Author Question: A client on the behavioral health unit received a dose of an MAOI medication meant for another ... (Read 36 times)

clippers! · **on:** Jul 19, 2018

A client on the behavioral health unit received a dose of an MAOI medication meant for another client. The nurse discovers the error. The client was carefully observed and suffered no ill effects.

Later, the client sues the medication nurse for malpractice. The nurse is determined not to be lia-ble. Which element of malpractice was missing in this case?
1. The nurse owed a legal duty to the client.
2. The nurse breached the duty.
3. The client suffered a proven injury.
4. The nurse did not behave in a prudent fashion.

Question 2

During a health care team meeting, this question is posed: What is the difference between com-petency to stand trial and the insanity defense? The nurse with knowledge of forensics will cor-rectly respond:

1. Competency to stand trial relates to the client's present mental condition and his ability to aid in his own defense, while the insanity defense relates to state of mind at the time of the offense.
2. Competency to stand trial refers to whether the client was mentally ill at the time the offense was committed, while the insanity defense states the client is so im-paired by mental illness that he is unable to understand court proceedings.
3. Neither concept has relevance to the assessment we are charged to make or the care we are providing to the client.
4. The concepts are identical. Both mean we are responsible for assessing the cli-ent's mental state from the time of the offense to the present.

nyrave · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 19, 2018

Answer to Question 1

ANS: 3
Malpractice cannot be established unless the client can prove an injury occurred and that the nurse's negligence is the proximate cause of the injury. Options 1 and 2 are incorrect because these elements were not missing. Option 4 is not considered a specific element of malpractice but is subsumed under breach of duty.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: 1
Option 1 provides correct definitions of both terms. Option 2 reverses the actual facts. Options 3 and 4 show lack of understanding of the definitions.