Legal Aspects of Nursing

Description

Features

Written with the student in mind, it offers a variety of learning features to help ensure you gain a firm understanding of the law, and how it applies to the field of nursing and healthcare, including:

• Practical dilemma boxes to help you build confidence in how to tackle realistic issues
• Key case and statue boxes highlight the legal cases and statutes that you need to be aware of
• Reflection questions and further exercises develop your ability to understand the law, apply it to your own specialisation, and succeed in assessments

New to this Edition

The book has been thoroughly updated and examines key recent case law and legislation, including:

• Health and Social Care Act 2008
• Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
• Health Act 2009
• Coroners and Justice Act 2009
• Equality Act 2010
• Health and Social Care Bill

Table of Contents

Part I    General principles affecting all nurses                                                                   

1. Introduction: four arenas of accountability, the legal system and human rights          

2. Actions in the criminal courts and defences to criminal charges                              

3. Liability in a civil court case for negligence                                                            

4. Specific problem areas in civil liability: personal liability of the nurse, vicarious liability of the employer and managerial issues                                                                                                

5. Statutory functions and management of the NHS                                                   

6. Progress of a civil claim: defences and compensation                                             

7. Consent to treatment and informing the patient                                                      

8. Data protection: confidentiality and access                                                            

9. Record keeping, statements and evidence in court                                                 

10. The nurse and employment law                                                                            

11. The nurse as a registered professional                                                                  

12. Health and safety and the nurse                                                                           

Part II    Specialist areas                                                                                                   

13. Children and young persons                                                                                  

14. Midwifery                                                                                                           

15. The nurse on the gynaecology ward                                                                      

16. Acute care                                                                                                          

17. Learning disabilities                                                                                             

18. Nurse educator and researcher                                                                            

19. Legal aspects of the care of older people                                                              

20.Nursing the mentally disordered                                                                            

21. Accident and emergency, outpatients, genito-urinary departments and day surgery  

22. Human fertility and genetics                                                                                 

23.Community and primary care nursing                                                                    

24. Scope of professional practice, clinical nurse specialist and consultant nurse            

Part III   General areas                                                                                                      

25. Legal aspects of property                                                                                     

26. Legal aspects of AIDS and other infectious diseases                                             

27. Handling complaints                                                                                             

28. Legal aspects of medicines                                                                                  

29.End of Life Care and death                                                                                  

30. Complementary and alternative therapies

31. The future

Back Cover

“I like the book. The case work is detailed and the layout offers information in manageable chunks without ‘dumbing down’. The cases cited seem to capture students’ imaginations and provide a good reference point for their own practice.”

Karen Thompson, Senior Lecturer – University of Brighton

“The major strength is the relevance and application to practice. The coverage of specialist areas of nursing is thorough and enhances further the relevance of the text to clinical staff. The content is clear and relatively easy to understand without over-simplifying the complexities.  The range of material covered is excellent.”

Liz Smith, Programme Leader: Advanced Practice – University of Hull

Legal Aspects of Nursing and Healthcare, now in its sixth edition, is your definitive guide to the law and its practical application to everyday nursing situations. Written in an engaging and accessible style, the book covers the legal system and legal issues relating to medicine in general, before examining more specific areas including children and the elderly. As such, Legal Aspects of Nursing and Healthcare is the ideal companion for introductory and specialist study and includes a range of features to help you get to grips with the subject:

• Practical dilemma boxes help you build confidence as you encounter a range of realistic scenarios
• Key case and statute boxes highlight the case law and legislation that you need to be aware of  
• Reflection questions and further exercises develop your ability to understand the law, apply it to your own specialisation and succeed in assessments

The book has been thoroughly updated and examines key recent case law and legislation, including:

• Health and Social Care Act 2008
• Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008
• Health Act 2009
• Coroners and Justice Act 2009
• Equality Act 2010
• Health and Social Care Bill

Other major changes in the area such as the inception of the Care Quality Commission; the abolition of many NHS quangos and the new complaints system have also been analysed.

BRIDGIT DIMOND MA (Oxon) LLB MPhil DSA, AHSM, Barrister-at-law is Emeritus Professor at the University of Glamorgan. She is an experienced health service manager and lecturer in health service law and management.  She is also the author of a number of books and articles on all aspects of professional accountability and patients’ rights.

Author

Bridgit Dimond MA (Oxon) LlB MPhil DSA, AHSM, Barrister-at-law is Emeritus Professor at the University of Glamorgan. She is an experienced health service manager and lecturer in health service law and management. She is alsto the author of a numver of books and articles on all aspects of professional accountability and patients’ rights.

Reader Review(s)

"This book is a practitioner's bible to all aspects of the law within healthcare."

- The Nursing Times Website

"Written in a clear and understandable style, this book has been and is likely to remain the text of choice for students and health care practitioners regardless of their level of clinical experience. Each chapter is littered with case examples that are both relevant and realistic which, in turn, demonstrates the author's thorough grasp of the everyday issues pertinent to the practice of nursing."

- Journal of Community Nursing