Law: Nursing Practice and Accountability Seminar
Why Attend
Safe and accountable practice requires all nurses need to be mindful of and understand the implications of their legal responsibilities. Attend this two-day seminar and find out about:
- How does modern law affect your practice?
- What are the legal implications of not using best-available evidence in your practice?
- How does the law interpret Codes of Practice and Standards?
- How are unsafe medicine practices viewed by the law?
- Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter: what is acceptable on social media?
- Who is responsible for your CPD?
- Mandatory reporting – what’s your legal responsibility?
Don’t miss this opportunity to gain important knowledge. Book now!
Program
8:30am - Registration and Refreshments
9:00am
Nursing Codes and Standards That Protect the Public
This introductory session will discuss how the law interprets relevant codes of practice and standards and will explain how the courts use them when litigation occurs. Reviewing The Code of Professional Conduct for Nurses in Australia, it will reveal why Codes of Practice are a fundamental reference to nursing care and the protection of patients. It includes:
- What Codes and Standards relate to nurses and where can you access them?
9:45am
Case Scenario Involving Multiple Events
We will now look at an example of a real case that was investigated under the National Law Act. You will be encouraged to consider the implications of the behaviour of the nurse and the points of law that were transgressed. Includes:
- Encouraging unprofessional conduct in others
- Falsely recording medication administration
- Failing to properly supervise other staff
- Contacting key witness in hospital investigation and seeking to influence evidence
10:30am - Morning Tea
11:00am
“What Went Wrong?” Duty of Care
Following the previous session, we will now look at another real case scenario where a tragic sequence of events led to the death of a surgical patient. It will enable you to consider other examples of your personal duty of care.
Case Scenario - Failure in the Continuum of Care
A woman who underwent a surgical procedure at a regional hospital developed a postoperative complication causing generalised peritonitis. She was returned to the operating theatre a few days later but sadly died. This complex case will include discussion on:
- Allocation of nursing resources
- Continuity of care - handover of patient
- Administration of medicines
- Reflections on performing a "Root Cause Analysis" after an untoward event
12:30pm - Lunch and Networking
1:30pm
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Tweets: What Are the Risks?
This session looks at the many faces of confidentiality, privacy and keeping professional boundaries in a modern age. For example, a nurse in the UK who started a sexual relationship with a former patient after he contacted her on Facebook has been removed from the nursing register. All patients have a right to expect that information about them is held in confidence and that the boundary between nurse and patient is maintained at all times. This session will look at examples of confidentiality and privacy incidents have occurred and will enable you to reflect on vulnerabilities in your behaviour and practice environment. It includes:
- An exploration of how confidentiality can be eroded, e.g. through inappropriate access to records or tea room gossip
- Facebook and other social media - what is acceptable?
- Photographs of patients / hospital environments
3:00pm - Afternoon Tea
3:30pm
Professional Boundaries - What You Need to Know
When professional boundaries are breached, all sorts of unexpected consequences may occur. In this final session for the day we will look at the 'Standard for Professional Boundaries' in more detail. It includes:
- Why is maintaining a professional relationship/boundary with the public so important and what are the consequences of breaching this boundary?
4:15pm
Summing Up - Final Comments for Day One
4:45pm - Close of Day One of Seminar
9:00am - Commencement of Day Two
9:00am
Onus of Responsibility for CPD and Patient Outcomes
There is a continuous debate about who is responsible for CPD. Is it your responsibility or that of the organisation in which you work? This session will review accountability and APHRA guidelines for continuing professional development. It will illustrate this point with two cases associated with inappropriate nursing actions that resulted in excruciating pain and death. It includes:
Case Scenario 1
- A patient suffered a neurological incident and later experienced excruciating pain, but was not reviewed by a medical practitioner until 7 days later.
Case Scenario 2
- A man in a correctional centre complained of generalised epigastric and chest discomfort. He was assessed by a nurse who made treatment decisions. The man subsequently died.
9:30am
Failing to Use Best-Available Evidence – What Are Your Risks?
As best-practice evidence emerges there are benchmarks from which legal precedents can be determined. It is the responsibility of nurses to ensure that they are following best-practice guidelines when providing care. However, “old practices” are still routinely followed despite their efficacy being no longer proven. This session will look at responsibility and accountability within the context of a case study. It includes:
- Why is it legally advisable for entrenched, unexamined rituals to be replaced by evidence-based practice?
- How do you ensure legal protection through the application of clinical research findings?
- When adverse events occur, does the use of habitual clinical routines constitute a legal defence?
10:30am - Morning Tea
11:00am
Consent and Refusal of Treatment Across the Lifespan
The process of rightfully obtaining consent is an area of the Law that nurses will often be exposed to. For accountability and safety of practice, nurses must be clear as to what constitutes consent and the circumstances upon which a person is able to make an informed decision to refuse treatment. Having a clear understanding of your patient's rights in consenting and refusing treatment will also support your role as a patient advocate when you witness another member of the healthcare team who is not honouring this patient’s right. Therefore, this session is designed to help you come away feeling confident in your knowledge of this legal aspect of your care and ready to apply this knowledge in your practice. Case scenarios of poor consenting practices will be discussed to demonstrate what exactly is consent and how refusal of treatment can change across the lifespan, with focus on these particular areas:
- Aged Care
- Paediatric
- Mental Health
- Midwifery
12:30pm - Lunch and Networking
1:30pm
Medicines - Are You Safe?
One of the most common areas of clinical risk relates to the administration of medicines. Knowledge of the legislation that governs medication management is essential for the delivery of appropriate and safe care to patients. In this session, illustrative examples will be used to demonstrate how the safe practice of medicines is interpreted as law and the appropriate actions you need to take if something untoward occurs. It will also include:
- Should you administer medicines if you don't know how they work?
- Are you regularly accessing correct and up-to-date information?
- What are your legal risks in failing to identify inappropriate prescription orders and errors?
- “Medicine Diversion” – what do you do if you suspect misuse of medicines by a colleague?
3:00pm - Afternoon Tea and Coffee
3:30pm
Mandatory Reporting - Your Legal Responsibility
There are several mandatory reporting requirements that affect all nurses; for example, the Standard for Mandatory Notification under the National Law Act, as well as for child protection. It includes:
- Do you know what your responsibilities are?
- What should you do if you suspect a health professional is acting in a manner that is unprofessional and high risk?
- What about suspected abuse to those within the workplace, including patients and colleagues?
4:00pm
Summary and Final Questions
4:15pm - Close of Seminar and Evaluations
Presenters
Linda Starr
Dr Linda Starr has undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in general, mental health nursing, law, education and a PhD in legal issues in elder abuse. Linda has extensive experience as an RN in metropolitan and rural locations, in general nursing, mental health, forensic health, aged care and management. She has held senior positions in academia, including the dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery. Linda has publications in health law and forensic health issues. Linda is an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Flinders University and a consultant educator in health law and ethics for nurses, midwives and carers. She is chair of the SA Board of Nursing and Midwifery, fellow of the College of Nursing Australia, foundation president of the Australian Forensic Nurses Association, member on the School of Health Academic Advisory Board for Open Colleges and the international member on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Forensic Nursing.
Need for Program
There are potential risks that manifest in all areas of nursing care. Every year nurses are involved in cases that invariably include a failure of duty of care at some level. Nurses have a legal and ethical duty encompassing all that they do in order to protect the public from harm. Ignorance of the law is not a defence when something goes wrong. Therefore, knowledge of relevant laws across jurisdictions is of critical importance to all professionals and ultimately, their patients.
Purpose of Program
The purpose of this seminar is to offer nurses a forum to debate and enhance their knowledge of modern law as it affects their practice
Your learning outcomes
- Use knowledge regarding the accountability and legal frameworks that apply to safe patient outcomes in all aspects of practice
- Know the professionally appropriate steps to take when there is a failure of duty of care
- Define professional boundaries and how this relates to the use of social media in a health care context
- Reflect on legal case studies that involve nurses and other health professionals and their consequences including how to prevent such occurrences in the future
Law: Nursing Practice and Accountability Seminar
Ausmed events are on hold for 2021
Haven’t heard from us yet?
If you can’t find your event, but haven’t heard from us yet - don’t worry! Our Customer Experience team is working hard to contact all 2021 event attendees. Keep an eye out for an email from us!
You can speak with us directly via 1300 287 633 or email support@ausmed.com.au
In the meantime, why not learn online instead? Start an Ausmed Subscription you’ll get access to 100s of high-quality online resources, including lectures from our top-rated events!
Start my Subscription