Nursing Negligence

In the field of health care, the term malpractice involved only the wrongs of negligence of a physician. The nurses functioned with a more defined framework. It was common for the nurse to wait and then implement the orders of a physician. Nonetheless, the nurses are playing increasingly important role in the treatment and care of hospital throughput the world thus making nursing negligence claims to be more common than before. Unfortunately, in most of the events the nurses are mostly overburdened and understaffed which can result to treatment and care that falls below the standards of care (Peterson, 2006). An error of a nurse may include any act of negligence or mistake in regards to some type of care of patient. These mistakes or negligence can happen in several different ways including the nurse failing to follow the prescription of the doctor for treatment, a nurse administering wrong medication to a patient, a nurse failing to call a doctor for an emergency or failing to follow up on a patient.

In the last decade, nursing has matured into a progressively more advanced sophisticated, specialized and independent profession. The role of the nurse in providing care to the patient has also expanded. Consequently liability for basic nursing negligence has moved to its “professional” counterpart, malpractice (Peterson, 2006). No other specialty relies more heavily on the nurses than the obstetrical nursing field and the stakes for patients and the families involved could be high.

The nurses owe their service to the patients they serve. According to the American Nurses Association, a nurse “promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the health safety and rights of the patient.” On top of that, the nurse is responsible and liable for her or his nursing practice and will determine the appropriate task delegation consistent with the obligation of the nurse to provide optimum care to the patient. As the person with the greatest exposure to a patient in the hospital, it is paramount for the nurse to take the responsibility of making assessment of the status of the patients and communicate the status effectively to the physicians, charged also with the ultimate care of the patients (Peterson, 2006).

Nurse with specialized training or extensive experience are held to higher care standards, in regards to what a reasonable and wise nurse would have done with the same training or experience would have done in a similar set of circumstances. Under the standards, the nurses with vast experiences or training are presumed to have in mind the potential problems the physician who restates the order or if the nurse relies on the assertion of the physician that the physician will take full liability that the members of the nursing profession employ. A nurse will be accountable in tort if harm ensues because he or she does not have or use such skills, knowledge diligence or care.

A nurse working for a hospital is legally bided to be aware of the policies and procedures that define the nursing standards of care. On occasions, the nurse may be confronted with an order of a physician directly contradicting the written policies and procedures of the hospital. In a case where an order contravenes the medical standards, customary procedures, practices, hospital policies or procedures the nurse is entitled to defer, question or flout the order. A nurse is encouraged to consult with other physicians concerning such matters and when the condition of the patient the attention then the nurse has the obligation to make such calls. If the physician insists on carrying out the order, the nurse should delay in executing it and report the matter to the supervisor or any other responsible hospital official.

References

Peterson, K. F. (2006). Nursing Negligence. Miller & Ciresi L.L.P.