Analyze legal components related to nursing practice.
Scenario
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.
Sample Answer
Nursing Legal Quick Reference Card: Guarding Against Malpractice 🛡️
To: Rush Hospital Nursing Staff Source: North Dakota Board of Nursing (NDBON) & Legal Standards of Practice (Reference: Black, 2023; NDBON, 2024)
1. Defining Your Practice (North Dakota)
Standards of Care
The Standards of Care are the minimum criteria for competence used to evaluate the quality of care provided by a nurse. Legally, they define the conduct of a reasonably prudent nurse in similar circumstances.
Source: In North Dakota (ND), the standards are primarily set by the ND Nurse Practice Act (NPA) and the NDBON Administrative Rules.
Key Components: The standard of care includes not only the NPA but also hospital policies, procedure manuals, job descriptions, professional nursing organization guidelines (like the ANA), and evidence-based practice protocols. Failure to meet any of these standards constitutes a breach of duty.
Scope of Practice (ND)
The Scope of Practice defines the range of roles, functions, responsibilities, and activities that a licensed nurse (RN, LPN) is educated, competent, and authorized to perform.
Source: Defined by the ND Nurse Practice Act (specifically ND Century Code Title 43, Chapter 43-12.1).
Principle: You must practice within the boundaries of your licensure, education, and demonstrated competence. Delegation must adhere strictly to NDBON guidelines, ensuring the task is within the scope of the delegator and the delegatee.
2. Essential Elements of Nursing Malpractice
Malpractice is a form of professional negligence. To prove a legal case against a nurse, an injured patient must prove all four of the following elements (The Four D's):