A client on the behavioral health unit received a dose of an MAOI medication meant for another client. The nurse discovers the error. The client was carefully observed and suffered no ill effects
Later, the client sues the medication nurse for malpractice. The nurse is determined not to be lia-ble. Which element of malpractice was missing in this case?
1. The nurse owed a legal duty to the client.
2. The nurse breached the duty.
3. The client suffered a proven injury.
4. The nurse did not behave in a prudent fashion.
ANS: 3
Malpractice cannot be established unless the client can prove an injury occurred and that the nurse's negligence is the proximate cause of the injury. Options 1 and 2 are incorrect because these elements were not missing. Option 4 is not considered a specific element of malpractice but is subsumed under breach of duty.
You might also like to view...
The nurse is assessing a patient's risk for developing infective endocarditis. Which of the following findings would put the patient at the greatest risk for developing this disorder?
1. renal failure 2. coronary artery disease 3. heart failure 4. rheumatic heart disease
Infants with congenital hypothyroidism are treated with:
1. Levothyroxine 2. Liothyronine 3. Liotrix 4. Methimazole
The nurse manager at a nursing home wanted to use creative thinking to solve the problem of residents' borrowing each other's cigarettes without permission
First, the nurse manager called two licensed staff members into her office to discuss the problem. Next, she called in the nursing assistant to join the group. Finally, she called in the social worker to join the group. The nurse manager employed which technique to solve the problem? a. Ladder of abstraction b. Think tanks c. Stepladder technique d. Delphi technique
The nurse is ready to begin a tube feeding via an NG feeding tube for a patient who is comatose. What action should the nurse take before starting the feeding?
a. Listen to bowel sounds. b. Check the pH of gastric aspirate. c. Secure the NG tube with additional tape. d. Irrigate the tube with 10 mL of sterile water.