WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES

Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija

GRADUATE SCHOOL

In partial fulfillment of the subject NSG. 105 Legal Problems in Nursing

Unit 1

Definition of Terms/Concepts

In

Legal Nursing

Prepared by:

Angelee M. Mandreza
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL
Introduction
The subject: Legal Problems in
Nursing in master’s program scope the
legalities both in nursing education and
practice in a higher degree. To
thoroughly acquired in depth knowledge
one must be familiar to the fundamentals.
Understanding the definition of terms
and concepts will be essential way to
begin with in order to learn more, relearn
(recall) and unlearn (misconception).
Definition of Terms /Concepts
1. Law
In every dictionary or book the
common meaning of a law is a system of
rules that a society or government
develops in order to deal with crime,
business agreements, and social
relationships
The key characteristic of law is
that it is perceived as binding upon the
community. The English word ‘law’ is
derived from the Old Norse lagu
meaning ‘laid down’ or ‘fixed’. The
definition suggests that law is made up
of rules and that all rules have legal
force.
Law and Nursing
Law and professional issues in
nursing may seem an unusual collection
of topics for a course of study that will
largely focus on meeting the needs of
individuals with various health problems.
Why is it necessary for you to study law
and ethics when you want to devote your
time to the study of nursing and caring for
patients?
The reality is that law is now
fundamental to the study of nursing and
underpins your relationship with the
profession and with your patients. The law
informs nursing at every stage and it is
essential that you understand and are
able to critically reflect on the legal issues
relevant to nursing practice. As a
registered nurse you will be legally and
professionally accountable for your
actions, irrespective of whether you
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL

are following the instruction of another or principles of law or justice. It answers the
using your own initiative. You have a question “how” can a law be
responsibility to deliver safe care to their implemented. For a good law have no
clients. Nurses must have professional practical use without a proper
knowledge at their expected level of implementation.
practice and be proficient in technical
skills Nursing Jurisprudence is the
application and interpretation of the
Nurses are at risk patients; families principles of law or legal rules as they
are more educated. Healthcare litigation relate to the: practice of nursing;
is growing and patients are increasingly obligations nurses have to their clients,
prepared to assert their legal rights. and; relationships nurses have with other
nurses and health care professionals. To
2. Nursing Jurisprudence sum it up nursing jurisprudence is
department of law which comprise all
Jurisprudence legal rules and principles affecting the
The English word is derived from practice of nursing
the Latin maxim jurisprudentia. Juris is the
genitive form of jus meaning law, and As the department of law that
prudentia means prudence (also: comprises all the legal rules and principles
discretion, foresight, forethought, affecting the practice of nursing. It
circumspection. It refers to the exercise of includes not only the study but also the
good judgment, common sense, and interpretation of all these rules and
caution, especially in the conduct of principles and their application in the
practical matters. regulation of the practice of nursing. It
deals with:
In summary jurisprudence is the
scientific study or the application of the 1. All laws, rules and regulations.
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL
2.Legal principles and doctrines
governing and regulating the practice of
nursing.
3.Legal opinions and decisions of
competent authority in cases involving
nursing practice.
3. Nursing Legislation
Legislation is the act or process of
making or enacting laws. The noun
legislation refers to the actual law enacted
by a legislative body at the national, state,
or local level.
Nursing legislation is the making
of laws, or the body of laws already
affecting the practice of nursing. A
process of making laws for the protection
and improvement of the nursing practice.
It shapes the way we practice at every
level, sometimes dramatically. That’s why
it’s important for nurses to pay close
attention to proposed laws or new
regulations affecting our profession.
The order in a legislation
established our organization and sets out
our primary purpose of protecting the
public, the structure of the organization
and our functions and activities. The
Order also sets out some binding
principles and oversight arrangements for
us. Such as safe staffing ratios, right
compensation and so on.
4. Nursing Ethics
Ethics is based on well-founded
standards of right and wrong that
prescribe what humans ought to do,
usually in terms of rights, obligations,
benefits to society, fairness, or specific
virtues. Not a religion, not a law and not
what society accepts rather it is what’s
right and wrong. What is good and evil.
Nursing Ethics is the division of
ethics which deals with moral behavior or
nurses in the practice of their profession
Life and death decisions are a part of
nursing, and ethics are therefore
fundamental to the integrity of the
nursing profession. Every day, nurses
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL

support each other to fulfill their ethical paramedics. We rely on professionals to

obligations to patients and the public.
It is vital that nurses appreciate the
value of ethics in their work. Ethics is
relevant to clinical, practice-based issues
and affects all areas of the professional
nursing role. To apply ethics effectively,
nurses must develop reasoning skills and
understand the concepts and principles
that assist ethical analysis.
be experts and to know what to do when
we need them to.
6. Nursing Profession
Nursing is a profession within the
health care sector focused on the care of
individuals, families, and communities so
they may attain, maintain, or recover
optimal health and quality of life.

5. Profession In order to be recognized and

A profession is something a little
more than a job, it is a career for someone
that wants to be part of society, who
becomes competent in their chosen
sector through training; maintains their
skills through continuing professional
development and commits to behaving
ethically, to protect the interests of the
public.
practice as a nurse, an individual need to
hold adequate credentials in terms of
education, training, and experience, as
determined by the regulatory body in the
respective country of the world.
As a profession, nursing has
several ethical principles that guide their
philosophy of practice throughout all
tasks in the workplace. These are to

We all rely on professionals at Provide exemplary care at all times

many points of our lives – from dentists to
teachers, from pension managers to Prioritize the care of patients with
careers advisers, from town planners to respect to individual dignity
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL

Cooperate with other health Legal Rights

professionals to improve patient
outcomes
Act with integrity and honesty to
maintain the profession reputation
In accordance with these principles,
nurses are able to care for patients in the
best way possible to promote positive
health outcomes.
7. Legal Rights
Legal rights, are based on a
society's customs, laws, statutes or actions
by legislatures. An example of a legal right
is the right to vote of citizens. Citizenship,
itself, is often considered as the basis for
having legal rights, and has been defined
as the "right to have rights". Legal rights
are sometimes called civil rights or
statutory rights and are culturally and
politically relative since they depend on a
specific societal context to have meaning.

Rights 8. Legal Remedy

Rights are legal, social, or ethical Is a legal system for preservation,

principles of freedom or entitlement; that
is, rights are the fundamental normative
rules about what is allowed of people or
owed to people, according to some legal
system, social convention, or ethical
theory. Rights are of essential importance
in such disciplines as law and ethics,
especially theories of justice
deontology.
justification and making balance for
harmony in legal rights of every
individual. It makes sure that someone's
rights are not taken away from them. By
protecting someone’s right to a victim or
a citizen and by enforcing legal action: a
punishment to offender.
and
The manner in which a right is
enforced or satisfied by a court when
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL
some harm or injury, recognized by
society as a wrongful act, is inflicted upon
an individual.
The law of remedies is concerned
with the character and extent of relief to
which an individual who has brought a
legal action is entitled once the
appropriate court procedure has been
followed, and the individual has
established that he or she has a
substantive right that has been infringed
by the defendant.
9. Duties
Duty is doing your responsibility. A
responsibility to do something because it
is legally or morally right to do it.
Registered nurse duties vary as per
the areas of their expertise. They play a
key role in promoting the wellness by
performing a wide range of services. An
RN mainly focuses on caring for and
educating the patients and their family
members about early recovery and ways
of prevention of diseases. Hence, nurses
assess patients’ health problems and
needs, develop and execute nursing care
plans, and uphold medical records and
enable to collaborate to other health care
practitioner. Consistently and carefully
adhering to protocols. Lastly staying up-
to-date in nursing and healthcare.
10. Function
A nurse has a number of function
that he or she performs, often at the same
time, depending on a patient's needs.
With all of the changes in healthcare over
the last few decades, that role has
expanded even more.
It varies widely from a
communicator, patient advocate,
educator, leader and so on. Then we have
different specialization or names to
function as nurse practitioner, home care
nurse, traveling nurse etc. but one thing
remains, nurses mainly focus is about the
holistic care for individual. The
summation of the nursing function lies to
its meaning “giving care”.
 WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY- PHILIPPINES
Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City-3100, Nueva Ecija
GRADUATE SCHOOL
11. Accountability practice and professional and ethical
conduct.
Is being responsible for ones
doing. An assurance that an individual or References
an organization will be evaluated on their
performance or behavior related to https://in.sagepub.com/sites/default/files
something for which they are responsible. /upmbinaries/59267_Griffith_&_Tengnah.
pdf
Accountability is understood as
being able to give an account of one’s Nursing Practice and the Law What Every
nursing judgements, actions and Nurse Needs to Know by Janice Delgiorno
omissions. Accountability is about MSN, CCRN, ACNP-BC
maintaining competency and
safeguarding quality patient care https://clpnns.ca/nursing-jurisprudence
outcomes and standards of the
profession, while being answerable to https://www.scribd.com/doc/16614520/N
those who are affected by one’s nursing URSING-LAW-AND-ETHICS
or midwifery practice.
https://www.news
Accountability means being answerable medical.net/health/Nursing-Profession
for the decisions made in the course of
one’s professional practice. A nurse https://study.com/academy/lesson/roles-
should be able to give reasons for the and-functions-of-the-nurse.html
decisions they make in their professional
practice and should justify their decisions https://study.com/nursing_duties.html
in the context of legislation, professional
standards and guidelines, evidence-
based