Your nurse manager has asked you to identify some key points from best practices in guarding against malpractice and to develop a small reminder resource for the staff nurses. The resource could be designed to attach to the back of a name badge or put into a small notebook that reminds them of the key steps for best practice and the standards of care for legal responsibility and malpractice.
Instructions Create a legal resource for nursing staff that: • Examines the definition of standards of care and scope of practice within the state of North Dakota . • Determines the essential elements of nursing malpractice. • Appraises best practices for legal compliance. • Provides stated ideas with professional language and attribution for credible sources with correct APA citation, spelling, and grammar in the legal resource.
Appraising Best Practices for Legal Compliance
These practices minimize risk, ensure adherence to the standard of care, and provide a legal defense should a claim arise.
Documentation (Your Best Legal Defense)
Timeliness: Document all interventions, assessments, and communications immediately after they occur. "If it wasn't documented, it wasn't done" (Tappen, 2023).
Accuracy & Objectivity: Record facts, not subjective interpretations. Use precise, measurable terms (e.g., "Patient reports pain is 8/10," not "Patient seems dramatic").
Refusal/Non-Adherence: Document any patient refusal of care or non-adherence, including patient education provided and the physician notification (Black, 2023).
Sample Answer
Legal Liability & Best Practice Reminder: North Dakota Nursing
This resource summarizes key legal concepts and best practices to guard against malpractice, ensuring adherence to the North Dakota Nurse Practices Act and established standards of care.
1. Foundational Legal Concepts (ND)
Concept
Definition & Source
Standards of Care
The degree of care, skill, and diligence ordinarily exercised by other similarly qualified nurses in the same or similar circumstances within the community. It is the legal benchmark against which a nurse’s conduct is measured (Fahrenz, 2022).
Scope of Practice
The range of tasks, procedures, and activities legally permitted by the nurse’s license (RN or LPN). In North Dakota, this is defined by the Nurse Practices Act (NDCC Chapter 43-12.1) and the rules adopted by the North Dakota Board of Nursing (NDBON) (NDBON, 2024).
2. Essential Elements of Nursing Malpractice
Malpractice is a form of negligence committed by a licensed professional. To prove nursing malpractice, all four of these elements must be established (Black, 2023):
Element
Description
1. Duty
The nurse had a legal duty to the patient. This is established once an assignment is accepted, creating a professional nurse-patient relationship.
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