Essentials of nursing law and ethics / Susan J. Westrick and Katherine Dempski

CONTENT
The legal environment
Regulation of nursing practice
Nurses in legal actions
Standards of care
Defenses to negligence or malpractice
Prevention of malpractice
Nurses as witnesses
Professional liability insurance
Refusing an assignment/patient abandonment
Delegation to unlicensed assistive personnel
Patients' rights and responsibilities
Confidential communication
Competency and guardianship
Informed consent
Refusal of treatment
Pain control
Patient teaching and health counseling
Medication administration
Clients with AIDS and HIV testing
Abusive situations
Reproductive services
Restraints
Emergency psychiatric admissions
Organ and tissue donation and transplantation
Discharge against medical advice
The medical record
Electronic health information and communication
Interdependent nursing functions: verbal orders and telenursing
Event reporting
Forensic issues
Employer and employee rights
Contracts
Corporate liability
Employment contracts and unionization
Employment status liability
Staffing issues and floating
Americans with disabilities act
Employees with AIDS/HIV infection and exposure to bloodborne pathogens
Impaired nurses
Sexual harassment in the workplace
Violence in the workplace
Intentional torts
Ethical decision making
Reporting illegal, unethical, or unsafe conduct
Maternal versus fetal rights
Futility of care
Advance directives and end-of-life decisions
Assisted suicide