Description
Read this scenario. Decide if the situation presents potential elements of malpractice.(Documents attached for the assignment
Nurse A was assigned to Mr. Jones, a post-surgical patient on the Medical-Surgical floor, who had been doing well on the day shift.Nurse A was working a 7:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. shift.(Dr. Grumpy, Mr. Jones’s treating physician, had screamed at Nurse A last month when Nurse A called him at 3:00 A.M. to report a change in status of another of Dr. Grumpy’s patients.) During this shift, Nurse A became uneasy about the status of Mr. Jones, which reflected a substantial change in blood pressure and pulse, but Nurse A did not call Dr. Grumpy, choosing instead to “watch” the situation.At approximately 5:00 A.M., Mr. Jones had to be rushed to emergency surgery with internal bleeding.Now, 1½ years later, Mr. Jones has not recovered from the second surgery.
List the 4 elements of a malpractice claim and, for each of the 4 elements, state which, if any, of the facts in the scenario support that specific element.
| Correctly lists all four elements of a malpractice claim. (50 points) |
| Clearly and correctly states pertinent facts for each element. (50 points) |
Unformatted Attachment Preview
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Now, let’s return to the 4 elements in a malprac�ce claim.
For most malprac�ce cases, Element 1 will be evident. If the Nurse accepted the
assigned pa�ent, then there was a Nurse-‐pa�ent rela�onship formed and a duty
generated from that rela�onship.
Element 2: Breach of the Nurse’s Duty. Duty to the pa�ent is breached when the
Nurse fails to conform to the standard of nursing care for the pa�ent’s condi�on or
situa�on. Expert Nurse Witnesses help the jury understand Standards of Care.
Standards are the measuring rods by which the Defendant Nurse’s ac�ons will be
judged and include such things as the Texas Nursing Prac�ce Act, the Board’s Rules,
specialty organiza�ons’ standards, recognized nursing textbooks and a hospital’s
policies and procedures
2
For example, a Nurse’s breach of duty might be the failure to no�fy the physician of a
change in the Pa�ent’s status. No�fying the physician is a well-‐recognized standard
and is found in a variety of standard se�ng documents-‐ such as a Board Rule, a
hospital policy and a nursing textbook, just to name a few.
3
The third element is that the pa�ent has to have suffered an actual injury. If I were a
pa�ent and I file a malprac�ce suit and I say, “I want to sue ol’ Nancy Nurse. But for
the grace of God, she almost injured me and I don’t want her out there hur�ng other
people,” …the judge would throw that claim out of court because the Pa�ent has to
have suffered an ACTUAL injury. [Now remember with Peer Review/License
Inves�ga�on, if I were that same Pa�ent and I called the Board and I said, “I want to
report ol’ Nancy Nurse, but for the grace of God she almost injured me,” the Board
may very well start an inves�ga�on, because risk of harm is the criteria for license
inves�ga�on. Actual injury, though it may have occurred, is not necessary. What is
the Board’s mandate? To protect and promote the welfare of the ci�zens of Texas. If
the Board is made aware that a Nurse may be prac�cing in an unsafe manner, it does
not have to wait for an actual injury.
4
The fourth element is that the nurse’s ac�on was a contribu�ng cause of the
pa�ent’s injury. These two elements -‐-‐-‐ the breach and the injury-‐-‐-‐ have to be linked.
This usually requires expert medical tes�mony.
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There are three ways that a Nurse can par�cipate in a malprac�ce case: as a Fact
Witness, as an Expert Witness, and as the Defendant.
The Fact Witness is the least stressful role. The Fact Witness may be a nurse who
took care of the pa�ent before the incident in ques�on or a�er the incident in
ques�on. It is someone who has factual informa�on to relate to the jury, but no one
is claiming the Fact Witness did anything wrong.
6
The Expert Witness role is cri�cally important in a nursing malprac�ce trial. This is the
nurse who is going to explain issues to the jury that the jury is deemed to be
incapable of ascertaining for themselves-‐ usually due to the special nature of the
tes�mony. The jury members –most likely have not gone to nursing school-‐have not
prac�ced nursing-‐ do not know the standard of care for, say, a post-‐op neuro-‐surgical
pa�ent. So it is the Expert Witness that will relate to the jury what the nursing
standard of care is, and as importantly, whether or not in that expert’s opinion the
Defendant breached the standard of care (and, therefore, malprac�ced). Both the
Plain�ff and the Defendant will have Expert Witnesses
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As opposed to the Fact Witness and the Defendant -‐-‐-‐ both of whom will have first-‐
hand knowledge of the incident in ques�on -‐-‐-‐ the Expert Witness will not have been
involved in any way in the incident. He or she is supposed to be impar�al and have
based their opinion on having read the medical record and the tes�mony of the other
witnesses. An expert can be recognized as such based on his or her experience,
educa�on, or training. The judge of the court is the person who makes the final
decision if the proposed expert will be recognized as such. As I said, it is a very
important role, and malprac�ce cases o�en become the ba�le of the experts. As I
have tried to emphasize, the expert is the only witness who gives an opinion. Expert
Nurse witnesses generally are paid very well, as their opinions can turn the course of
a trial or lead to a case being se�led even before trial is necessary.
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N3375 Health Policy & Legal Aspects
Module 5: Case Study Assignment – Malpractice
Submit by 2359 (CT) Saturday of Module 5.
Name:
Date:
Overview: Malpractice
Each year, nurses make themselves vulnerable for potential malpractice claims because they are
not well-informed about malpractice elements. You will read a fictitious scenario and identify
pertinent facts that pose risks for malpractice claims.
Refer to your course readings and lectures as you complete the assignment.
Performance Objective:
• Apply the four elements of a malpractice claim to specific incidents.
Rubric
Use this rubric to guide your work on the assignment, “Malpractice.”
Task
Elements of Malpractice
List four elements of a malpractice
claim.
(Total 50 points)
Pertinent Facts
States pertinent facts for each
element of a malpractice claim.
(Total 50 points)
Accomplished
Proficient
Needs Improvement
Correctly lists all four
elements of a
malpractice claim.
Correctly lists three
elements of a
malpractice claim.
Does not correctly list at
least three elements of
a malpractice claim.
(50 points)
(40 points)
(25 points)
Clearly and correctly
states pertinent facts for
each element.
Correctly states
pertinent facts for at
least three elements.
Does not correctly state
pertinent facts for at
least two elements.
(50 points)
(40 point)
(25 point)
©2015 UT Arlington College of Nursing
1
N3375 Health Policy & Legal Aspects
Potential Malpractice Claim
Read this scenario. Decide if the situation presents potential elements of malpractice.
Nurse A was assigned to Mr. Jones, a post-surgical patient on the Medical-Surgical floor, who had
been doing well on the day shift. Nurse A was working a 7:00 P.M. to 7:00 A.M. shift. (Dr.
Grumpy, Mr. Jones’s treating physician, had screamed at Nurse A last month when Nurse A called
him at 3:00 A.M. to report a change in status of another of Dr. Grumpy’s patients.) During this shift,
Nurse A became uneasy about the status of Mr. Jones, which reflected a substantial change in
blood pressure and pulse, but Nurse A did not call Dr. Grumpy, choosing instead to “watch” the
situation. At approximately 5:00 A.M., Mr. Jones had to be rushed to emergency surgery with
internal bleeding. Now, 1½ years later, Mr. Jones has not recovered from the second surgery.
List the 4 elements of a malpractice claim and, for each of the 4 elements, state which, if any, of
the facts in the scenario support that specific element.
Elements of Malpractice Claim
Pertinent Facts
Submitting Your Assignment:
•
Click Module 5: Assignment in the Module 5 Folder
•
Scroll down to Assignment Submission. Click Browse My Computer and
navigate to your Desktop where you saved your paper. Select the final version of
your paper to upload from your computer.
•
Click Submit at the bottom of the Assignment Submission screen and your saved
document assignment will appear in the gradebook with a green exclamation point
that alerts your Academic Coach that your assignment is ready for grading.
©2015 UT Arlington College of Nursing
2
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wasn't sure if i was to delete the other information so i chose to leave it there but if you want me to format i willl gladly do so.
N3375 Health Policy & Legal Aspects
Module 5: Case Study Assignment – Malpractice
Submit by 2359 (CT) Saturday of Module 5.
Name:
Date:
Overview: Malpractice
Each year, nurses make themselves vulnerable for potential malpractice claims because they are
not well-informed about malpractice elements. You will read a fictitious scenario and identify
pertinent facts that pose risks for malpractice claims.
Refer to your course readings and lectures as you complete the assignment.
Performance Objective:
• Apply the four elements of a malpractice claim to specific incidents.
Rubric
Use this rubric to guide your work on the assignment, “Malpractice.”
Task
Elements of Malpractice
List four elements of a malpractice
claim.
(...
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