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About Legal Nursing
Legal Nursing - how important is this?
As a professional healthcare worker we are not immune to legal issues and ethical dilemmas that are part of our daily jobs no matter how careful we are. So, the question how important Legal Nursing is? Very important!
The old saying "If it's not written it is NOT done" is still the same rule up until now. It's so easy to be distracted by your co-workers, patients or by yourself and forget about documention.
As a Registered Nurse of Alberta I'm glad to know that I am automatically eligible for CNPS protection.
What is CNPS?
The Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS®) is a non-profit society, owned and operated by nurses for nurses, that offers legal liability protection related to nursing practice to eligible Registered Nurses, by providing information, education, and financial and legal assistance.
How do I get CNPS protection?
If you are a nurse registered in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland, the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, or Nunavut, you are automatically eligible for CNPS protection, at no additional charge, as a benefit of your membership in your professional association / college.
In Ontario, you must be a member of RNAO. All nurses in Ontario are automatically eligible for CNPS protection, free of charge, for incidents arising out of the years in which they are or have been a member of RNAO (Registered Nurses Association of Ontario).
If you are a nurse in British Columbia or Quebec, your professional liability insurance needs are taken care of by organizations other than CNPS. Consult your professional nursing association for information.
Unlike insurance, CNPS is:
1. the Canadian nursing profession's own legal support system
2. a non-profit society created, owned and operated by nurses for nurses
3. specifically tailored to meet the professional liability needs of nurses in all nursing roles
4. occurrence-based: the eligible nurse’s protection extends from the date the incident occurred
Excerpts from Canadian Nurses Protective Society.
For more details
click here
Note;
This is for information purposes only. Nothing in this article should be construed as legal advise from any lawyer, contributor or the CNPS. Readers should consult LEGAL COUNSEL for Specific advice.
Legal Charting
An inservice given by Frankie Wong - Legal Nurse Consultant
Legal Charting is one of the components of Legal Nursing.
At times I am guilty of this. There are days that I am having a very "toxic shift" that I can't help it but chart my documentation in the end of my shift. Where in I know by theory that we need to chart "when it happens". But I always try my best to chart nursing procedures in a timely manner, we just need a little bit more discpline to do that.
General Guidelines for Documentation
on the Health Care Record
1. Follow the year/month/day format
2. Write Legibly or print neatly
3. Use permanent black or blue ink
4. Use 24 hour clock when indicating the time entry
5. Sign with first initial, last name and professional credentials
6. Write entries in consecutive and chronological manner
without skipped lines and gaps.
7. Write entries as soon as possible after care is provided.
Do not rely on your memory.
8. Use only abbreviations approved by the Region or your hospital, otherwise write out the words in full.
ex. BS? is it bowel sounds, is it blood sugar or some other thing?
9. Chart only the care you provided (except in emergency situations). Don't let other staff chart for you.
10. Correct recording by crossing out the error with a single line stroke, entering the word "ERROR", the reason for the error (eg. wrong chart)
date and time and initial.
11. Comments made by the patient or family are subjective and should be recorded in quotation marks. They should be included when documentation data related to patient concerns or problems.
12. Do not make assumptions, debate or blame others in health record.
13. Do not leave blank spaces on narrative notes.
Draw a line from the end and initial.
14. Hiring a Legal Nurse Consultant (LNC)by the lawyers. LNC review patient's chart for any possible sub-standard nursing practice.
15. Nursing care provided will be compared with the nursing guidelines/policies/protocol at time of the "incident."
16. Any sub-standard nursing care will turn into a case.
Here you go. These are the guidelines with regards to Legal Charting in Alberta, Canada. Check your country or province for a specific guideline or protocol in your work place.
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