Fast Facts About Nursing and the Law

Paula DiMeo Grant, JD, MA, BSN , RN, is a nurse attorney admitted to practice law in the District of Columbia and currently is in private practice. Her experience includes litigation, mediation, and nursing disciplinary defense. Since 2011, she has been an adjunct faculty member in the Legal Studies Department at Hunter College, New York, New York.Diana Ballard, RN, MBA, JD, has over three decades of experience in executive health care management in major health care organizations. She has served in a number of senior management positions including Chief Nursing Officer, Corporate Vice President, and Chief Compliance Officer. She has held adjunct faculty appointments at Adelphi University, Yale University School of Nursing, and the University of New Haven, among others, and has taught and published extensively in health care and health law subjects. Ms. Ballard owns a consulting firm offering services in business and program development, health care and health systems management and is the creator and trademark owner of CarePower, a self-improvement approach to excellence in customer service. She was affiliated as counsel to the law firm of Susman, Duffy & Segaloff, P.C., New Haven, CT, for 15 years, practicing in all aspects of health care law.

• PART I: OVERVIEW OF NURSING AND THE LAWChapter 1. Primary Sources of LawChapter 2. Nurse Practice ActsChapter 3. Nursing Disciplinary ProcessPART II: NURSING/NEGLIGENCE MALPRACTICEChapter 4. Negligence/MalpracticeChapter 5. Proving Malpractice: The Expert Nurse WitnessPART III: DOCUMENTATIONChapter 6. Principles and Practices of DocumentationChapter 7. Electronic Health Records (EHR)Chapter 8. Keys to Reducing LiabilityPART IV: INFORMED CONSENT AND PATIENT RIGHTSChapter 9. Requirements for Informed ConsentChapter 10. High Risk Area Associated with Failure to Provide Informed ConsentChapter 11. The Patient Self Determination Act (PSDA), Advanced DirectivesPART V: EMPLOYMENT LAWChapter 12. The Employment RelationshipChapter 13. Ethical Obligations and Wrongful DischargeChapter 14. Federal Workplace LawsPART VI: ORGANIZATION AND BUSINESS LAW: TOPICS FOR NURSESChapter 15. Entity Types and Personal Liability for OwnersChapter 16. Hospital Corporate LiabilityChapter 17. Continuous Quality Improvement and Risk ManagementChapter 18. Corporate CompliancePART VII: DISASTERS AND PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIESChapter 19. Legal Framework and Response CoordinationChapter 20. Roles of Organizations and Nurses in DisastersPART VIII: RESOLVING DISPUTESChapter 21. Anatomy of a TrialChapter 22. Alternative Dispute Resolution