Libel and slander are both forms of defamation of character and involves passing along something that is not true, or you don’t have the right to pass it along. Libel is defamation by writing. Slander is defamation through verbal communication.

False imprisonment is restriction of patient decisions and movements. It includes putting a competent patient in restraints and making them believe they cannot leave the facility. Patients with schizophrenia are not reality based and can be restrained.

Patients with obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder are reality based and could sign themselves out AMA. When there is an NCLEX test question with AMA, the supervisor is the priority notification to help to handle the situation.

Invasion of privacy is unauthorized access to information, giving out information to others, or taking pictures without permission. Except in an emergency, information can only be released to the people the patient has designated.

In the case of a patient making threats against another person, there is a legal obligation to warn the person the threat is directed to.​

• In Battery, you Beat them up.
• It must be Legible to be Libel.
• Slander is Saying something.
• Supervisor is priority in AMA.

In preparing for the NCLEX exam, a broad knowledge of these legal terms and concepts are important for testing. Review negligence which is an unintentional tort. The “Memory Hints” are helpful to distinguish between the intentional torts of assault and battery and libel and slander. Also, notification of the supervisor with an AMA.