A Practical Guide to Legal Issues: Skills for Nurse Managers

Softbound book + bonus nursing contact hours
Size: 11" x 8.5"
ISBN 1578396204
HCPro / Opus
June 2005
Includes 3 Nursing Contact Hours!
(click button below for the very best currently available price for this important resource)

This book delivers an easy-to-understand breakdown of the most important legal issues that affect nursing professionals. Don't be overwhelmed or intimidated by the law!

All nurses must be equipped to handle legal issues. Nurse managers and educators, it's your responsibility to teach others how to apply knowledge of the law in everyday clinical situations. That means you yourself must have a thorough understanding of legal issues like:

Malpractice and negligence
The legal significance of policies, procedures, and documentation
Dealing with problem employees
Universal nursing liability risks
and similar everyday legal issues

Prevent legal problems before they happen on your watch. As the number of malpractice lawsuits increase, nurses are commonly cited or implicated in cases. That's why it's critically important to know how the law applies to nursing. Only then will you be able to protect yourself, your staff, and your facility from legal risk.

In simple terms, this book helps you learn only what you need to know about the law. You didn't become a nurse because you enjoy studying law. This guidebook translates confusing legal jargon into plain English. It offers practical information and guidance:

Actual cases to which you can relate
Practical tips to decrease liability
Effective strategies to protect yourself and your license
Plain-English explanations of the law
All-encompassing advice on how to deal with pertinent legal issues
Step-by-step instruction on the employment process

Sample topics include:

Learning the language of the law, answering questions such as: What is legal precedent? What is jurisdiction?
The law that governs nursing, such as, the differences between negligence and malpractice.
Practical applications of the law, including areas such as:
- Case law
- Standards of care
- Restraints and seclusion
- Use of fetal heart monitors
- Addressing staffing shortages legally
- Mandatory overtime policies
- Professional liability insurance
Avoiding illegal discrimination
Liability and the hiring process
The legal significance of policies and procedures
Consistent and fair disciplinary actions
Universal nursing liability risks
Practice-specific liability issues, such as those specific to the emergency room, psychiatric and mental health, obstetrics, and more
The liability risks of the nursing shortage
Protecting yourself and your license

You also get documents, forms, and other tools you can implement immediately. You will be prepared to:

Define nursing malpractice
Discuss the legal definition of the standard of care
Distinguish between nursing malpractice and negligence
List the legal requirements of Title VII
Explain how Title VII is applied by the courts
Describe the legal components of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Analyze how the Americans with Disabilities Act is applied in court
Describe the four major steps in the hiring process
Evaluate a job applicant's qualifications within the boundaries of the law
Explain the legal significance of hospital policies and procedures
Discuss how hospital policies and procedures are applied in court
Explain the four steps of progressive discipline
List the legally defensible steps that can be taken to terminate an employee
Implement the termination process in a confidential and respectful manner
Discuss the role of adequate communication in safe patient care
Describe the legal responsibility involved in protecting patients from unsafe persons
Identify the liability issues facing emergency room nurses
Discuss liability issues in the care of psychiatric and mental health patients
Describe the high degree of liability in caring for obstetrical patients
Identify the liability risks associated with the nursing shortage
Explain how courts determine that inadequate staffing exists
Define patient abandonment in the context of the nursing shortage
Discuss the reasons to purchase personal liability insurance
Recognize the role of administrative law in regulating professional licenses
Recognize the role of administrative law in regulating professional licenses

Three nursing contact hours are provided by HCPro, as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

Dinah Brothers, RN, JD, is a staff attorney for the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners in Austin. In this position, Ms. Brothers litigates cases against physicians for failure to practice medicine within the appropriate standard of care, for sexually inappropriate behavior with patients, and for intemperate drug and alcohol use. Prior to becoming an attorney, she worked as a nurse for ten years. Her nursing experience includes psychiatric and mental health nursing, nursing management, and nursing education. She was instrumental in opening a new psychiatric facility in west Texas and in securing the hospital's initial accreditation by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

With more than 17 years of experience, HCPro, Inc. is a leading provider of integrated information, education, training, and consulting products and services in the vital areas of healthcare regulation and compliance. The company's mission is to meet the specialized informational, advisory, and educational needs of the healthcare industry. As an acknowledged industry authority in healthcare regulation and compliance, HCPro focuses on providing its expertise in the areas of accreditation, medical staff affairs, credentialing, privileging, medical record management, regulatory compliance, nursing, quality/patient safety, infection control, and workplace safety.

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