DEFINE BREACH OF DUTY HEALTHCARE CODE
DEFINE BREACH OF DUTY HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL

Two categories of torts affecting nursing practice are intentional torts and unintentional torts. Tort law exists to compensate clients injured by negligent practice, provide corrective judgment, and deter negligence with consequences of action or inaction. A tort is an act of commission or omission that gives rise to injury or harm to another and amounts to a civil wrong for which courts impose liability.

A person bringing the lawsuit is called the plaintiff, and the parties named in the lawsuit are called defendants. Civil law focuses on the rights, responsibilities, and legal relationships between private citizens, and involves compensation to the injured party. See Figure 5.1 for an illustration of a criminal case being tried in front of a jury. This means the prosecution must convince a jury there is no reasonable explanation other than guilty that can come from the evidence presented at trial. Conviction for a crime requires evidence to show the defendant is guilty beyond a shadow of doubt. Crimes are classified as felonies, misdemeanors, and infractions. Criminal lawis a system of laws that punishes individuals who commit crimes. In addition to following standards of care, nurses must also follow related federal and state laws.

DEFINE BREACH OF DUTY HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL

If a registered nurse with no midwifery training or knowledge came across a woman in labour their professional duty of care may be limited to reassuring the woman, making her comfortable and then calling an ambulance, acting within their competence.Īs employer indemnity would not apply to an emergency situation outside the workplace, the RCN indemnity scheme does cover you for Good Samaritan acts.5.4 Laws, Torts, Malpractice, and Disciplinary Actions.

If a nurse has an understanding of the impact of moving a person with spinal injuries, then they may be expected to volunteer that knowledge at the scene of the accident.

This is illustrated in the following examples: This professional duty may vary in practice, depending on the circumstances and the expertise of the nurse concerned, from simply providing some psychological comfort to the injured person, through to offering more hands on care. Wherever possible, a nurse should arrange for emergency care to be accessed and provided promptly and should always take account of their own safety, the safety of others and the availability of other options for providing care. 'Always offer help if an emergency arises in your practice setting or anywhere elseġ5.1 only act in an emergency within the limits of your knowledge and competenceġ5.2 arrange, wherever possible, for emergency care to be accessed and provided promptlyġ5.3 take account of your own safety, the safety of others and the availability of other options for providing care'

DEFINE BREACH OF DUTY HEALTHCARE CODE

However, registered nurses, midwives and Nursing Associates should be aware that the NMC Code places a professional duty on them to provide appropriate assistance, within their sphere of knowledge and competence. Many people mistakenly assume that nurses have first aid training which would assist the injured person. Accordingly, if a nurse is at a road traffic accident they do not have a legal duty of care to offer aid to any person injured in the accident. The legal duty of care generally only arises when a practitioner has assumed some responsibility for the care of the patient concerned (see above). There is no legal duty to volunteer help in an emergency situation. There are two aspects that need to be considered: Legal duty The standards to be expected are not generally affected by any personal attributes, such as level of experience. When harm has come to a patient, the law examines who has a duty of care to that patient - and whether there was negligence - in order to attribute responsibility/liability for that harm.Ī newly-qualified nurse would be expected to deliver safe care in the same way as a more-experienced nurse when performing the same task. Failure to discharge the duty to this standard may be regarded as negligence. This is generally assessed as the standard to be expected of an 'ordinarily competent practitioner' performing that particular task or role. To discharge the legal duty of care, health care practitioners must act in accordance with the relevant standard of care.

This can be basic personal care or a complex procedure. It exists when the practitioner has assumed some sort of responsibility for the patient’s care. This is the case regardless of whether that practitioner is a nurse, midwife, Nursing Associate, health care assistant or assistant practitioner. Generally, the law imposes a duty of care on a health care practitioner in situations where it is 'reasonably foreseeable' that the practitioner might cause harm to patients through their actions or omissions.

Define breach of duty healthcare