Abuse
What is a nurse's role in child and or elderly abuse?
To report any findings or suspicions of abuse or neglect happening to child or elder.
What is the role of a nurse testifying against a doctor?
A nurse can testify in court against a doctor in a case of malpractice but is limited to care standards in nursing practice not an opinion on the doctor's standard of care. It is specifically to prove or disprove negligence.
What is malpractice?
Negligence by nurses in the performance of their duties.
What is a nursing consultant?
A nurse who works with attorneys on medical cases to review and summarize medical records, and interpret medical terminology.
A forensic psychiatric nurse is used in court as an expert, to assess the state of mind of both ______ and ______.
Victims and offenders
What are the different types of abuse that happen with patients? Define each.
Emotional, verbal, psychological, and physical.
What happens when a nurse testifies against a doctor?
The doctor might end up losing their license, so it is important to have effective evidence to support the nurse's statement.
What are the 3 types of malpractice?
Medication errors
Failure to do duty
Doing something unlawful
What is the expert witness?
Their role is to review medical records and give an opinion on whether or not the standard of care was followed.
True
Signs of physical abuse?
Bruises, black eyes, broken bones, individual reports being hit, broken eyewear, open wounds.
Will the nurse be discriminated against in the workplace after testifying against a doctor?
Other doctors might easily fear working with the nurse in fear that the nurse would easily turn against them
Is a nurse legally liable for medication errors due to a mistake the healthcare provider made while prescribing medications?
YES. It is the nurse's responsibility to check for errors or clarify before administering any medications.
What is the role of the nurse consultant?
Typically seen assisting with the "background" aspects of a legal medical case, not required to testify, have clinical experience, or maintain a license as a registered nurse.
What is the central role of the forensic psychiatric nurse?
Evidence collection
In a courtroom, why would a nurse have to be present in an abuse case?
To give their statement on their findings during the collection of subjective and objective data.
Will the nurse be fired after testifying against a doctor?
No, only if a nurse fails to fulfill their duty and it is revealed while testifying.
True or false, assault and battery by a nurse are considered malpractice.
TRUE
What is the nurse investigator?
They review cases based on complaints in practice-related, drug-related, boundary violations, sexual misconduct, abuse, fraud, and certain criminal convictions.
Non-judgemental
If a patient asks you to not tell anyone about being physically abused, would you still record her subjective data in the chart? Yes or no?
YES, document everything!
What is a nurses legal obligation ?
To be a patients advocate even if that means testifying against a doctor.
What are some of the most important actions by a nurse to avoid malpractice lawsuits?
Thorough documentation
Notifying the provider of any rapid changes in condition in a timely manner
Clarify if unsure!!
What is an expert witness testimony?
May only testify to deviations from standards of nursing practice and not issues of medical standards of care They may be retained to provide testimony for either defendants or plaintiffs.
The forensic psychiatric nurse plays an important role in determining whether or not a suspect can be considered________ _____.
Legally sane