Legal Responsibilities of Healthcare Workers

Credentialing includes: Accreditation—an evaluation that assures that an organization meets minimum standards Certification—recognition by a non-governmental regulatory body that an individual meets standards Licensure—recognition by a governmental body that an individual meets minimum educational requirements, and has the knowledge and skill to practice a specific profession Slide 2

Execution of Physician’s Orders Hospital nurses are legally required to follow doctors orders unless they have reasonable expectation to believe that the order will harm the patient 3

Good guidelines for nurses who are filling doctors orders include: Understand your state nurse practice act. Be informed as to who can write orders (physicians only, or physicians and physician assistants) Understand the hospital’s policies with regard to physician orders Where possible, get all physician’s orders in writing Slide 4

Telephone orders are permitted in an emergency When taking a telephone order: – If possible, have two nurses listen to the telephone order – Have one of the nurses document the order in writing – Repeat the order back to the physician – Question an order that is: Ambiguous Contraindicated by normal practice, or by the patient’s medical condition – Get a telephone order countersigned within 24 hours Slide 5

Incident Reports Incident reports are used to report an incident that injured, or had the potential to injure a patient, employee, or visitor. Examples of incidents include patient falls, medication errors, or malfunctions of equipment. 6

Incident Reports Incident reports usually include the time and date of the incident, any events that led to the incident, the response of the patient, and an assessment of the impact on the patient. Slide 7

Incident Reports Some forms provide spaces for notification of the physician, and additional assessments and/or medical orders. Healthcare workers should not include personal judgments or opinions about the incident in the report. Slide 8

Punishment? To encourage employees to fill out incident reports, the report should never be used for the purpose of punishing employees. 9