Liability Issues for Occupational Health Nurses

Abstract

Medical malpractice is one of the most difficult and complex types of litigation for the trial attorney. It is incumbent on the attorney to know the pertinent law of his jurisdiction and to become totally familiar with the medical information in each case. He must then be able to relate this information to a standard of practice as determined by the medical profession. This difficult task requires that he be prepared to synthesize the ambiguities of the inexact science of medicine with the more categorical parameters oflaw (Goldsmith, 1989). F or nurses named in a malpractice action, the task is equally as difficult. They function on a day to day basis within the "inexact science of medicine." When sued, their practice is evaluated within the "categorical parameters of law:" Although the threat of being sued cannot be ignored, the nurse must not become paralyzed by the fear of a lawsuit. This article attempts to demystify the legal process by explaining frequently used legal terms, describing what the plaintiff-patient must prove to recover, and outlining the defenses that may protect the nurse from liability. The law varies, sometimes in important ways,

Confidentiality: Concept Analysis and Clinical Application

“…Other legal interests in healthcare confidentiality focused on record keeping (Friedman, 1981), infection control (Hesson & Tru, 19881, police investigations (Diamond, 1993), and malpractice (Ivey & Morris, 1993). A large number of articles on confidentiality focused on patient information stored as a medical record (Gevers, 1983;Milholland, 1994).…”