- absconding
- leaving an inpatient facility without permission, which can include failing to return from an authorized leave
- assault
- intentionally putting another person in reasonable apprehension of imminent harmful or offensive contact
- autonomy
- ability to make decisions with one’s own free choice, if competent to do so
- battery
- intentional causation of harmful or offensive contact with another person without that person’s consent
- beneficence
- doing or producing good for others
- client confidentiality
- expectation that information shared with the health-care providers or organization will not be divulged
- duty to warn
- professional responsibility to warn another person if they are being threatened
- false imprisonment
- confining a person without the consent of the person or legal authority
- fidelity
- devotion to obligations and duties
- fraud
- deceiving another for personal gain
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- federal law that requires the creation of national standards to protect sensitive client health information from being disclosed without the client’s consent or knowledge
- informed consent
- communication between a client and a health-care provider that results in agreement and permission by the client for treatment or services
- intentional tort
- wrong that the defendant knew (or should have known) would be caused by their actions
- libel
- published untrue statement that damages a person’s reputation
- malpractice
- when a professional fails to exercise their duty of care to a client
- mandatory reporting
- obligation to report to stated authorities when neglect or abuse is suspected
- negligence
- failure to exercise care that a reasonable person in the same circumstances would have exercised
- nonmaleficence
- doing no harm
- patient bill of rights
- minimum standards for the ways that clients can expect to be treated by health-care professionals
- privileged communication
- confidential conversations between parties deemed to be protected
- protected health information (PHI)
- any information in the medical record that can be used to identify an individual and that was created, used, or disclosed while providing a health-care service
- right to privacy
- belief that one’s personal information is protected from public access
- slander
- false statement that harms a person’s reputation
- standards of care
- guidelines that create a baseline of appropriate (reasonable) professional conduct for nurses
- tort
- commission or omission that harms someone, creating a civil case for courts to adjudicate liability
- unintentional tort
- wrong that occurs when a defendant’s actions or inactions were reckless or unreasonably unsafe
- veracity
- telling the truth