Two legal aspects of concern to nursing are professional negligence and scope of practice. All nurses, community public health, informatics, and forensic nurses must consider the legal implication of their own practice in each patient encounter. According to the text the issue of scope of practice involves defining nursing, setting its credentials, and then distinguishing between the practices of nurses, physicians, and other healthcare providers. Professional negligence or malpractice is defined as an act or a failure to act that leads to injury of a client. Despite the legal theory of sovereign immunity and the Good Samaritan law all nurse should carry their own professional malpractice liability insurance. (Stanhope: Community and Public Nursing Chapter 8)
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