Professional Liability - Essay Example

In case the patient or his relatives, friends suffer a loss due to the negligent deed of the professional they can seek a civil claim to compensate for the loss. This is called professional liability. The online Medical dictionary offers the following definition of professional liability: this is the legal obligation of health care practitioner to recompense patients for causing damage or suffering by actions of omission. Professional liability is characterized by the responsibility of the healthcare professional to the patients for malpractice.

It has become common in the medical profession to have insurance for negligence. I believe it should be obligatory for every nurse to protect her career by purchasing an insurance coverage. In this way she will be protected from the cost of legal and board of nursing actions. No nurse starts her education having in mind the malpractice lawsuits. Even when she begins practising this is not something she would like to think about. All nurses go into the professional with a profound dedication and commitment and with the genuine desire to help and serve people.

However, as much as I don’t want to admit it, there is a certain risk involved in healthcare occupations, which stems mainly from the fact that the nurse is a licensed healthcare specialist. What should not be underestimated is that any nursing professional can be held liable and sued for negligence, regardless of how competent they are. Below are few examples under what circumstances a nurse can be sued: If a nurse makes a mistake while monitoring a patient, (or even if someone else accuses you of this); Someone admits a nurse has made an error in recording or reporting patient’s healthcare details and history; A doctor asserts that a nurse misinterpreted the directions he gave; A patient or his family/relatives admits the nurse did not delivered adequate care to the patient; If a nurse is off duty and she assists someone with an injury or any other health problem and they make a claim for negligence; A nurse can also be prosecuted if someone under her superintendence makes a mistake.

In addition, if the hospital or the doctor is sued instead of the nurse, both of them can amend and sue the nurse in return. It is not an easy situation and once the nurse has been prosecuted she might be required to go to court. From there, if the jury decides that the nurse did not indeed implement the “established nursing procedures” she can be held liable for thousands. This can happen even if the jury has no clue about nursing and the nurse will be criminally responsible for her deeds.

I think nurses should be advised at universities about the risks of their profession and this should not be done to scare them, but to inform them and create self-consciousness. New nurses have to enter the profession with their eyes open and be aware that the more they know about the “small pitfalls” of their field the more capable they will be to act and react within the law and protect themselves against potential prosecution. Most hospitals provide individual or collective professional liability insurance coverage if the nurse is licensed healthcare representative.

Some nurses prefer to buy supplement to the employer’s insurance coverage for their own personal reassurance and protection. One of the ways to proactively avoid or prevent negligence is to discipline nurses. Iyer (2001) says that the board of nursing may reprimand, give