ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Medicolegale 2001 March;121(1): 37-52

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

The nurse’s role in cranial trauma. Operative problems and medico-legal aspects

Rocchietti G., Curto G., Mascaro V.

A special aspect of the nursing profession. New guidelines based on legislative areas of skill and responsibilities. The enactment of the Ministerial Decree n. 739 of 14 september 1994; ''Regulation concerning the definition of the figure of the nurse and of the related professional profile'', represents one of the most important and significant steps in the process of reorganization and reform of non-medical health operators, including the figure of the nurse. Furthermore Law n. 42 of 26 February 1999; ''Provisions on the subject of health professions'' replaces the old term used by the TULS, ''auxiliary health profession'' with the term ''health profession'' and, moreover, revokes the ''regulations'' for professional practice. The area covered by the nursing profession is therefore determined by the contents of the ministerial decree establishing the professional profile, the syllabus of the university diploma course and the code of professional conduct, except for those areas of expertise specified by medical professions and other health professions requiring possession of a university degree in reciprocal compliance with the specific professional skill.
The activities, autonomy and responsibilities of the professional nurse are also strongly influenced by health politics in the area in which the latter works, the needs of the reference population, the organizational context, the type of professional practice, individual training and professional experience and the approaches emerging from scientific findings. The new guidelines for professional practice therefore outline an extremely flexible situation in which the skill and responsibilities must be adapted to the context and personalized on the basis of existing constraints and resources in full compliance with professional ethics.