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MEDICAL MALPRACTICE - ACTIONS AGAINST HEALTHCARE WORKERS

The Negligent Nurse

Doctors and hospitals are not the only parties who have a duty of care toward those whom they treat. Nurses and other practitioners of the healing arts must possess a certain degree of skill, and they must exercise reasonable care in dealing with their patients.

In concluding whether a nurse has performed his/her duties in a negligent manner, the scope of those duties must be defined. In general, it is a nurse's duty to prevent harm from befalling the patient and to keep the attending physician aware of the patient's condition. It is the physician, not the nurse, who is ultimately responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of the patient. The nurse is required to use the level of knowledge, skill, and expertise that would have been used by like practitioners under like circumstances. Thus, the standard of care that is considered reasonable would differ for a nurse's aide, a practical nurse, or a registered nurse.

Once it has been determined that a nurse's conduct towards a patient was negligent and that the patient sustained an injury because of that conduct, the critical question remains as to who can be found financially responsible for the nurse's actions. To answer this question, courts look at what the nurse was doing at the time of the negligence. Many nursing functions do not require professional training, knowledge, and skills; instead, they can be considered administrative or clerical. These tasks are usually considered to be part of the treatment but do not require the application of specialized techniques or the guidance of a doctor. In general, the hospital that employs the nurse is considered liable for the negligent performance of these administrative duties.

On the other hand, if a nurse employed by a hospital is assigned to work for a physician who is treating a patient and the hospital surrenders control of the nurse's actions to the doctor, then it might be the physician, not the hospital, who is liable for any negligence on the part of the nurse. Courts have used the doctrine of "respondeat superior," typically used to impose liability for a negligent employee on an employer, to impose liability on a physician for the negligent acts of a nurse employed by a hospital when the facts indicate that the nurse was actually taking professional direction from the doctor, not the hospital.

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