Negligence
Latasha Adegboruwa
University of Phoenix
Health Law and ethics
HCS/478
Lynda White
April 18, 2011

Negligence “Registered nurses have more professional accountability than at any other time in the history of nursing. As a result, nurses must confront the fact that they now owe a higher duty of care to their patients, and by extension, are more exposed to civil claims for negligence than ever before”(Weld and Bibb, 2009, p 2). “Negligence is described as failure to use such care as a reasonable prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances” (Weld and Bibb, 2009, p3). Common examples of negligence are malnutrition, inadequate hydration, physical injury was done, and it was the result of the nurse’s care or lack thereof. There are five main elements in a nursing negligence case and all five elements have to be proven for a case to be valid 1. The nurse had a duty to perform. 2. The appropriate care was not apparent in the situation. 3. There was a breach of violation of care 3. There was injury proven to result from the nurse’s negligence and 5. There is proof that damages occurred as a direct result of the situation. (Avery, 2009). Gross negligence is a more serious form of negligence and goes further than carelessness. While regular negligence is seen as a person falling below the standard of care, gross negligence is seen as complete failure to show care and in fact implies recklessness or a willful disregard for the safety of a human being. An example of this would be “At a nursing home, a patient with dementia is difficult to watch and control. The nurses restrain the women for most of the day and night, leaving her with joint problems and bedsores” (Abraham, 2001). To prove gross negligence a person has to prove the person liable acted in a way that was unsafe and caused harm to a person. Also it has to be proven that the person liable violated his duty to the person. It also has to be established that the action of the person liable caused injury to the person and that the injury could have been avoided. Malpractice often called medical malpractice is failure of a medical profession to meet the standards of good medical practice in the field in which they practice. Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or nurse for example does something that a competent professional would not have done. An example “A 42-year-old man admitted for a sore throat was given antibiotics and pain medication known to cause labored breathing. When the man developed a breathing problem, he was given more medication. The nurse did not inform her supervisor or emergency physician about the condition of the patient. Because of the respiratory arrest, this man had severe hypoxic which caused brain damage and went into a permanent coma” (Bhat, 2011). To prove medical malpractice the healthcare provider must be proved to be negligent and breached the standard of care and failed to act in a careful manner that a similar healthcare provider would do in a similar situation. Also you must use another expert (doctor, nurse) to prove that a violation of the standard of care has occurred. You must also prove the standard of care violated caused the patient injury or harm. Finally you must prove that the patient incurred damages that are not speculative (injury-trial-lawyer, 2011). In the article, Amputation Mishap, negligence cited, Joseph Benson underwent an amputation for the left leg, and the wrong leg was amputated. I do agree with the statement of amputation mishap, negligence cited. My rational behind my decision is that Mr. Benson went in for an amputation of the right knee not the left. The hospital was negligent because the doctors and nurses failed to give proper care and perform their duty to make sure they were amputating the correct leg. There was a breach of care because they had a legal obligation to protect the patient from harm. The injury and damages Mr. Benson sustained is a direct negligence on the part of the nurses and doctors. It is the responsibility of the nurses and doctors to protect their patients from harm and injury, and in this case it was not done. Because of their neglect, Mr. Benson will have to suffer with this for the rest of his life. “In today’s healthcare arena the nurse not only has a professional responsibility, but is also held accountable to document patient data that accurately reflects nursing assessment, plan, intervention and evaluation of the patient’s condition. In addition to this professional responsibility, nursing documentation is also significant for the following reason :”( Hudson, 2009). For legal reasons, in documenting in this case, I would show documentation that the standard of care was met by following standard of care set by JACHO. Ethically my primary goal is to protect my patient. First, I would document with another nurse that Mr. Benson is the right patient by using two patient identifiers. I would then document that we did a time-out by having each surgical team member verify the patient, surgical site, and procedure in the operating room. By following these steps I am protecting my patient ethically and legally. Since the nurses and doctors didn’t uphold the standard of care by implementing the time-out, Mr. Benson had the wrong leg amputated. Mr. Benson’s rights were violated legally and ethically. The ethical principles I would practice in Mr. Benson’s case is beneficence, which is to do what is in his best interest. I would also follow the principle of nonmaleficence, to do no harm to my patient. I would also advocate for my patient to ensure he gets the best care and treatment. By following all of these ethical principles, I am making sure that there will be no harm done to him as well as giving him the care that he deserves. In conclusion, it is in the best interest of our patients to do what is right for them by following all standards of care legally and ethically. It is always a good idea to always follow our ethical principles, which remind us that it’s our patients that matter the most.

Abraham, K.S. (2001). The Trouble with Negligence. The Vanderbilt Law Review, 54(3), Retrieved from http://www.highbeam.com
Avery, G. (2009). Negligence: a prescribing dilemma. Practice Nurse, 38(10), 36-39. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.
Bhat, V. N. (2001). Medical Malpractice: A Comprehensive Analysis. Westport, CT: Auburn House. Retrieved April 17, 2011, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=101049869 (2011). Injury Trial Lawyer. Retrieved from http://www.injurytriallawyer.com/ what-you-have-to-prove/malpractice.com (2009). Nursing Continuing Education. Retrieved from http://http//dynamicnursingeducation.com
Weld, K., & Bibb, S.C. (2009, January-March). Concept Analysis: Malpractice and Modern-Day Nursing Practice. The Authors Journal Compilation, 44(1),