonment
Unjustifiable detention of a person without a legal warrant.

Use of Restraints
• Behavior is out of control • To prevent patient and
others from injury
• Risk to the physical safety of patient and others

Use of Restraints
In emergency situations
Requires a physician’s order

Types of Restraints
1. Mechanical
2. Physical
3. Chemical

■RIGHT to PRIVACY Right to be left alone

■Right to be free from unwarranted publicity