Examining Safety and Legal Responsibilities of Registered Nurses

This essay examines the safety and legal responsibilities of registered nurses (RNs) within healthcare settings. It emphasizes the crucial role nurses play in ensuring patient safety through responsible conduct, accurate diagnosis, and adherence to established rules and regulations. The essay highlights the accountability of nurses for their actions and decisions, addressing issues such as misdiagnosis and the importance of effective communication between nurses and patients. It also underscores the need for a safe and supportive environment for both patients and nurses, advocating for mutual responsibility in promoting quality medical care. The essay references various studies and research papers to support its arguments, providing a comprehensive overview of the legal and ethical dimensions of nursing practice and patient care.

Running head: SAFETY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REGISTERED NURSES 1
Safety and Legal Responsibilities of Registered Nurses
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SAFETY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REGISTERED NURSES 2
Safety and Legal Responsibilities of Registered Nurses
In every workplace or organization, there are rules that govern the employees. These
rules and regulations help them in their way of conduct within and without their work premises.
In hospitals, for example, the Clinical nurses have rules and regulations that govern their code of
conduct on how they should handle the patient and themselves. The nurses have the
responsibility of making sure that the patients’ safety is monitored throughout their treatment.
The patients’ on the other hand also have a responsibility of making sure that they take care of
themselves at the medical facilities. The nurses should be accountable and responsible for their
actions, decisions, and evaluations of their own practice (Lachman, 2012). Most patients have
complained about how the nurses handle them at the medical facilities and there are several
related issues arising on the mismanagement of patients at the facilities and this put their lives at
risk as far as safety is concerned. It is the responsibility of clinical officers to make sure that their
patients feel safe first by offering psychological, emotional and even physical support before any
kind of treatment. Both the patient and the nurses’ safety is important in the medical facilities for
a better and conducive environment for the nurse to perform her duties diligently and for the
patient to receive quality medical attention.
It is also a nurses’ legal responsibility to be responsible for his or her own acts. The
nurses should make sure that the patients get right diagnosis for their illness or injuries.
Misdiagnosis and failure to the diagnosis of an illness or injury are one of the problems
experienced by patients yet it is a legal responsibility of the nurses (Tilse & Wilson, 2013).
Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose a patient can lead to various complications that may need
another diagnosis, this mostly happens either because of improper Medicare, delayed treatment

SAFETY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REGISTERED NURSES 3
or no absolute treatment. This can also happen due of lack of communication or poor
communication between the nurse and the patient (Trinkoff et al., 2008).
It is important that the nurse gets adequate information from the patient before any
diagnosis is done and if the nurse is not conversant with the symptoms it is good to her to consult
the doctor in charge for further assessment. The medical facilities should make sure that they
have all the required medications and the employed nurses should be willing and well trained to
do their jobs. The patients often depend on the nurses and the doctors for better treatment and
diagnosis, and in such event, the patients do not feel safe enough to get treatment and medication
again from the same nurse or even medical facility (Lim, Bogossian & Ahern, 2010). To have an
environment where both the patient and the nurse feel safe, both the patient and the nurse need to
take responsibilities, for the patients they need to make sure that they feel safe and get quality
treatment and medication at the facilities and the nurses, on the other hand, need to feel safe at
their medical facilities and even with their patients to make sure that both of them work in a safe
environment for better and quality services.

SAFETY AND LEGAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REGISTERED NURSES 4
References
Lachman, V. D. (2012). Applying the ethics of care to your nursing practice. Medsurg
Nursing, 21(2), 112.
Lim, J., Bogossian, F., & Ahern, K. (2010). Stress and coping in Australian nurses: a systematic
review. International Nursing Review, 57(1), 22-31. doi:10.1111/j.1466-7657.2009
Tilse, C., & Wilson, J. (2013). Recognizing and responding to financial abuse in residential aged
care. The Journal of Adult Protection, 15(3), 141-152. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JAP-
11-2012-0025
Trinkoff, A. M., Geiger-Brown, J. M., Caruso, C. C., Lipscomb, J. A., Johantgen, M. Nelson, A.
L., ... Selby, V. L. (2008). Personal safety for nurses. In R. G. Hughes (Ed.)., Patient
Safety and Quality: an Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses (pp. 1-36). Rockville, MD:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US).