AU3S047 - Legal and Professional Issues in Caring for the Acute and Critically Ill 05 Jul 2023 - 31 Aug 2028 | Version 4

Associated Module Information

Module Code: AU3S047
Module Title: Legal and Professional Issues in Caring for the Acute and Critically Ill
Faculty: Faculty of Life Sciences and Education
Faculty Group: Community and Professional Practice Nursing
Faculty Sub Group: Professional Nursing Practice
Module Leader: Lauren Jones
Module Team: Meirion Williams, Iwan Dowie
First Intended Intake: SEP 2012 Final Year of Intake: 2012
Date Closed:
Credit Value: 20 Credit Level: 6
Language: English
Percentage of Module Taught in Welsh: 0
Equivalent Module:
HECOS codes: 100290 - nursing
HECOS Code Weighting: 100

Document Version Information

Version 4
Valid From 05 Jul 2023
Valid To 31 Aug 2028

Module Aims

To enable the student to critically analyse their practice from a legal and professional perspective

Content Summary

Introduction to legal and professional contexts. The right to health care, upholding human rights. Professional codes, professional decision making, autonomy and accountability. Record keeping. The duty of care, standards of care and the application of these to professional practice in acute and critical care contexts. Professional negligence. Patient/client autonomy, issues related to consent, the right to choose or reject treatment, capacity to consent, assessment of capacity and best interests. The life/death debate, assisted suicide, euthanasia, the implications for the practitioner of acute and critical care. Confidentiality and the challenges for the practitioner.

Learning and Teaching Methods

Activity Type Hours
Formative Assessment - Independent 4
Lecture 18
Independent Study 148
Project supervision 4
Seminar 8
Formative Assessment - Scheduled 4
Practical classes and workshops 4
Tutorial 8
Demonstration 2
Total Hours Selected 200

Learning Outcomes

# Learning Outcome
LO1 Critically evaluate the provision of legal and professional rules applicable to acute and critical care contexts
LO2 Take the lead in the development of frameworks for addressing legal and professional dilemmas in acute and critical care contexts

Module Requisites

N/A

Assessment Criteria

Assessment Category Assessment Type Description Duration Word Count Weight (%) Best of? Pass Mark
Synchronous Online Oral Assessment Practical / Clinical Viva (Online) 1 Undertake a viva-voce. The student will be required to articulate knowledge of appropriate legal/professional issues, and the way in which these impact upon patient/client outcomes and/or service delivery 30 N/A 30 No 40
Asynchronous Assessment Portfolio 1 Clinical Portfolio 0 3000 70 No 40

Assessment Matrix

Assessment Type Learning Outcomes
LO1 LO2
Practical / Clinical Viva (Online) 1
Portfolio 1

Reading List

Griffith, R., (2015). The Mental Capacity Act 2005: assessing capacity. Dental Nursing, 11(3), pp.148-151.

Griffith. R, & Dowie, I (2019) Dimond’s Legal Aspects of Nursing, 8th Ed, UK, Pearson Education LTD

Griffith. R, Tengnath. C (2020) Law & Professional Issues in Nursing, 5th Ed, London, Sage Publications. Inc.

Brazier. M, Cave. E (2016) Medicine, Patients and the Law, 6th Ed, Manchester: Manchester University Press.

Buka, P., (2020). Essential law and ethics in nursing. 3rd ed. Aberdeen: Routledge.

Eaton, G., (2019). Law and ethics for paramedics. 1st ed. Bridgwater: Class Professional Publishing.

Herring. J (2018) Medical Law and Ethics, 7th Ed, UK: Oxford University Press.

Jackson. E (2019) Medical Law, Text, Cases and materials, 5th Ed, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tingle, J. & Cribb, A., (2013). Nursing Law and Ethics. 4th ed. London: John WIley & Sons.