Nursing Malpractice

Students and professional nurses at any level of clinical practice will find this book to be a vital resource on the basic legal concepts and principles of malpractice, liability, and risk management, and their implications for the profession. The book also provides detailed strategies for dealing with these issues. The content is also highly relevant to practitioners in all other health care and legal disciplines that collaborate in the delivery of health care. Issues discussed include the expanding and evolving roles for professional nurses and the concomitant legal accountability and risk for liability, the increasing incidence of nurses named as defendants in malpractice lawsuits, anticipated changes in our health care delivery system, and breakthroughs in science and technology that will present new legal questions. The book also includes material on other important facets of today's nursing practice, including the growing phenomenon of tele-nursing, the essentials of malpractice insurance, and the legal significance of documentation and patients' medical records. It helps the reader identify the nurse at risk for a malpractice suit and the characteristics of the patient likely to sue. The appendices provide information on state laws concerned with access to medical records, a list of useful websites, a list of state boards of nursing, and a glossary of important terms.

CHARLES C. SHARPE is a clinical nurse specialist who has been a member of the faculty of several nursing departments in colleges in southeastern Pennsylvania./e He is also a consultant who provides litigation support and research services for trial attorneys. Presently, he is an adjunct faculty member at the Lehigh-Carbon Community College and lecturer in the Paralegal and Continuing Education Programs.

Preface
The Law
Malpractice
Defenses in Malpractice
Standards of Nursing Care
The Nurse at Risk for a Malpractice Lawsuit
The Legal Process
Surviving Notification of a Nursing Malpractice Lawsuit
Preparing for and Surviving a Deposition and Trial
Defensive Documentation
The Medical Record as Evidence in Nursing Malpractice
Legal Implications of Informed Consent
Legal Implications of Advance Directives and No-Code Orders
Malpractice Insurance
The National Practitioner Data Bank
Disciplinary Actions by State Boards of Nursing under Nurse Practice Acts
Roles of the Professional Nurse in the Legal Process
Appendices
Bibliography
Index