Who Is Liable For A Nurse’s Medical Malpractice? Can Nurses Even Be Liable For Medical Malpractice?

It is commonly said that nurses are the frontline of patient healthcare. They handle everything from every day care to special procedures such as surgeries. Nurses help do everything from set up an IV to assist with certain maneuvers during a surgeon. Nurses also help record the data and impressions of a patient during labor and while he or she is in an operating room, emergency room, or an admitted patients. When a code gets called over the intercom such as when a patient is not breathing, nurses are the ones who come running.

However, nurses are not doctors. Nurses cannot give a diagnosis or tell a patient their impressions. Nurses also cannot perform certain procedures which a doctor is required for. Nurses perform a wide-range of services, but they are still limited in what they can do.

When a nurse makes a mistake, the nurse can be liable for medical malpractice. This is because nurses have a duty of care owed to a patient, and the breach of that duty which cases injuries can result in serious personal injuries. This is the most-forward type of medical malpractice.

But other professionals can also be liable for a nurse’s medical malpractice. This includes a supervising doctor in the case of a nurse practitioner. In a surgery or during a procedure, the physician or physicians who are using the nurses to assist can be liable for the medical malpractice of the negligent nurse.

More broadly, the employer of the nurse can be liable for medical malpractice. This includes a hospital who is probably the largest employer of nurses in a given area. Other liable entities can be surgical offices, doctor’s offices, and even dentists. Any employer can be liable for a nurse’s mistake under vicarious liability.

Isn’t that fair? Shouldn’t a medical malpractice victim be able to get compensation from any entity which may be negligent for his or her care?