What is the nurse’s liability in this situation?

Answer all of the following:

Mrs. Toole, age 85 s recovering from a hip replacement. When bathing Mrs. Toole, the nurse forgets to lower the bed and put up the side rails. Mrs. Toole falls out of bed. She is shaken up and sore from her fall but there appears to be no further damage to her hip.

1. What is the nurse’s liability in this situation?
2. Do you feel the patient has a case for negligence (malpractice)? Explain why or why not using the four elements that must be present to prove that negligence (malpractice).

Determine whether each of the following behaviors is unethical, illegal or both, explain your reasoning. How might each of these lead to liability?

1. An anesthesiologist has never administered anesthesia to a child, but conceals this fact from a surgeon who likes her and requests her for an upcoming procedure on a six-year old.
2. A nurse begins a painful procedure on an elderly hospital patient and ignores the patient’s request for an explanation.