PublishedPearson Education, May 2011 |
ISBN9781442551701 |
FormatSoftcover, 208 pages |
This is a concise, easy-to-read book designed for law subjects linked to courses for nurses and allied health professionals. This text explores the change in legislation from state laws to national laws that now govern the nursing profession in Australia.
These changes came into place in 2010. Throughout the chapters, there are practical scenarios that illustrate the day-to-day issues that impact on the working lives of nurses and nursing students alike. These include issues relating to such matters as professional conduct, palliative care, workplace relations matters and most importantly, translating legal principles and providing advice on nurses' own record keeping standards that would satisfy legal scrutiny. Within the chapters, summaries of legal cases involving nurses' actions are analysed in order to broaden the nursing student's awareness of work situations involving legal and governance issues relating to health. The benefit of these well-articulated examples are to enhance nurses' confidence when dealing with these situations.
Likewise, a chapter dedicated to ethics, and discussions on codes of practice aims to improve a nurse's ability to contribute to a safe and competent workplace. This compact book provides valuable web links for further reading to deepen the student's understanding, as well as including the background of nursing governance in Australia prior to the nationalisation of these regulating bodies.