What is defamation?

Prepare for the Nursing Ethics and Law Exam. Study with multiple choice questions, each offering hints and explanations. Ace your exam with confidence and understanding.

Multiple Choice

What is defamation?

Explanation:
Defamation is a false statement of fact about a person that harms that person’s reputation and is shared with someone else. For a statement to be defamatory, it must be untrue, present a factual claim (not just an opinion), be communicated to a third party, and cause damage to the person’s reputation. In nursing, this could happen if someone makes false claims about a colleague’s professionalism or about a patient, and others hear or read those claims. The other terms aren’t defamation: common law is the broad system of judge-made law; a DNR is a medical order about resuscitation preferences; and a generic term like “Complex Nursing Situation” isn’t a legal concept. So defamation is the concept being tested.

Defamation is a false statement of fact about a person that harms that person’s reputation and is shared with someone else. For a statement to be defamatory, it must be untrue, present a factual claim (not just an opinion), be communicated to a third party, and cause damage to the person’s reputation. In nursing, this could happen if someone makes false claims about a colleague’s professionalism or about a patient, and others hear or read those claims. The other terms aren’t defamation: common law is the broad system of judge-made law; a DNR is a medical order about resuscitation preferences; and a generic term like “Complex Nursing Situation” isn’t a legal concept. So defamation is the concept being tested.

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