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PROFFESIONAL LIABILITY IN NURSING

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PROFFESIONAL LIABILITY IN NURSING

Introduction

Professional liability in healthcare arises from errors or omissions incurred while

executing their professional activities. The tremendous shortage in healthcare givers has seen the

scope of nursing practice rapidly broaden to cover the existing human resource gaps. This

expanded scope subsequently increases instances when legal professional liability may be raised

against nurses in their day-to-day practice. The most common legal liability cases instituted

against nurses stem from negligence and malpractice.

Negligence

Negligence arises from the law of tort that covers civil wrongs done against individuals.

According to (Pozgar and Santucci 2019), negligence as a tort entails personal wrong that arises

from the inadvertent commission or omission of an act that a reasonable person would or would

not have done under normal circumstances. In healthcare, negligence primarily occurs where the

healthcare professional carelessly deviates from the usual standard of care expected of them, and

as a result, the patient sustains harm. Some crucial elements must be proved for a patient to

successfully bring a negligence claim against a nurse.

First, a duty to care; the proximity of the relationship should be so close that the acts or

omissions of one party will affect the other, then a duty of care is established. In this case, the

nurse-patient relationship creates a duty of care. Second, breach of the duty of care; for a

negligence to prevail, the patient will have to sufficiently prove that there was a duty of care

owed to them and that the nurse, through their acts or omissions, breached this duty. As a result,

the plaintiff incurred injuries (Philips et al., 2021). Third, the causation element requires that the
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patient prove that the injuries sustained arose from the nurse’s acts or inactions. Lastly, the

patient must prove that they suffered harm from the negligent acts or omissions of the nurse.

In healthcare practice, there are three forms of negligence, namely;

a) Malfeasance

It entails unlawful actions carried out by a nurse, mainly if the action is expressly prohibited

or obligated by the law. An example would be when the nurses act beyond their scope of practice

at law.

b) Misfeasance

It involves instances where the nurse executes their duty but does so improperly such that the

patient is injured. An example would be when a nurse administers the wrong dose of drugs to a

patient under their care.

c) Nonfeasance

Nonfeasance negligence will occur where a nurse expressly fails to act in circumstances

where they are obligated to perform. For example, if a nurse sees a patient collapse in the

passageway, they are statutorily obligated to offer medical assistance or seek further assistance.

Failing to provide help will be a breach of statutory duty.

Case scenario

A nurse attached to an Intensive care unit is has a primary duty to constantly and consistently

monitor the vital signs and document the same. If something out of the ordinary happens, the

nurse will be expected to provide the appropriate care or seek help from the presiding physician.

Suppose the nurse leaves the room for long hours or gets distracted in other activities, causing
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them to miss a change in the patient’s vital signs. As a result, the patient succumbs to death or

suffers permanent medical injuries. In that case, the nurse will be legally liable for the harm

suffered by the patient.

Most civil suits regarding nursing negligence and negligence stem from the failure to

properly monitor a patient's vital signs, respond to a patient promptly, seek physician assistance

where needed, and lastly, improper charting of patient's progress leading to wrong medical

interventions.

Malpractice

Medical malpractice is closely related to negligence, but action or omission by a nurse

will only become malpractice if it causes injury to the patient. In contrast, negligence may mean

that they acted below the expected standards of practice.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Negligence suits are one of the most dreaded experiences in a nurse's career. They can be

a detrimental impediment to the advancement of one's career, even though most of these

malpractice claims occur from mistakes. To prevent negligence, nurses should be highly

attentive to their patients, undertake further education to be updated with the latest developments

in the medical field and enhance their documenting skills.

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References

Phillips, C., Thorne, L., Casey, A. T., & Russo, A. (2021). Medical negligence: A neurosurgeon’s

guide. Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery, 23, 100970. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.inat.2020.100970

Pozgar, G.D., and Santucci, N. (2019) Legal aspects of healthcare administration. Jones and Bartlett

Learning.