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Criminal Liability for Nursing and Medical Harm.

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  • Author(s): Maher V;Maher V; Cwiek M; Cwiek M
  • Source:
    Hospital topics [Hosp Top] 2024 Apr-Jun; Vol. 102 (2), pp. 117-124. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jul 20.
  • Publication Type:
    Journal Article
  • Language:
    English
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Routledge Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 0411772 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1939-9278 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00185868 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Hosp Top Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: 2010- : New York : Routledge
      Original Publication: Chicago : Hospital Buyer
    • Subject Terms:
      Liability, Legal* ; Medical Errors*/legislation & jurisprudence; Humans ; Malpractice/legislation & jurisprudence ; Risk Management/methods
    • Abstract:
      There is a ubiquitous problem with medical errors and the concomitant costs it brings in terms of human suffering and financial loss for patients, families, and caregivers. Professional caregivers, including physicians, nurses, and others who have made clinical errors normally will fall under the risk management and quality improvement policies of the organization at which they are employed and subsequent investigation and response occurs internally. Sometimes further consequences can entail the caregiver being named as a defendant or codefendant in a civil lawsuit, and sometimes the caregiver can have professional licensure restricted or even revoked. More rarely, a caregiver can be prosecuted in a criminal legal action. When criminal prosecution occurred, it was usually for purposeful wrongdoing such as fraud, diversion of drugs, or even the intentional or reckless killing of elderly or other vulnerable people. The recent criminal prosecution of a Tennessee nurse for the reckless series of mistakes that led to the death of a single patient opens new considerations for nurses, physicians, and all caregivers, along with hospitals and healthcare systems that employ and/or work with them. The "dynamic tension" of encouraging all caregivers to own up to mistakes with patients as quickly as possible in healthcare organizations seems to be especially challenged now by the Vaught decision. This was mitigated somewhat by a relatively lenient sentence ordered by the judge in this noteworthy case.
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Caregiver criminal liability; civil liability; hospitals and healthcare organizations; malpractice; nurses; physicians; quality improvement; risk management
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20220720 Date Completed: 20240528 Latest Revision: 20240528
    • Publication Date:
      20250114
    • Accession Number:
      10.1080/00185868.2022.2101571
    • Accession Number:
      35856158