There are four main sources of law in the United States legal system. These include statutes, (judicial) case law, the Constitution and administrative regulations. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an Original EssayIn the source of laws under the statutes, it includes state legislatures, Congress, as well as county and municipal governments. State legislatures will pass state laws, while local or county governments will pass laws that apply only to their specific localities. The statutes are made to pronounce, order or prohibit laws in each of their localities. An example of statutory law is where one obtains their nursing license. Case law (judicial) is another source of laws in the United States. These case laws consist of opinions that will help determine various decisions made by the court and shape and determine current law. For example, the Supreme Court's decision on same-sex marriages helped shape current law. The constitution now recognizes this right. Judicial laws are developed by the judiciary and clarify legal issues under debate (Guido, 2014). The Constitution is another source of laws. The Constitution contains the laws established for government. These laws set the limits of what the government can and cannot do. This limits the overall power of the government. The Constitution is considered the backbone of the legal system in the United States because it outlines the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, including nurses (Fremgen, 2019). The Constitution annuls laws that could contradict it. So no law will be passed if it violates the constitution. Other sources of law include administrative regulations. These are basically the rules and procedures of different government agencies. These laws focus not on what is done, but on how things are done. An example of administrative regulation would be the number of days given to a person to file a complaint regarding freedom of expression under the constitution. There are many different administrative agencies that make rules about how laws should and will be enforced. The legislative branch gives this power to develop these rules to the executive branch to develop these rules (Fremgen, 2019). Although the legislature is able to remove this power through legislative action, the sources of law discussed above support and protect nursing practice. Licenses are granted to each group of health professionals by the state or government. Regulations and laws for everyone that define their scope of practice. Since constitutional law affirms the right to life for every individual, it requires nurses and other healthcare professionals to protect life at all costs (Fremgen, 2019). Nursing was identified as a profession in 1975, which helped identify nurses worthy of protection by state laws and influence how nursing is practiced within the rules of the law. Later that year, nurses began receiving negligence complaints against them. This negligence was considered professional misconduct. Therefore, the law required nurses to use the principles of nursing to provide care to their patients. Every state has laws that provide protection to itsnurses and the court of this state will determine the laws. Different state laws as well as federal law can impact nursing practice differently. Others impose responsibility. Healthcare practitioners and nurses need to be aware of the various legal risks involved in caring for their patients. They must follow the state nursing practice law to a tee (Shecaira, 2015). There are several classifications of law, including civil law, common law, public law, criminal law, procedural law, and substantive law. Civil law is commonly involved in the nursing profession. In civil law, tort law is a specific division that the nursing profession must be familiar with. This is the area of ​​law most often associated with malpractice claims. This often happens when nurses unfairly harm a patient and may have to compensate their patients that they may have harmed. (Guido, 2014). This is why civil law is commonly used to help establish the rules and regulations of practice. This is done to prevent similar injuries from recurring. All of this is necessary considering how often people file lawsuits over just about anything. Some people don't take into account the many reasons why errors occur. Some examples include understaffing, long working hours, and just plain human error. One of the most controversial topics in health care ethics is that related to medical malpractice and negligence. Nurses must therefore exercise great diligence when caring for their patients. The definition of professional misconduct is described as the unethical and improper practice of one's profession. Negligence is generally referred to as the failure to exercise due care and caution (Shecaira, 2015). Negligence is sometimes seen as not doing the right thing at the right time. While malpractice is described as professionals failing to practice to a standard of care while causing harm to clients. This is sometimes due to lack of skills in their profession. Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional intentionally fails to provide acceptable standards of care to their patients and causes injury or death (Raz, 2013). Medical negligence occurs when a medical professional ignores their responsibilities and causes injury or death. These professionals do not intend to harm them, but, through ignorance or lack of action, they end up harming them. Cases of medical ignorance sometimes involve unintentional errors or oversights (Shecaira, 2015). Medical negligence and medical malpractice can be interchangeable. They both have a need for medical professionals and their actions or lack of actions that could result in injury or even death to their patients. These cases can be taken to court if there is sufficient evidence to do so (Raz, 2013). Medical malpractice and negligence cases are typically extremely complex. They require qualified special attorneys to determine whether a case falls into the category of medical malpractice or medical negligence. When claims are successfully brought by victims of medical malpractice and/or medical negligence, damages are awarded to compensate the victims. Payments are made to cover current and future medical costs. These damages may also include, 28(1), 15-30.