DHS Staff Nurse - 2018 (Shift-2nd)
Forensic Nursing & Indian laws
Hard
The charge nurse witnesses the nursing assistant hitting the client in the long-term care facility. The nurse can be charged with?
Appeared in: DHS Staff Nurse - 2018 (Shift-2nd)
Explanation
- The charge nurse has a legal and ethical duty to ensure patient safety and protect them from harm.
- By witnessing the abuse and failing to intervene, the nurse breached this fundamental duty of care.
- Negligence is defined as the failure to act as a reasonably prudent nurse would in a similar situation.
- A reasonably prudent nurse would have immediately intervened to stop the abuse and reported the incident.
- Therefore, the failure to act directly constitutes negligence.
Why Other Options Were Wrong
- Option B: A tort is a broad legal category for civil wrongs, not a specific charge. Negligence, assault, and malpractice are all examples of torts.
- Option C: Assault is an intentional threat that causes fear of harm. The charge nurse did not threaten the client.
- Option D: Malpractice is a specific type of negligence committed by a professional. While the nurse's inaction is professional misconduct, 'negligence' is the more direct and fundamental charge for failing to perform a basic duty of protection. Malpractice often relates to errors in clinical skill or judgment (e.g., medication errors).
Related Visual
Clinical Relevance
- Nursing practice connection: Use the key finding related to Legal and Ethical Responsibilities in Nursing to guide bedside assessment, documentation, and the next nursing action.
- Nurses are mandatory reporters of abuse. Failure to report suspected abuse of a vulnerable person (child, elder, or disabled individual) can lead to legal charges and loss of license.
- This scenario highlights the nurse's role as a patient advocate. Advocacy includes protecting patients from harm, even when the harm is caused by a colleague.
- What if? If the charge nurse had immediately intervened, stopped the nursing assistant, and reported the incident to administration and the proper authorities, they would have fulfilled their duty of care. The legal focus would then be solely on the nursing assistant's actions (battery).
How to Approach the Question
- First, identify the key person in the question: the 'charge nurse'. The question is about the nurse's liability, not the nursing assistant's.
- Next, identify the key action (or inaction): the nurse 'witnesses' the hitting but does nothing. This is a failure to act.
- Analyze the nurse's responsibility. A charge nurse has a duty to protect patients under their care.
- Evaluate the options based on the nurse's inaction. 'Assault' is incorrect because the nurse didn't threaten anyone. 'Tort' is a broad category, not a specific charge.
- Differentiate between 'Negligence' and 'Malpractice'. Negligence is the failure to act as a prudent person would. Malpractice is professional negligence. The failure to protect a patient is a fundamental breach of duty, best described as negligence.
Concept Tested & Keywords
- Concept Tested: Legal and Ethical Responsibilities in Nursing
- Stem keywords: charge nurse, witnesses, nursing assistant hitting, long-term care facility
- Lead-in keywords: can be charged with
- Clinical cues: The key action is the charge nurse's inaction or failure to intervene after witnessing abuse.
Question ID
Q94vHs2sHyC4qynrrCR71Q
Reference Book
E6 Nursing Fundamentals Potter Perry 12e Part 2 p. 101-103
E6 Textbook of Nursing Management and Leadership I. Clemen — Subpart C (pp 655-967 of 982) p. 272-274
E6 Nursing_Management_and_leadership_Johny_Kutty_JosephCbs_Publishers (pp 16-364 of 374) p. 333-335
Practise the full DHS Staff Nurse - 2018 (Shift-2nd)
Attempt every question from this paper in a timed mock, then review the full solution for each one.
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