Main description:

Nursing is a profession that encompasses a huge diversity of practices and practice settings, but the aim of nursing practice remains the same: to support and promote the health and well-being of human persons. Ethics and Law for Australian Nurses is an integrated and coherent textbook that allows students to understand the mutual relationship between the legal and ethical frameworks of nursing practice. The text considers two key concepts to understanding the relation of ethics and law to the practice of nursing: the idea of human vulnerability and respect for persons. Through understanding ethics and law in terms of vulnerability and respect, this text provides a fresh understanding of the ethical and legal aspects of committing and witnessing errors in nursing practice. Many varied case studies and practical examples are used throughout to aid students' understanding of the ethical and legal responsibilities of nurses.

Contents:

Introduction; 1. Understanding the human person; 2. Understanding legal rights and obligations; 3. Nursing and the legal system; 4. The nurse-patient relationship; 5. Consent; 6. Duty of care and professional negligence; 7. Patient information, confidentiality and trust; 8. 'Trust me, I'm a nurse'; 9. Witnessing and making mistakes.