Patients' Rights, Law and Ethics for Nurses

Paul Buka qualified as a nurse in Scotland before working there and in England. After a three-year break, he returned to practice with a keen interest in legal and ethical issues. He read Philosophy and subsequently Law up to Postgraduate level, specialising in Healthcare Law. Paul gained education experience in Further Education, teaching law for 3 years before progressing to Higher Education. Currently lecturing in Adult Nursing, he specialises in Healthcare Law and Ethics, from undergraduate to post-graduate levels. He co-published his first book on Healthcare Law and Ethics in 1999. Drawing invaluable inspiration from his family, his students and colleagues, he does not forget the most important player—the patient.

Concept of law and human rights
Sources of law
Duty of care
Classification of law
Human rights and legal obligations
Litigation and compensation systems
The NHS litigation authority
Systems of compensation
Nursing regulation and law
Ethics and patients’ rights; Sue Watkinson
What is ‘ethics’?
Ethics – its relevance for practice
Philosophical dimension on ethical values and human rights
Rights and freedom of choice
Necessity and the greater good principle
Ethical frameworks and decision-making
Ethics and the therapeutic relationship
The beginning of life to adulthood: human rights; Kathleen Chambers and Paul Buka
When does human life begin?
Childhood and the law
Parents and parental responsibility: majority age
Consent and the child
Advocacy
Safeguarding the vulnerable child
Information on child abuse – disclosure
Working safely with service users
In the course of employment
Keeping the patient, self and others safe
Conclusion
References
A trusting relationship
Duty of care and professional accountability
Duty of confidentiality and patient information
Communication and record keeping
Misappropriation and patients’ property
Theft or fraud
Trust and patients’ property rights
Capacity and safeguarding patient’s property rights
Gifts, strings attached and professional ethics
Consent to treatment and mental capacity
Nature of consent
Consent and human rights
Mental capacity and informed consent
Capacity to consent, human rights and best interests
Research, consent and organ donation
Vulnerable adults, older people and abuse
Background
Key theories of abuse
Interventions
Criminal law responses
Civil remedies
Public authorities and human rights
Victims with mental health needs
Interagency working and abuse
Equality and diversity
Discrimination in healthcare provision
Recent developments of the law on discrimination
Other types of discrimination
Grounds for discrimination and the law today
End of life care
Clinical decision-making
Euthanasia
Suicide – human right or a criminal act
Do not attempt resuscitation orders
Persistent vegetative state (PVS)
Living wills/advance directives and the right to choose
The double-effect doctrine and palliative care
Crossing the rubicon – toward a slippery slope
Impact of patients rights on care
From paternalism to patient-centred care
Human rights and litigation
Human rights, policy and morals