Nursing Negligence Case Study

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Every day, nurses analyze facts and circumstances on a case-by-case basis, and then act on these analyses. Increasingly, we’re being held accountable for these nursing judgments—and the outcomes that ensue. Poor judgment can set the stage for a patient injury that leads to a malpractice claim. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) defines negligence as a "failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances." JCAHO defines malpractice as "improper or unethical conduct or unreasonable lack of skill by a holder of a professional or official position; often applied to physicians, dentists, lawyers, and public officers to denote negligent or unskillful performance of duties when professional skills are obligatory. Malpractice is a cause of action for which damages are allowed" (Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, 2003). …show more content…

The first one is nursing shortages and hospital downsizing have coincidentally added to greater workloads for nurses, increasing the chance of error. Second is delegation, this is a big one! As a result of hospitals trying to save money and HMOs in place, nurses are handing more of their duties to CNA’s. Nurses are held responsible for their duties and cannot risk the chance of mistakes being made by handing off their tasks. Hospitals should focus more on the kind of care they are giving rather than how much money they are making. The chain of events can be devastating to not only patients, but also the nurses and the hospitals because the patients will be getting care from unlicensed help and the nurses will be let go due to their negligence and the hospitals will be left with a shortage of

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