Law may be defined as “the principles and

regulations established in a community by

some authority and applicable to its people
whether in the form of legislation or of
custom and policies recognized by judicial
decision
CRIMINAL LAW
CIVIL LAW
A tort is a civil wrong or injury for which
the court provides a remedy in the form of
money damages (black ,1999)
Intentional torts
Unintentional torts
Nursing standards of care are the legal
guidelines for minimally safe and adequate
nursing practice
Written policies and procedures of an
employing institution defines the standards
of care for nurses at that institution
ASSAULT
BATTERY
FALSEIMPRISONMENT
FRAUD
Assault is any intentional threat to bring
about harmful or offensive contact with
another individual, no actual contact is
necessary
Eg. threatening a patient to give an
injection

Restrain
a patient for an x-ray procedure
when the patient has refused consent
Battery is an intentional touching without
consent ,the contact is harmful to the
patient and causes an injury , or it is
merely offensive to the patient dignity

Eg. Giving an injection without patient

consent
A patient gives consent for left knee repair
but the surgeon performs right knee
surgery
Making a person stay in pace against is
wishes is false imprisonment
Eg. Restraining or confining a patient to a
locked room without proper consent could
constitute false imprisonment
Fraudis a willful and purposeful
misrepresentation that could cause or
caused harm to a person or property

Eg. giving incorrect information to obtain a

better positon or job
NEGLIGENCE
MALPRACTICE
Negligence is conduct that falls below the
standard of care
Malpractice is one type of negligence called
professional negligence
Medication errors that result injury to
patient
Burns caused by equipment or spills of hot
liquids
Falls resulting in injury to patients
Errors in sponge ,instrument ,needle, count
in surgery cases
Failure to give adequate report , notify
physician, adequate monitoring the patient
INFORMED CONSENT Informed
consent is a patients agreement to allow
something to happen, such as surgery based
on a full disclosure of risks, benefits
alternatives and consequences of refusal
(Black, 1999)

DOCUMENTATION
EXECUTING PHYSICIANS ORDER
GOOD SAMARITAN LAW
PATIENT EDUCATION
PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION
Informed consent is a patients agreement to
allow something to happen, such as surgery
based on a full disclosure of risks, benefits
alternatives and consequences of refusal
(Black, 1999)
CONFIDENTIALITY
ADVANCE DIRECTIVE
advance directives are legal documents stating
the wishes of individuals regarding health care in
institutions in which they are no longer capable of
giving personal informed consent
types; living wills
durable power of attorny

AUTOPSIES
ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION
In India 5,00,000 people die because of
non availability of organs per year and
1,50,000 people await a kidney transplant
but only 5,000 get one 10 lakh people suffer
from corneal blindness and await transplant
(Times of india)
Types;
live donation
cedaveric donation
The transplantation of human organs
act, 1994
an act to provide for the regulation of
removal, storage and transplantation of
human organs for therapeutic purposes and
for the prevention of commercial dealings in
human organs and for matter connected
with it.
transplantation of human organs bill
2013
Medicaltermination of pregnancy act -1971
The prenatal diagnostic techniques act and
rules
Narcoticsdrugs and psychotropic
substances act 1985
Mental health act ,1987
Consumer protection act
Prohibition of sexual harassment of women
at workplace bill,2010
Biomedical waste (management and
handling) rules,1998
The word ethics derived from the Greek
term ethos, which means ‘customs`

Ethics can be defined as a branch of

philosophy that involves systematizing ,
defending and recommending concepts of
right and wrong conduct, often addressing
deputes of moral diversity(wikipedia)
1. Autonomy
2. Beneficence
3. Nonmaleficence
4. Fidelity
5. Justice
6. veracity
Itinvolves the right of self-determination or
choice, independence and freedom

Eg;the purposes of the preoperative

consent is to assure in writing that the
health care team respects the patients
independence by obtaining permission to
proceed
This principle promotes taking positive,
active steps to help others

Eg; a child immunisation causes discomfort

during administration but the benefits of
protection from disease both individual and
for society,outweigh the temporary
discomforts
Itrefers to the fundamental agreement to
do no harm

Eg;An example of a non-maleficent action would be

stopping a medication known to be harmful or
refusing to give a medication to a patient if it has
not been proven to be effective. However, ethical
dilemmas often occur.
It refers to the agreement to keep promises
, commitments ,responsibilities that one
has made oneself and others

Eg; if you assess a patient for pain and then

offer a plan to manage it, this principle
encourages you to do your best to keep the
promise to improve the patients comfort
Telling the truth or intentionally decieving or
misleading patient
Eg; should you tell the truth when you
know that it might cause harm to the
client?

familiesgo to great lengthens to protect a

dying patient from the harsh truth of his
prognosis ,and the patient himself may not
wish to know
It refers principle of fairness
It implies equal treatment of all clients

Eg ;a national multidisciplinary committee

strives for fairness by ranking recipients
according to need, rather than resorting to
selling organs .
Code of ethics is defined as `a specific set
of professional behaviours and values the
professional interpreter must know and
abide by including confidentiality, accuracy,
privacy, integrity.
An
ethical dilemma is a situation in
which a choice must be made between
two equally undesirable actions
1. STAFF SHORTAGE
2. CULTURAL AND RELGIOUS SENSITIVITY
3. DELEGATION
4. TRUTH TELLING VS DECEPTION
Knowledge of staff nurses regarding legal and
ethical responsibilities in the field of psychiatric
nursing
A study to assess knowledge ,attitude and
practice of nurses regarding legal and ethical
concepts of nursing care of children in nicu and
picu of selected hospitals in chennai.
Nurses responses to ethical dilemmas in nursing
practice ;meta analysis