Listen To Your Patient!

Third Step To Avoid Medical Malpractice

Question Authority?

Okay not always but if a physician fails to act when your patient is in distress contact your supervisor.

Follow the chain of command until the problem is resolved. Aoiding confrontation may seem like the easiest path to take but remember if you don't it could cost you your license.

Source:
Stein, T. (2000). More patients are naming nurses in malpractice suits. Retrieved from http://www.nurseweek.com/features/00-05/malpract.html

Second Tool To Minimize Your Risk of Medical Malpractice

Know the law.

"Your state’s Nurse Practice Act is the standard by which your professional behavior will be judged in any potential malpractice case. If it can be conclusively shown that you acted in accordance with the law, the case will likely be dismissed before it goes to trial" (Stein, 2000).

Source:
Stein, T. (2000). More patients are naming nurses in malpractice suits. Retrieved from http://www.nurseweek.com/features/00-05/malpract.html

Minimize Risk of Medical Malpractice.

Remember the basic skill we were taught in nursing school?

If it isn't documented it didn't happen.

Review Questions

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Malpractice Statistics

National Council of State Boards of Nursing reported that disciplinary actions for practice related issues for nurses has increased in the past five years (Ellis, 2010).

The National Practitioner Data Bank reported that there were no claims or payments against advance nurse practitioners from 1990 to 2003.

There were over 16,000 medical malpractice reports against nursing related pracitioners and a majority were listed as registered nurses without specialty designation.

Do you think that advance education of the nurse helps minmize the risk of medical malpractice?

Source:

Ellis, S. (2010). Retrieved from http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/3386/1/The-Nurses-Medical-Malpractice-Primer.html

Nursing Malpractice Statistics. (2004).  Retrieved from http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/medical-malpractice/nursing_malpractice_statistics.htm

Answer the poll from flisti.com

Can a nurse be liable for negligence if he/she followed the physicans orders? Yes if the patient was injured the nurse may be liable. No the nurse was following physician’s orders and would not be liable. or View ResultsCreate your own poll at Flisti.com

Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence?

Hospitals are responsible for their employees' negligence and medical malpractice.

Read the article from Nolo.com for more information.

What if the physician orders you to do something that is not a standard of care?

A majority of nurses are employees of the hospital and frequently become defendants in nursing malpractice cases. Often times there is a dispute to determine if the physician could have controlled the nurses actions at the time negligence occurred. Even if the physician supervises the nurse it is possible that the hospital is liable when improper orders were given and the nurse followed them anyway.

Let's give an example to illustrate my point.

Example: 

A patient experiences an adverse reaction while receiving a blood transfusion from a nurse.
The nurse notifies the physician by telephone of the adverse reaction but the physician gives a verbal order to continue the transfusion.

The nurse continues the transfusion and the patient is injured.
Is the hospital liable?
Is the nurse liable?
What about the physician?

Regardless of the physicians' orders the hospital, nurse and physician may be liable for medical malpractice.

Source: Nolo.com

Have you ever been in a situation when you disagreed with a physician's orders because they were improper or not the standard of care? 

Did you follow the physician's order?

Nursing Malpractice

Civil Law pertains to wrongdoing between individuals or between an individual and a state that excludes criminals. In a civil case the defendant is found liable as opposed to guilty are directed to pay monetary compensation. 

Medical malpractice is negligence when the conduct of the medical professional did not meet the expected professional standards and that failure caused harm to a patient. 

Tort law is the foundation of civil law, this addresses the transgressions of one individual on the legal rights of another. There are two types of tort law, unintentional and intentional. Unintentional tort or negligence may occur as the result of carelessness or accident that caused harm to another.

Negligence as mentioned earlier is a part of tort or personal injury law and is defined as a failure to use that degree of care that any reasonable and prudent person with the same skills would use in the same or similar situation. If a professional such as physician, nurse or even medical assistant is negligent while acting in their professional capacity the term is medical negligence or malpractice. 

According to the National Practitioner Data Bank malpractice payments for nurses

 increased to $5, 567.00 in 2005 from $253.00 in 1998.

Six key areas of negligence:

1. Standard of Care
2. Proper procedure for equipment
3. Communication
4. Documentation
5. Assess and Monitor
6. Act as patient advocate

Source: National Practitioner Data Bank 2005 

Respondeat Superior

Latin for "let the master answer," a key doctrine in the law of agency, which provides that a principal (employer) is responsible for the actions of his/her/its agent (employee) in the "course of employment." 

Thus, an agent who signs an agreement to purchase goods for his employer in the name of the employer can create a binding contract between the seller and the employer. Another example: if a delivery truck driver negligently hits a child in the street, the company for which the driver works will be liable for the injuries.

   Source: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Respondeat+superior

Res ipsa loquitur

Res ipsa loquitur is Latin for "the thing speaks for itself".  There are 4 elements that must be met in any negligence or medical malpractice claim.  

What are the legal elements of a medical malpractice case?

1. Duty
2. Breach of Duty
3. Patient Injury/Damages
4. Causation