N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 1 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
Describe an example of how you as a professional nurse have used ethical theories or ethical principles in a clinical practice setting.
OR
In your clinical setting, consider the many times and various ways in which you acted as a patient or family advocate. Which model did you follow in advocating for the patient: rights protection model, values-based model, or respect for persons model? Would having used a different model have changed the outcome? Were there also instances when you chose not to be an advocate for a particular patient? What circumstances or events prevented you from serving in this role?
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 2 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
Do you agree that individual states should be able to place reasonable restrictions or waiting periods for abortions? Who should determine what is reasonable?
OR
Examine this statement: “The inherent risk is that society’s faith in doctors as healers would become subverted if doctors participate in physician-assisted suicide.”
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 3 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
Provide an illustrative example of a negligence suit that meets all of the required elements (using a hypothetical situation)
OR
Which classifications of law are more commonly applied to professional nursing? From a current media source (e.g. Internet, newspaper article) describe a health-care related incident that depicts one of the classifications of law.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 4 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
How can a staff member ensure confidentiality in clinical settings? What strategies might be implemented by the nurse manager or nurse educator to promote confidentiality? What safeguards can be used to ensure confidentiality when sending medical information by fax or by e-mail?
OR
Debate both the pros and cons of having individual professional liability insurance.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 5 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
Are there areas in which advanced nursing practice is making more of an impact than others? Do these correspond with the primary purposes of advanced nursing practice?
OR
What are the most common potential legal liabilities for nurse administration and nurse managers in health care settings? How can these areas of potential liability be minimized or avoided?
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 6 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
What type of role should nurses have securing informed consent? In assisting with research studies? In assisting with genetic testing?
OR
When a nurse reports abuse, should the accused be able to know the identity of his or her accuser? Should a nurse be sanctioned for reporting abuse if it proves to be false?
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 7 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
Debate why nurse should and should not donate their services.
OR
What advice should be given to nurses seeking employment as occupational health nurses or school nurses about their potential legal liability?
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 8 Discussion
Please respond to ONE of the following prompts.
What questions on employment questionnaires or during employment interviews is the nurse allowed not to answer and should never have been asked?
OR
How does the doctrine of indemnification further the concept that individuals are ultimately responsible for their own actions?
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 1 Assignment
Complete both case studies:
1. Apply Guido's MORAL model to resolve the dilemma presented in the case study described in EXERCISE 4–3 (Guido textbook). How might the nurses in this scenario respond to the physician's request? How would this scenario begin to cause moral distress among the nursing staff, and what are the positive actions that the nurses might begin to take to prevent moral distress?
2. Read the case study entitled You be the Ethicist, presented at the end of Chapter 3 (Guido textbook). What are the compelling rights that this case addresses? Whose rights should take precedence? Does a child (specifically this competent 14-year-old) have the right to determine what will happen to him? Should he ethically have this right? How would you have decided the outcome if his disease state had not intervened? Now, examine the scenario from the perspective of health care policy. How would you begin to evaluate the need for the policy and the possible support or lack of support for the policy from your peers, nursing management, and others who might be affected by the policy? Do the 10 framework questions outlined by Malone in chapter 4 (Guido textbook) assist in this process? Create a process proposal for the organization with possible guidelines, procedures, and policies to address the issues you have identified.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 2 Assignment
Professional Development Exercises :
Describe why there is such a struggle when addressing end-of-life issues
What are the differences between allowing a patient to die and physician-assisted suicide?
Discuss the controversy that can occur when considering a patient's right to know whether a caregiver has AIDS and the caregiver's right to privacy and confidentiality.
Describe the distinctions among wrongful birth, wrongful life, and wrongful conception. Discuss the moral dilemmas of these concepts
Discuss the arguments for and against partial birth abortions
Discuss why there is controversy over genetic markers and stem cell research
Please combine all of these responses into a single Microsoft Word document for submission
Please submit only complete assignments (not partial or "draft" assignments).
Submit only the assignments corresponding to the module in this section.
You are not required to adhere to the 500-1000 word count for each of the responses, but please be thorough in your responses so that you adequately address all aspects of each question.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 3 Assignment
Professional Development Exercises :
Describe the kinds of evidence that a plaintiff can present in order to establish a negligent act. What defenses can a defendant present in order to refute a plaintiff's evidence?
How do statutes of limitations protect professional nurse-defendants? Do they also protect the injured parties?
What can staff nurses do to protect patients from quasi-intentional torts? Does this differ from the nurse manager's role in preventing quasi-intentional torts?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 5 (Guido, p. 67).
Does the failure to document an admission nursing assessment equate with the fact that this nurse did no admission nursing assessment?
What might the patient's attorney further allege in his supplemental report?
How would one decide the standard of care for this patient?
How would you decide the outcome of this case?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 6 (Guido, p. 96)
Was there negligence in this case and who should be liable for the negligence?
What type of damages should be assessed and how would you begin to determine the amount to assess?
Given that there were multiple individuals involved in this case as well as the institution that employed these individuals, how would you determine the percentage of liability for the multiple defendants, assuming that more than one defendant should be assessed with damages?
How would you decide this case?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 7(Guido, p. 115)
Were there damages that should be paid to this patient for negligence?
Who should be the individuals responsible for these damages? For example, is the surgeon the individual most liable for the damages owed to the patient?
Should the Bovie manufacturer also have been included in the lawsuit?
Are there any defenses that the defendants could cite that would mitigate their liability to this patient?
How should the court decide the damage awards in this instance?
Please combine all of these responses into a single Microsoft Word document for submission
Please submit only complete assignments (not partial or "draft" assignments).
Submit only the assignments corresponding to the module in this section.
You are not required to adhere to the 500-1000 word count for each of the responses, but please be thorough in your responses so that you adequately address all aspects of each question.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 4 Assignment
Professional Development Exercises :
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 9 (Guido, p. 185-186).
Did the lack of documentation in the admitting nurse's assessment and notes affect the ultimate outcome of this case?
Was there negligence on the part of the nursing staff in the care of this patient?
What could the nurse have done differently to facilitate a different outcome in this case?
How would you decide this case?
Using the sample professional liability insurance policy (Guido, p. 193-194), locate the various provisions:
Limits of liability
Declarations
Deductibles
Exclusions
Reservation of rights
Covered injuries
Defense costs
Coverage conditions and supplementary payments
Did you have difficulty finding some of the sections? Would this be a policy that you would consider purchasing for your own liability coverage? Why or why not?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 10 (Guido, p. 198)
What provisions of an insurance policy would you consult to determine if an insurance company should pay such a claim, and what would the limits of the liability be?
Is the nursing home insurance company correct in saying that this is a professional judgment issue?
Which insurance company (the nursing home's or that of the administrator of the nursing home, assuming she has coverage) should pay the court-ordered judgment?
How would you decide the case?
Please combine all of these responses into a single Microsoft Word document for submission
Please submit only complete assignments (not partial or "draft" assignments). Submit only the assignments corresponding to the module in this section.
You are not required to adhere to the 500-1000 word count for each of the responses, but please be thorough in your responses so that you adequately address all aspects of each question.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 5 Assignment
Professional Development Exercises :
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 11 (Guido, p. 222)
Did the facility have sufficient evidence to suspend the nurse?
How should the testimony of the other nurses in the unit affect the outcome of this case?
What additional questions should the institution address before the court rules in this case?
How would you have ruled in this case?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 12 (Guido, p. 238)
Did the ANP have a duty to consult with the child's physician or another emergency center physician regarding the possibility of child abuse before she reported her findings to the case worker?
What questions would you anticipate might be asked regarding the injury itself and the possibility that the child had caused her own injury?
Did the ANP have a duty to report the injury, even though the diagnosis was not absolutely conclusive at the point that the child was initially examined?
How would you determine liability in this case, assuming that the trial court found liability against any of the three defendants?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 16 (Guido, p. 329)
Did the nurse manager have a responsibility to supervise the care of the patient?
Was the care of this patient appropriately assigned to the LPN by the charge nurse, or could the charge nurse have delegated this patient's care more appropriately?
If the charge nurse assigned the care of the patient to the LPN, did she retain any supervisory responsibility that would result in her liability in this case?
How do the principles associated with delegation and supervision figure into this case?
How would you decide this case?
Please combine all of these responses into a single Microsoft Word document for submission
Please submit only complete assignments (not partial or "draft" assignments). Submit only the assignments corresponding to the module in this section.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 6 Assignment
Professional Development Exercises :
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 8 (Guido, p. 150)
Is the patient correct in asserting that he has a right to know the names and status of individuals who will be performing this procedure?
Does the manner in which the student introduced herself and the two other team members have relevance in this case?
Was the informed consent deficient to the degree that there was a lack of informed consent by the patient?
How would you decide this case?
A patient is admitted to your surgical center for a breast biopsy under local anesthesia. The surgeon has previously informed the patient of the procedure, risks, alternatives, desired outcomes, and possible complications. You give the surgery permit form to the patient for her signature. She readily states that she knows about the procedure and has no additional questions; she signs the form with no hesitation. Her husband, who is visiting with her, says he is worried that something may be said during the procedure to alarm his wife. What do you do at this point? Do you alert the surgeon that informed consent has not been obtained? Do you request that the surgeon revisit the patient and reinstruct her about the surgery? Since the patient has already signed the form, is there anything more you should do?
Now consider the ethical issues that such a scenario raises. Which ethical principles is the husband in this example most portraying? Which ethical principles should guide the nurse in working with this patient and family member?
Jimmy Chang, a 20- year- old college student, is admitted to your institution for additional chemotherapy. Jimmy was diagnosed with leukemia 5 years earlier and has had several courses of chemotherapy. He is currently in an acute active phase of the disease, though he had enjoyed a 14- month remission phase prior to this admission. His parents, who accompany him to the hospital, are divided as to the benefits of additional chemotherapy. His mother is adamant that she will sign the informed consent form for this course of therapy, and his father is equally adamant that he will refuse to sign the informed consent form because "Jimmy has suffered enough."
You are his primary nurse and must assist in somehow resolving this impasse. What do you do about the informed consent form? Who signs and why? Using the MORAL model, decide the best course of action for Jimmy from an ethical perspective rather than a legal perspective. Did you come to the same conclusion using both an ethical and a legal approach?
Please combine all of these responses into a single Microsoft Word document for submission
Please submit only complete assignments (not partial or "draft" assignments). Submit only the assignments corresponding to the module in this section.
You are not required to adhere to the 500-1000 word count for each of the responses, but please be thorough in your responses so that you adequately address all aspects of each question.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 7 Assignment
Professional Development Exercises :
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 17 (Guido, p. 362)
Was the nurse negligent for unlocking the bath-room door and allowing Judy to shower by herself?
Was it below the standard of care for the nurse to leave the bathroom door unlocked when the psychiatrist came to see Judy?
How significant are the hospital policy and procedures in this instance?
How would you decide this case?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 18 (Guido, p. 393)
Was the nurse negligent in the advice she gave Mr. Gonzales concerning his condition?
Did the nurse exceed her scope of practice in the advice she gave the patient?
Should the nurse have instructed Mr. Gonzales to go immediately to the local emergency center?
How would you decide this case? Who, if anyone, is liable in this case?
Read the case study presented at the end of Chapter 20 (Guido, p. 439)
What should the standards of care be for such a patient?
Even though the nursing care plan did not specify that the wound should be checked hourly, how should the prudent nurse have acted?
Should the lawsuit center primarily on the surgeon for allowing this patient to be sent back to the nursing home for post- operative care rather than insisting he be kept for 24 hours in an acute care facility post-operatively?
How would you decide this case?
Please combine all of these responses into a single Microsoft Word document for submission
Please submit only complete assignments (not partial or "draft" assignments). Submit only the assignments corresponding to the module in this section.
You are not required to adhere to the 500-1000 word count for each of the responses, but please be thorough in your responses so that you adequately address all aspects of each question.
N520 Legal and Ethical Issues in Health Care
Module 8 Assignment
Signature Assignment: Legal and Ethical Considerations in Nursing
Presentation:
Among various stakeholders, the registered nurse must incorporate legal and ethical theories and principles into practice. There is a need to evaluate the legal and ethical considerations that exist in healthcare today, to assess nursing’s role in health initiatives, and to find ways that we can help improve health and health outcomes. This presentation will help nurses recognize and respond to dilemmas within diverse health care settings and nursing roles. This presentation will provide an overview of regulatory action and the legislative and judicial processes, enabling nurses to become familiar with changes affecting the health care system such as patient rights, technological advances, and managed care.
This presentation will examine the role of the nurse as a health professional, advocate, and leader:
Select five legal or ethical concepts that you feel influence nursing practice.
Explain the selected concepts regarding both the impact on agency viability and quality patient care.
Review the selected concepts and strategically analyze for priorities, challenges, and issues from a legal and ethical perspective.
Identify instances of actions taken by an agency or provider that would or could violate the ethical duties and responsibilities of the health care providers or the rights of patients.
Develop a policy proposal, measures, and recommendations for prevention of legal and ethical violations.
Detail how nursing could intervene or advocate to incorporate legal and ethical theories and principles more effectively into practice.
This PowerPoint® (Microsoft Office) or Impress® (Open Office) presentation should be a minimum of 20 slides, including a title, introduction, conclusion and reference slide, with detailed speaker notes and recorded audio comments for all content slides. Use at least four scholarly sources and make certain to review the module’s Signature Assignment Rubric before starting your presentation. This presentation is worth 400 points for quality content and presentation.
Total Point Value of Signature Assignment: 400 points
