Boundaries Legislation and Malpractice in Nursing Learning Outcomes
1. Evaluate legislative standards.
2. Compare and contrast legislative standards applicable to professional nursing.
3. Analyze malpractice in professional nursing care.
4. Discuss the use of technology in clinical decision-making.
5. Demonstrate an understanding of professional nursing boundaries.
Introduction
Nursing practice has a set of guidelines that inform professional nurses. It is imperative that nurses practice within the scope of these guidelines as defined by the ANA. Failure to abide by the rules, regulations, and professional standards of nursing oftentimes lead to malpractice. This week you will evaluate legislative standards of professional nursing. You will also examine the steps taken by legislatures to determine malpractice. Finally, you will demonstrate an understanding of maintaining professional boundaries with your clinical team and your patients.
Legislative Standards in Professional Nursing.
Nursing is a very dynamic field. In that, the nursing profession is influenced by both nursing standards and legislative policies. As a professional nurse, it is important to note that not only are nurses practicing, but they are also becoming increasingly involved in political and legislative processes. Find a key legislative constituent in your state or region that is an RN/APN. (This is for your own personal knowledge/reference.)
For this discussion you may go the ANA Home page or any source (the source you choose must be valid and reliable [i.e., .gov, .org, etc.]) and find a piece of legislation that impacts nursing practice. As you write your discussion, provide information on the following:
• State whether or not the legislation passed or failed to pass. Provide an overview of why the legislation passed or failed to pass.
o If the legislation passed, what implication(s) might this legislation have for the future of professional nursing practice? (Base your answer on your research and/or reading.)
o If the legislation failed to pass, what are the factors surrounding the failure to pass? How can it be improved, so it can be passed? (Base your answer on your research and/or reading.)
Steps to Malpractice.
Malpractice is defined as a professional conduct that is misaligned with the nursing profession and causes verifiable harm to a patient. Malpractice is decided based on proof of intentional harm to a patient; this means that there are steps taken to decide proof of such injury. It is important to note that technology systems are now used in nursing to assist in clinical decision making and to minimize the risk of malpractice lawsuits.
For this discussion, find (by research or from experience) a case of malpractice.
• Briefly provide an overview of the case and then evaluate whether or not the alleged malpractice was in fact intentional negligence.
• Then, discuss how the precipitating event(s) could have/should have been handled to avoid the lawsuit.
• Include a discussion on how clinical decision support systems (CDSS), such as electronic medical record systems (EMRs), have impacted your practice.
• What is the overall influence of ethical principles, as it relates to malpractice? Provide a summary.
Professional Nursing Boundaries.
Boundaries in nursing relates to when nurses transgress professional nursing standards and ethics while providing care to patients. For example, a nurse accepting financial gifts from a patient as gratuity. Professional boundaries in nursing is a topic of much debate. Nurses must maintain boundaries in order to provide the most effective care to their patients. Although professional boundaries may be clear in some aspects, in others there still are ambiguities; especially when the aspect of ethics is not astutely followed.
Review the case study you read during Week Two in the “Health Promotion, Disease Prevention, and Illness: A Community Perspective” chapter of your textbook regarding the “5-day-old premature baby;” then read the “Words of Wisdom” associated with this case. In this assignment, analyze the ethical principles relating to nursing care, based on these and other readings for this week. Address the following items in your paper:
• Discuss the importance of professional boundaries in your practice.
• Highlight how you will or have utilized professional nursing boundaries in your practice. Give a one-to three-paragraph scenario.
• Highlight the key take-away from “Words of Wisdom.” How would it apply to your practice?
• Include a short paragraph indicating how professional nursing ethics would apply to the problem you identified in Week One (Phase 4 of 5).
• Conclude/summarize of your findings on professional nursing boundaries.
Your paper
• Must be two to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
o Title of paper
o Student’s name
o Course name and number
o Instructor’s name
o Date submitted
• Must use at least three scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style.