About Nurses' Malpractice and Negligence

Negligence, in general, is an act or omission that falls below a standard of care owed. For example, all drivers have a duty to avoid causing foreseeable injuries to other drivers and pedestrians. Medical malpractice is a type of negligence that is performed by a medical professional during the course of their work. Nonprofessionals can't be held to the standards of the medical professions, but persons who have been specially trained, educated and licensed are accountable for performance that deviates from the customs of their field.

Elements of Negligence

• A nurse's actions constitute negligence when they breach a duty of care owed to the patient and the actions are the legal cause of the their demonstrable injury. There is a general duty for all people to always exercise reasonably prudent care to avoid foreseeable risks to others. Certain special relationships or abilities can create a heightened standard of care or an obligation to act in emergency situations.

Medical Malpractice

• Professionals, like doctors and nurses, are held to a higher standard of care for actions performed within the scope of their work. This standard is generally defined as the regular custom of behavior for a professional in the same or similar circumstances. A nurse commits malpractice when she acts in a way different from that in which a competent nurse in the same situation would act and a patient is harmed as a result.

Harm

• A nurse can cause harm to a patient in a variety of ways. One of the most common ways is through improper administration of medication. The doctor's role is to instruct the nurse on the type and amount of medication, and how it should be administered. The nurse's task is to carry out the doctor's orders. A nurse can also cause harm and thereby commit malpractice through the use of medical equipment.

Omissions

• Negligence and malpractice can also arise from omissions that cause harm. An omission is a failure to act when the standard of care would have required action. A nurse has the duty to monitor a patient's condition and report significant changes to a doctor. If a reasonably competent nurse should have notices a change in a patient's condition, but didn't, the omission can give rise to medical malpractice.

Liability

• The question of who is liable for a nurse's malpractice can be complex. Her employer, often a hospital, could be vicariously liable. She might also have malpractice insurance, the provider of which often decides whether to settle a malpractice claim or take on the expense of fighting it in court. An attending physician can be liable if he was in a position to prevent the nurse's negligence, but did not.