Regulatory law is a term used to describe the laws that govern the practice of nursing. As a nurse, you are mandated to know and apply all of the laws, regulations, and policies that govern nursing practice.
But is this really practical? Should we all just stop reading our nursing textbooks and go learn the real thing? Of course not! You’re a nurse, so you’ve probably seen a lot of legal jargon in your life, and you probably won’t be able to avoid it completely. The more I learn about the legal profession, the more I find that the term “regulatory law” is a bit hard to explain.
The term regulatory law has been around since the early 1800s and originally referred to certain laws that were necessary to protect an individual, such as the laws that prevented people from running away from home, or the laws that prevented people from selling out. However, in more recent times, it has been used more broadly to describe laws that are part of the larger government structure that is in place to protect the public.
We have regulations to ensure that we are safe and healthy. We also have codes of conduct to ensure that we are able to do our jobs safely. It’s the law that is enforced that is of interest to the nurse and the nurse’s assistant. The regulations and codes of conduct that govern the practice of nursing include everything from safety standards to the protection of patients from abuse. I think the regulation part is the part that is most interesting to the nurse.
The regulations and codes of conduct that govern the practice of nursing include everything from safety standards to the protection of patients from abuse. I think the regulation part is the part that is most interesting to the nurse. The regulations that govern the practice of nursing are written in the form of codes of conduct that protect the public from harm, abuse, and mismanagement. These codes of conduct are often referred to as regulatory law because they are subject to legal, administrative, and disciplinary oversight.