Alabama Administrative Code › Title 610 - ALABAMA BOARD OF NURSING › Chapter 610-X-6 - STANDARDS OF NURSING PRACTICE › Section 610-X-6-.01 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Accountability: The
			 state of being answerable or responsible for action.
(2) Assessment, Comprehensive: The systematic
			 collection and analysis of data, including the physical, psychological, social,
			 cultural, and spiritual aspects of the patient by the registered nurse for the
			 purpose of judging a patient's health and illness status and actual or
			 potential health needs. Comprehensive assessment includes patient history,
			 physical examination, analysis of the data collected, and development,
			 implementation, and evaluation of the patient's plan of care.
(3) Assessment, Focused: An appraisal of a
			 patient's status and specific complaint through observation and collection of
			 objective and subjective data by the registered nurse or licensed practical
			 nurse. Focused assessment may contribute to a comprehensive assessment
			 performed by the registered nurse and involves identification of normal and
			 abnormal findings, and anticipation and recognition of changes or potential
			 changes in the patient's health status.
(4) Assignment, Licensed Nurse: The transfer
			 of responsibility and accountability for nursing activities from one licensed
			 nurse to another.
(5) Assignment,
			 Unlicensed Individual: The assignment of tasks from a licensed nurse to
			 unlicensed assistive personnel. The licensed nurse making the assignment
			 retains accountability for accurate and timely completion and outcome of the
			 tasks.
(6) Medication Assistant,
			 Certified (MAC) Assignment: The assignment by a licensed nurse of medication
			 administration duties to a MAC.
(7)
			 Delegation: The act of authorizing a competent individual to perform selected
			 nursing activities supportive to registered nurses or licensed practical nurses
			 in selected situations, while retaining accountability for the outcome, if the
			 delegation is to an unlicensed individual.
(8) Dual Relationship: Any time a licensed
			 nurse interacts with a patient outside the nurse-patient
			 relationship.
(9) Hospital: A
			 facility described in
Code of Ala. 1975
, Section
			 22-21-20(1),
			 other than a health maintenance organization, which has an organized medical
			 staff, or which employs the services of a medical director who is a physician
			 licensed to practice medicine in Alabama. The term hospital shall not include
			 the private offices of physicians or dentists, whether in individual, group,
			 registered corporation, or registered association practice.
(10) Legally Authorized Prescriber:
			 Healthcare professional who is authorized by law to prescribe medications or
			 other treatment modalities.
(11)
			 May: Power, privilege, or right retained by the Board.
(12) May not: Prohibition.
(13) Moderate Sedation: The administration of
			 pharmacological agent(s) for the purpose of inducing a medically controlled
			 state of depressed consciousness limited to short periods of time and used for
			 diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that:
(a) Allow protective reflexes to be
			 maintained.
(b) Retain the
			 patient's ability to maintain a patent airway, respiratory rate, and
			 rhythm.
(c) Permit expected
			 responses by the patient to physical stimulation and verbal command.