Long-Term Care Settings, Ranging From Legal Issues

¶ … long-term care settings, ranging from legal issues typical of any care setting such as malpractice suits, accusations of negligence, licensing procedures and/or violations, etc., to issues that are more specific to long-term care provision such as an increased duty of care, issues involving decision-making and the ability to recommend and/or dictate care, and non-medical issues such as potential thefts and other abuses (THCA, 2012). All of these legal issues relate to ethical issues in one way or another, some with very clear and direct links, and they must be carefully considered in the planning and carrying out of long-term care and long-term care settings. If a nurse administrator were to find that an ethical violation has occurred, the healthcare team members should be approached first in an inquisitive and instructive manner, ensuring that team members are aware of ethical and legal guidelines as well as the justifications behind these guidelines. If ethical violations are repeated, more responsive and perhaps punitive action needs to be taken, though the primary motive should be avoiding ethical problems, not punishing or penalizing those who end up creating such problems.

2)

While the Multistate Compact Nurse Licensure represents a significant step in standardizing the recommended features of nurse licensing programs and the requirements that nurses should have to meet before being able to practice, and while it is difficult to find fault with the guidelines in the MCNL, it is doubtful that this will ever actually become a national licensure agreement (Phillipsen & Haynes, 2007). It is not that the guidelines are not fitting for the nation as a whole or any individual states, but more that there are practical as well as political issues with developing a nationwide binding agreement when it comes to nurse licensure. If there were a national licensure program of any sort, whether it looks like the current MCNL or not, states would have to relinquish some level (perhaps a great deal) of power and autonomy in determining how nurses should be educated and what practices they should be required to demonstrate skill in. While this might be seen as a good thing by some, it would involve more significant changes to many states' current plans and procedures, and many state government officials would likely see this as an intrusion on states' rights and independence. For this reason, a national licensure program is unlikely any time in the foreseeable future.

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