Running Head: Legal Risks of Nurses
Shaquita Jefferson
Legal Risks of Nurses
MHA 622: Health Care Ethics & Law
Instructor: Judy Roberts
If a nurse were neglecting patients in his/her care, the nurse could be held responsible for the negligence. Negligence is defined as the failure to take an action that should have been attended to right away. Medication not administered, care not given, supervision that is not provided for all of these things may qualify as negligence. A patient should have the right to expect that a certain level of care would he or she provided for them. If that level is not maintained, the patient may have grounds for legal action to the remedy that results from the negligent activities.
The Case of Mr. …show more content…
Ard was a patient under the care of a hospital. Mr. Ard began feeling nauseous and feeling very ill. His wife Mrs. Ard called for a nurse several times, but no one came. Later in the evening someone came and administered nausea medication. After that, nausea kept getting worse. Mrs. Ard was very concerned because her husband was having difficulty breathing and was not acting right. She called several times again for the nurses help because she believed her husband was dying. According to Mrs. Ard, 1.25 hours had gone by before anyone responded to her calls. The code then was called, and Mr. Ard did not make it. Why did things go wrong for Mr. and Mrs. Ard? When Mr. Ard was first admitted to the hospital, apparently he had been evaluated by his physician and progress notes were that the patient was at high risk for aspiration. The nurses never addressed that in their nurse's care plan and the result was Mr. Ard losing his life and Mrs. Ard losing her …show more content…
Medication not administered, care not given, supervision that is not provided for all of these things may qualify as negligence. There is clear case of negligence and not malpractice. The nurse should be held responsible and not the hospital. A malpractice suit would indicate doing something wrong when it was reasonable to expect that the activity would have been done correctly. For example, if a nurse do the correct range of motion movements on a patient the wrong way and causes additional strain or pain to the joints? As you know, this was not the case for Mr. Ard and his wife, Mrs. Ard.
How can these things be prevented?
Nurses have a lot to deal with, and a lot to expect of them. A nurse should be aware of this and should be prepared for the tasks that follow providing care for patients. No one ever said nursing was easy, and it is up to a nurse to make sure they have a clear understanding of a patient that is in their care. One of the greatest legal defenses a nurse has is always to document properly. The process can work the other way as well though; in this case it worked against her and the nurse Ms. Florscheim should be held responsible if there were a documentation error. If there is a time, the nurse felt as if the charts on Mr. Ard were wrong then she should have double checked before neglecting Mrs. Ard calls for
Shaquita Jefferson
Legal Risks of Nurses
MHA 622: Health Care Ethics & Law
Instructor: Judy Roberts
If a nurse were neglecting patients in his/her care, the nurse could be held responsible for the negligence. Negligence is defined as the failure to take an action that should have been attended to right away. Medication not administered, care not given, supervision that is not provided for all of these things may qualify as negligence. A patient should have the right to expect that a certain level of care would he or she provided for them. If that level is not maintained, the patient may have grounds for legal action to the remedy that results from the negligent activities.
The Case of Mr. …show more content…
Ard was a patient under the care of a hospital. Mr. Ard began feeling nauseous and feeling very ill. His wife Mrs. Ard called for a nurse several times, but no one came. Later in the evening someone came and administered nausea medication. After that, nausea kept getting worse. Mrs. Ard was very concerned because her husband was having difficulty breathing and was not acting right. She called several times again for the nurses help because she believed her husband was dying. According to Mrs. Ard, 1.25 hours had gone by before anyone responded to her calls. The code then was called, and Mr. Ard did not make it. Why did things go wrong for Mr. and Mrs. Ard? When Mr. Ard was first admitted to the hospital, apparently he had been evaluated by his physician and progress notes were that the patient was at high risk for aspiration. The nurses never addressed that in their nurse's care plan and the result was Mr. Ard losing his life and Mrs. Ard losing her …show more content…
Medication not administered, care not given, supervision that is not provided for all of these things may qualify as negligence. There is clear case of negligence and not malpractice. The nurse should be held responsible and not the hospital. A malpractice suit would indicate doing something wrong when it was reasonable to expect that the activity would have been done correctly. For example, if a nurse do the correct range of motion movements on a patient the wrong way and causes additional strain or pain to the joints? As you know, this was not the case for Mr. Ard and his wife, Mrs. Ard.
How can these things be prevented?
Nurses have a lot to deal with, and a lot to expect of them. A nurse should be aware of this and should be prepared for the tasks that follow providing care for patients. No one ever said nursing was easy, and it is up to a nurse to make sure they have a clear understanding of a patient that is in their care. One of the greatest legal defenses a nurse has is always to document properly. The process can work the other way as well though; in this case it worked against her and the nurse Ms. Florscheim should be held responsible if there were a documentation error. If there is a time, the nurse felt as if the charts on Mr. Ard were wrong then she should have double checked before neglecting Mrs. Ard calls for