Northwest Dublin Local Health Office, Dublin, Ireland.
Public Health Nurs. 2010 Mar-Apr;27(2):181-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1525-1446.2010.00840.x.
This paper explores the current literature related to legal issues encountered by the public health nurse in Ireland in visiting clients exhibiting self-neglecting behavior. Nurses working in community settings where home visiting of clients is required will at some point encounter situations of client self-neglect. Possession of a clear legal framework for the local area that addresses both the nurse's professional responsibility and the client's rights is needed. Because a high incidence of depression and dementia seen in self-neglecting adults has prompted calls for wider screening of the agreeable client, an understanding of the definition of competence and capacity in the national legal system for that client becomes critical. In Ireland, as in many other countries, refusal of care or screening is the right of any competent adult. However, issues of mandatory reporting, confidentiality, and trespass may differ from other areas. Nursing care delivered at the community level to a client exhibiting self-neglecting behavior involves a delicate balance of trust and support. Through this overview of the legal implications for self-neglecting clients in Ireland, nurses have the opportunity to begin an exploration of similarities and differences in approach on a global level.
本文探讨了爱尔兰公共卫生护士在访问表现出自我忽视行为的客户时所遇到的法律问题的现有文献。在需要对客户进行家庭访问的社区环境中工作的护士，将在某个时刻遇到客户自我忽视的情况。需要有一个明确的地方法律框架，既解决护士的专业责任，也解决客户的权利。由于在自我忽视的成年人中，抑郁和痴呆的发病率很高，促使人们呼吁更广泛地对可接受的客户进行筛查，因此了解国家法律体系中该客户的能力和能力的定义至关重要。在爱尔兰，和许多其他国家一样，任何有能力的成年人都有权拒绝护理或筛查。但是，强制报告、保密和侵犯的问题可能与其他地区有所不同。向表现出自我忽视行为的客户提供社区层面的护理涉及到信任和支持的微妙平衡。通过对爱尔兰自我忽视客户的法律影响进行概述，护士有机会开始在全球范围内探索方法的相似之处和差异。
