A Nurses Duty to act

KelRN215, BSN, RN · May 25, 2018

This is a question for an attorney in OP's state where he/she works and maybe resides (if different).
An attorney where I live once stated that there is no duty to act if we see someone drowning,
even if we could help from the shore/side of the pool, not have to dive in. Who knew?

I think there's a clear difference between jumping into the ocean attempting to save a drowning person vs calling 911 for someone choking or having a heart attack in your home. In the first situation, that's the responsibility of the lifeguard. A nurse isn't a lifeguard and doesn't necessarily even know how to swim. Plus jumping in could put the rescuer in danger, too. If it's your home and you know how to swim, one would hope you would jump in and try to help the victim.

If you're having a dinner party and one of your guests starts to choke or has symptoms of a heart attack, why wouldn't you call 911? Do you really want to be explaining to a police officer why there's a dead person in your house and you, a trained nurse, didn't seek help at all?

KelRN215, BSN, RN · May 25, 2018

Duplicate post

LovingLife123 · May 25, 2018

Who wants to bet this is a homework question for an ethics or a fundamentals class? OP joined today with an obviously ethical question and questioning the nurse practice act.

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · May 25, 2018

I think there's a clear difference between jumping into the ocean attempting to save a drowning person vs calling 911 for someone choking or having a heart attack in your home. In the first situation, that's the responsibility of the lifeguard. A nurse isn't a lifeguard and doesn't necessarily even know how to swim. Plus jumping in could put the rescuer in danger, too. If it's your home and you know how to swim, one would hope you would jump in and try to help the victim.
If you're having a dinner party and one of your guests starts to choke or has symptoms of a heart attack, why wouldn't you call 911? Do you really want to be explaining to a police officer why there's a dead person in your house and you, a trained nurse, didn't seek help at all?

I think you misread what I wrote.

The attorney (who also told me that a nurse has no duty to act except on the job), stated that people have no duty to, for example, try to help a drowning victim, even if it could be done without jumping into the water. That is, you can legally stand there and watch someone drown, even if it appears possible to safely and easily rescue him, and doing so would not be legally wrong in the state where I was living. Ethics and morality aside, there is no legal duty to try to save the drownee. Why? I guess that's because you might get hurt in trying to help? Not sure.

A nurse on duty certainly has a duty to act. An off-duty nurse is, I think but am not certain, a different story. Morally, ethically yes, a nurse should, IMO, at least call 911 if off-duty. Legally might be another answer and it might depend on the state.

Some have mentioned Good Sam laws. This law will not protect you if someone thinks you did not act the way a prudent nurse should. Your CPR was done incorrectly, you didn't apply enough pressure to the bleeder, you didn't properly clear the airway, and so on. Your good intentions in volunteering to help could land you in a heap of trouble, despite these laws.

pedi_nurse · May 25, 2018

Board thought it looks bad, pulled their license.

Haven't finished reading the thread, but this is always my thought. Don't do anything that would look bad to the BON. Always ask yourself, what would any reasonable nurse do in this situation? Because that's the standard we are judged by.

pedi_nurse · May 25, 2018

This law will not protect you if someone thinks you did not act the way a prudent nurse should. Your CPR was done incorrectly, you didn't apply enough pressure to the bleeder, you didn't properly clear the airway, and so on. Your good intentions in volunteering to help could land you in a heap of trouble, despite these laws.

How is this different than mistakes made in a professional setting? Certain errors would be considered unfortunate, but not necessarily make you liable. Gross errors could open you up for liability. As for an off duty nurse not responding to an emergency, you may not be legally liable, but your license is certainly still at risk. If a nurse, with active BLS certification, stands there and watches someone collapse without attempting to help them, surely they would be putting their license at risk at a bare minimum.

In addition to this, just because you are not criminally liable does not mean you are not civilly liable.

Obviously, this is a complicated thing and the laws vary by state. As for myself, however, I will always err on the side of trying to do the right thing.