Health care laws and how it affects working nurses - Research Paper Example

Three types of laws govern the Public Health Law as previously discussed: Legislation, Regulations and Judicial Law. The legislative bodies of state, federal and local government, formulate the Legislative laws that have a considerable impact on the way nursing is practiced in the United States. Regulations are specific set of rules pertaining to individual while the legislation and Judicial law is based on the court’s and jury’s’ decision (Stanhope and Lancaster 124). Stanhope and Lancaster illustrate the impact of Regulations and the Judicial Law on nursing practice by stating that the state legislators will enact laws governing the board of nursing and will coin technical terms such as ‘licensed registered nurse’ and ‘nursing practice’, the board of nursing on the other hand will enforce the laws that will bring into existence a licensed registered nurse and recognized nursing practice procedures by stating all the requirements and prerequisite (124).

The writers express that in case of judicial law, courts take into consideration previous cases and give sentences in conformity with them except during the instances when the judge or the jury thinks that the old laws have become obsolete and a more valid form of it is needed. Everything that is done in a health agency has a basis in law and is subject to legal sanction of one type or another (qtd. in Maurer and Smith 124). This statement implies to health care workers and more particularly community oriented nursed since they have direct, face-to-face relationship with the patients.

Rules and regulation in addition with those associated with the upheaval of the health industry; predominantly laws that pertain to the maintenance of discipline in the health sector and allotting punishment related to malpractice are applicable to nurses to a great extent. Nurses are regarded, as learned individuals with sound knowledge of the profession that they practice for their living, consumers are totally reliant on this particular knowledge for their treatment. If any patient is harmed in any way due to the nurses’ malpractice that according to a source Hall and Hall (2001) cited in Maurer and Smith (124), includes: Provision of unsafe environment, inadequate assessment, failure to follow physician’s order, erroneous medication and treatment, usage of defective technology and products, inadequate infection control and poor communication with the patient, the nurse would be held accountable for her actions and lawsuits can be filed against her.

Nurses should be well aware of the laws and legislation pertaining to their legal practice of the state they are professionally working in, and should be well familiar also with any changes that might be introduced in the legislation of not just nursing but also in related professions such as those of medicine and pharmacy (Lancaster and Stanhope 125). These writer demonstrate the importance of interdisciplinary knowledge for the nursing profession by stating the example of a community oriented nurse who has reviewed the pharmacy act would be able to ascertain whether to question the right to dispense medication in the local family planning clinic or not.

According to The Nurse Practice Act of New York, 1970 nursing is defined as: The practice of the profession of nursing…. is defined as diagnosing and treating human responses to actual or potential health problems through such services