What is the single, most important legal issue I must be aware of as I take care of my patients? Today’s nurse must manage complex situations both in inpatient and outpatient settings. Add to this the phenomenal advances taking place in technology and the delivery of health care, the current pandemic, and the nurse takes on an extra, very demanding burden. Plus, society expects nurses to be competent, compassionate, and available. Although nursing professionals spend years learning their profession, and are very well trained, they are not prepared for the legal issues which disrupt their practice. Chief among these is being sued for nursing malpractice.
As a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant (PLNC), you will learn the ins and outs of nursing practice, both on the side of individual suing and of the nurse, or health care provider, getting sued. Your skills are transferrable and can be used on either side, just not in the same case.
Generally speaking, think of malpractice as the main category in torts and the subcategory as negligence which means a nurse failed to exercise that degree of nursing care which would be expected from another nurse in a similar clinical situation.
Viewed legally, negligence has a special meaning and a much narrower definition then the general connotation of negligence we often think of, such as neglecting to do a task, job, or procedure correctly. Malpractice can be viewed as negligence committed by a professional, such as a nurse or physician.
Traditionally, patients sued only hospitals and doctors for negligence leading to bad patient outcomes, but today more and more nurses find themselves entangled in these legal battles. While malpractice claims were the first legal assaults to affect the practice of nursing, employment and other legal issues shortly followed.
One of the goals of nursing practice includes liability reduction. Next time you perform patient care, think of the definition of negligence and malpractice to insure you provide not only considerate, but safe, nursing care. The next step is often the filing of a lawsuit, which as a Professional Legal Nurse Consultant, you might be reviewing.
