Nursing Discussion: Legal Risks, Equipment, and Patient Care

This discussion post explores the legal risks nurses encounter, with a focus on medication errors, breaches of patient confidentiality, and equipment malfunctions. It also covers ethical considerations and professional responsibilities, particularly regarding equipment repair protocols. The author emphasizes the importance of reporting issues to the proper authorities and adhering to established reporting procedures. The post references several academic sources to support its arguments, providing a comprehensive overview of the topic and emphasizing the importance of ethical conduct and adherence to professional standards within the nursing profession. The discussion highlights the potential legal consequences of non-compliance with ethical codes and professional standards.

Running head: DISCUSSION POST
DISCUSSION POST
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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What are the various legal risks nurses face? Provide at least two examples.
A nursing professional might be involved in the course of legal proceedings that
include, witnessing a crime, being accused guilty or with the charge of being a defendant or a
griever. Nursing licensing and certification regulatory bodies ensure that nurses must exhibit
competence while entering into profession and adhere to the professional code of ethics. Non-
compliance with the professional code of ethics results in adverse legal implications such as
cancellation of licensure. The evidence base suggests that a number of nursing areas such as
medication error or breaching patient confidentiality might result in a legal risk or adverse
consequence (Rodziewicz & Hipskind, 2019; Helo & Moulton, 2017).
Cases such as medication error might result due to incorrect dose preparation or
incorrect route of administration. Also, cases such as breach of patient confidentiality can
take place when a nurse discloses a patient data to a fellow RN intentionally or
unintentionally. In such cases, nurses might be charged with non-compliance with
professional ethics and this might lead to legal consequences.
If a nurse knows that a piece of equipment is defective, should the nurse attempt to fix the
problem? Why or why not? What is your personal opinion regarding this?
According to my perspective, a nurse is not entitled to attempt and repair the defective
equipment. The role of the nurse is to escalate the issue to the higher authorities and adhere to
the line of reporting (Reason & Hobbs, 2017). Upon escalating the issue to the immediate
supervisor, the supervisor would investigate the problem and accordingly bring it to the
notice of the troubleshooting department. The trouble shooting department would then assess
the defect and undertake measures to either repair or replace the equipment at the earliest so
as to ensure convenience and non-compromise quality of care delivery. Under any

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circumstances, the nurse is not authorised to fix the problem or attempt to repair or replace
the instrument on her own without reporting the same to the concerned authority.

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References:
Helo, S., & Moulton, C. A. E. (2017). Complications: acknowledging, managing, and coping
with human error. Translational andrology and urology, 6(4), 773.
Reason, J., & Hobbs, A. (2017). Managing maintenance error: a practical guide. CRC
Press.P.90
Rodziewicz, T. L., & Hipskind, J. E. (2019). Medical error prevention. In StatPearls
[Internet]. StatPearls Publishing.P.87