The Importance of Acting Lawfully as a Nurse
Essay Question:“ The Importance of acting lawfully when working as a nurse.”
By Rainah Herring
Student number: 17038485
When working within the nursing profession, it is of great importance for a nurse to act lawfully within their roles and responsibilities. It is imperative for nurses to comprehend legal aspects such as negligence, duty of care, documentation and confidentiality. As such acting lawfully will protect and reduce the risk of becoming deregistered and provide a high standard of care for the patients.
I choose to study nursing for various reasons. My family suggested becoming a nurse because of the opportunities that nurses have in a career sense and that I would never be without a job. Working as an endorsed enrolled nurse I became to realise that there are so many wonderful aspects towards nursing such as its rewarding, satisfaction and challenging.
Acting lawfully as a nurse within their roles and responsibilities will reduce the risk of negligence. Negligence is the failure to present the level of care considered reasonable under the incident, consequential in an unintentional injury to an alternative party. Patients and associates have the right to seek out civil remedy for a lawfully recognised wrong. The tort of negligence arises from the common law and is a means by which a person who suffers damage through a negligent act or omission be capable of obtaining compensation from the nurse accountable for that wrong. As a result, when working within the nursing profession it is important for nurses to work within the scope of civil law. The scope of civil law relates to “patient safety; negligent advice; patient consent; patient freedom of movement; and patients’ property.”- (Daly, Speedy, Jackson, 2010, page 158). It is important for nurses to take this into account within their roles and responsibilities and act lawfully as nursing care frequently requires the nurse to be engaged in close physical contact with patients.
By Rainah Herring
Student number: 17038485
When working within the nursing profession, it is of great importance for a nurse to act lawfully within their roles and responsibilities. It is imperative for nurses to comprehend legal aspects such as negligence, duty of care, documentation and confidentiality. As such acting lawfully will protect and reduce the risk of becoming deregistered and provide a high standard of care for the patients.
I choose to study nursing for various reasons. My family suggested becoming a nurse because of the opportunities that nurses have in a career sense and that I would never be without a job. Working as an endorsed enrolled nurse I became to realise that there are so many wonderful aspects towards nursing such as its rewarding, satisfaction and challenging.
Acting lawfully as a nurse within their roles and responsibilities will reduce the risk of negligence. Negligence is the failure to present the level of care considered reasonable under the incident, consequential in an unintentional injury to an alternative party. Patients and associates have the right to seek out civil remedy for a lawfully recognised wrong. The tort of negligence arises from the common law and is a means by which a person who suffers damage through a negligent act or omission be capable of obtaining compensation from the nurse accountable for that wrong. As a result, when working within the nursing profession it is important for nurses to work within the scope of civil law. The scope of civil law relates to “patient safety; negligent advice; patient consent; patient freedom of movement; and patients’ property.”- (Daly, Speedy, Jackson, 2010, page 158). It is important for nurses to take this into account within their roles and responsibilities and act lawfully as nursing care frequently requires the nurse to be engaged in close physical contact with patients.
References: * Chiarella M & Staunton P, 2010, “Nursing & the law”, Elsevier, Sydney Australia. Pages 40-43. * Chiarella M & Staunton P, 2003, “Nursing & the law”, Elsevier, Sydney Australia. Pages 171,177,181. * Daly J, Speedy S, Jackson D, 2010,“Contexts of nursing”, Elsevier, Sydney Australia. Pages 156-160. * Nursing and Midwifery Council, “Advice sheet: Confidentiality”,http://www.nmcuk.org/aArticle.aspx?ArticleID=3614 ,March 2009. * Civil liability Act 2002, 25th September 2009 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cla2002161/ * Nikki K. Campos JD, 2010, (journal article). “The legalities of nursing documentation”. http://www.nursingcenter.com/library/JournalArticle.asp?Article_ID=959265&reglog=login