N Ethical and legal foundations Therapeutic nurse patient

N Ethical and legal foundations Therapeutic nurse patient relationship

Assault and Battery • Physical abuse at nursing homes is a serious problem. It can be very difficult to prevent or stop abuse in situations when the victim feels afraid or secluded and does not report what is happening to supervisors or their family. In these types of situations, professionals and family members must be knowledgeable about the risk of abuse and the signs that physical abuse has occurred.

Assault • Assault is the intentional act of making someone fear that you will cause them harm. You do not have to actually harm them to commit assault. Threatening them verbally or pretending to hit them are both examples of assault that can occur in a nursing home.

• Battery is the intentional act of causing physical harm to someone. Unlike assault, you don’t have to warn the victim or make him fearful before you hurt them for it to count as battery. If a nursing home attendant surprises the patient and pushes the patient from behind, that would qualify as battery. Assault and battery occurs simultaneously when an individual threatens to harm someone and then physically harms that person.

Possible Signs of Nursing Home Assault and Battery • • • Bruises, cuts, and wounds Fractures and broken bones Any unexplained injuries Loss of hair Torn or bloody clothing Depression or anxiety

After Finding Examples of Assault and Battery • When you find out that the nursing home staff is committing assault and battery, you should remove the patient from the nursing home immediately. After accusing the staff of abuse, they may act in retaliation ﺍﻧﺘﻘﺎﻡ against the patient. Assault and battery is a criminal offense, so you should quickly inform the authorities, so that they can prosecute the offenders and prevent them from harming any other patients.

• You may also be able to file a civil suit against the staff members for committing the assault and battery. If the nursing home was aware of the abuse or knew that these staff members had a history of abusing patients, you may also be able to file a negligence suit against the facility. A lawyer who is experienced with nursing home lawsuits will be able to help you determine what legal options are available.

Good Samaritan laws ﻗﻮﺍﻧﻴﻦ ﻣﻦ ﻳﺘﻄﻮﻉ ﻟﻤﺴﺎﻋﺪﺓ ﺍﻟﻐﺮﻳﺐ ﺃﻮ ﺇﻏﺎﺛﺘﻪ • Good Samaritan laws offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are, or who they believe to be, injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated. ﺍﻟﻌﺠﺰ. The protection is intended to reduce bystanders' hesitation to assist, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death.

• An example of such a law in common-law areas of Canada: a good Samaritan doctrine is a legal principle that prevents a rescuer who has voluntarily helped a victim in distress from being successfully sued for wrongdoing. Its purpose is to keep people from being reluctant to help a stranger in need for fear of legal repercussions should they make some mistake in treatment. By contrast, a duty to rescue law requires people to offer assistance and holds those who fail to do so liable.