Legal and ethical aspects of nursing malpractice

Nursing Malpractice

Although not encountered very often, nursing malpractice presents in increasingly clear and present risk due to the current high demands placed on nurses. Nurses, as well as doctors, administrators and other hospital personnel, need to be aware of this risk and minimize the chances of nursing malpractice. According to Giordano (2003), there are three requisite elements that a patient must prove in order for the law to recognize the situation as a case of malpractice. These include: the establishment of a nurse-patient relationship, establishment of the scope of duty of the nurse, proving there was a departure from good, acceptable practice, and finally there must be proof of a causal link between the acts of the nurse and the patient's injury.

An example of nursing malpractice would be if a nurse, against his or her better judgment, continued administering the wrong treatment to a patient due to a misdiagnosis on the behalf of the attending doctor. In other words, the nurse simply "followed Doctor's orders," even though he or she had a strong inclination that the treatment was incorrect or even detrimental to the patient. This wrong doing is in violation of the ethical obligation of nurses to advocate on behalf patients in order to ensure their well-being. If a patient is injured due to this kind of mistreatment, the hospital is liable, and the nurse may receive discipline, possibly suspension. However, the plaintiff (the patient) may also choose to file a law suit against the individual nurse as well (Giordano, 2003).