LEGAL ASPECTS OF NURSING - Case Study Example

2. The nurses are negligent for delaying their medication documentation for such a long period of time as the next day. The fact that a medication is not documented endangers the patient of receiving too little or too much of the medications on subsequent shifts when other nurse have no way of knowing that there are missing entries in the records. 3. When the root of the problem or cause of the situation is evaluated the ethical principles which must be considered are patient safety first and foremost.

Standards of practice should also be evaluated and the facility policy on medication should be evaluated to ensure that it is clear in all areas of medication administration. 4. If the case was heard in court the charges would likely be malpractice and negligence. Negligence and or malpractice can be defined as ‘the doing of something a reasonably prudent person would not do,’ it must be shown that the standard of care what deviated and that there were damages or injuries because of the negligence or malpractice (Understanding Negligence, 2012).

The possibility of something dangerous or injurious to a patient due to medication errors such as those described is very strong and often nurses are taken to court for the same errors which end up causing injury to a plaintiff. Because there were no injuries reported or complaints from patients described it is less likely that the case would require court charges against the nurse. 1. The primary defendant in this case would be the original nurse suspected; however after the testimony and other nurse’s acknowledging their own wrongdoing and medication errors they should be suspended and held liable as well.

The plaintiff could be the facility if they chose to bring charges against the nurse which is unlikely as this was cause negativity towards the facility. Most likely if charges were brought against the nurse they would stem from a patient incident. 2. The court would probably rule in