The end of life
The nurse frequently plays an important role in caring for patients at the end of life whether, for instance, in the area of palliative care and the hospice movement or…
Reproductive choice
Today, patients have an increasing range of reproductive choices and increasingly these ‘choices’ are phrased in terms of reproductive rights, particularly in the light of the Human Rights Act 1998…
Clinical research and the nurse
Nurses increasingly participate in clinical trials (Parabor 1997). The nurse may run his/her own trial or may undertake research as part of a diploma qualification or for a higher degree….
Privacy, confidentiality, and access to health-care records
INTRODUCTION Confidentiality has long been emphasised in nursing practice. The Nightingale oath provided that: “every nurse should be one who is to be depended upon, in other words, capable of…
Legal aspects of expanded role, clinical guidelines and protocols, and nurse prescribing
This chapter focuses upon certain specific issues that have important ramifications regarding nursing accountability, such as expanded role, the operation of clinical care guidelines and protocols, and nurse prescribing. In…
Consent to treatment II: Children and the mentally ill
In Chapter 5 the basic principles of the law as it relates to consent to treatment were examined. This chapter focuses on the treatment of two particular groups of patients,…
Introduction: the nurse and the legal environment
The role of the nurse is the subject of constant evolution. Today, nurses perform tasks that would in the past have been undertaken by doctors, an initiative encouraged by the…
Patient safety, litigation and complaints in the National Health Service
Chapter 3. Patient safety, litigation and complaints in the National Health Service John Tingle In this chapter the topics of patient safety, litigation and National Health Service (NHS) complaints will…
Consent to treatment I: General principles
One of the most fundamental principles of health-care law and ethics is that treatment should be given only with the patient’s consent. The nurse is frequently the person who has…
Nursing negligence: general issues
INTRODUCTION Nurses are not only professionally accountable to patients through the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Code of Professional Conduct: Standards for Conduct, Performance and Ethics (the Code) (Nursing and…
