Term
| Administrative Law Agencies |
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Definition
are created by state statutes that define the agencies' purpose, functions, and powers.
ex. state board of nursing |
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Term
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| empowers the board of nursing to administer and establish the rules and regulation of nursing practice, education requirements, licensing for practice, licensure renewal requirements, and approval of schools of nursing. In addition, the board enforces the state's NPA and is responsible for disciplinary actions. |
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| The public can query about any licensed nurse in the state to find out whether the nurse's license is in good standing. |
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| ensures that nurses receive a hearing where they have the right to be heard and defend any charges brought against them before the board can terminate a "liberty" (e.g., the practice of nursing). |
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| In certain situations, the board has the right to summarily revoke or suspend a nurse's license when the nurse presents an immediate danger to public safety. |
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| Nurse can generally appeal the findings of the state board of nursing through the state court appellate process. |
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| is a website provided by the NCSBN that contains disciplinary action information from all participating member states and territories. When one state takes action against a nurse, the information is entered into Nursys so that other jurisdictions and even the public can access the information. |
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| If an issue related to a license in another state has not been resolved it will affect the nurse's ability to be licensed in another state. |
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| The state board may also report the license discipline to other agencies such as the Office of the Medicaid Inspector General. This office can then place the nurse on a disqualified or excluded provider list, which means the nurse cannot work for any employer who receives Medicaid reimbursement. A similar process at the federal level may exclude the nurse from participating in employment funded by the federal Medicare program. This can render the nurse almost unemployable in any state. |
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| National Practitioner Data Banks (NPDB) |
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Definition
- employers and healthcare agencies can consult when reviewing practitioner's credentials
- its purpose is to protect the public and promote public safety by preventing unethical or incompetent practitioners from moving state to state without disclosure or their past history
- includes physicians, nurses, and other practitioners
- serves as a flagging system to facilitate a more thorough review of professional credentials
- general public is not permitted access
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Term
| Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB) |
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Definition
- created in 1996 as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- managed by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
- federal and state agencies are required by law to report within 30 days that final adverse action has been taken against a healthcare practitioner (including nurses), these include civil or criminal convictions related to the deliver of healthcare, settlements are not reported to this bank
- cannot be accessed by general public
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Term
| Some boards of nursing can compel a nurse to undergo substance abuse evaluation at his or her own expense in order to determine fitness to practice. This is so even when there has been no allegation of impaired practice, when the issue has arisen over off-duty conduct. |
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| Failure to make child support payments, to pay taxes, to repay student loans, or to pay one's creditors may create licensure problems for nurses. |
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| Practitioner Remediation and Enhancement Partnership (PREP) |
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| these types of programs shift the focus from punishing individuals to preventing future problems and offer deeper analysis of issues involved with practice errors or deficiencies |
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Term
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| is a method not only to point out deficiencies, but also to correct practice to comply with standards. It is a process of evaluation, counseling, and education that focuses on quality improvement rather than punishment. |
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| Civil actions deal with disputes between individuals. Nurse can become involved in civil actions, such as malpractice actions, personal injury lawsuits, and worker's compensation, or employment disputes, such as wrongful discharge. |
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- the negligent conduct of a professional
- defined by (1) duty - established by a professional relationship
- (2) breach of duty - an act of commission or omission in violation of the nursing standard of care
- (3) a physical injury; and
- (4) causation - the nurse's breach of duty caused the plaintiff's injury, sometimes called proximate cause
- ALL FOUR OF THESE ELEMENTS MUST BE PRESENT AND PROVEN FOR THE PLAINTIFF TO PREVAIL.
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| a document filed with the court in which one party asks questions of the other |
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| a request in which one party asks the other to produce documents for the requesting party, such as medical records, operating room log, or even a specimen logs. The requesting party can use these documents to learn more facts about the case or identify potential witnesses to the event being litigated. |
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| a legal proceeding where questions are asked and answered under oath and recorded by a stenographer. The deposition testimony can be used later in trial. |
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| Any money paid to the plaintiff may come from the nurse's malpractice insurance policy or from the nurse if the judgment amount exceeds the policy amount, the nurse is uninsured, or the malpractice carrier has denied coverage. For example, malpractice coverage is denied when the nurse acted outside the scope of employment. |
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| Disciplinary action examples include: |
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| revocation of nurse's license, suspension of nurse's license, letter of reprimand, letter of admonishment, probation, or imposition of a fine |
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