Attorney contacted me about a civil suit about a case filed against the hospital. I was not at fault, but they're literally trying to bring everyone involved. This happened over 2 years ago and no longer work for the hospital being sued. The attorney asked that I meet with him at my convenience and I said I have no interest in meeting wirh him or being "prepped" in any way. I've advised him the people they need to be talking to have MD, NP, or PA after their names, not RN.
I work nights to the tune of 60 hours a week and have zero interest taking time out of my sleep for which I won't be compensated when it's not of my doing. If I must appear in court, I will be in scrubs and sleeping.
People, slow down. This hasn't gone to trial yet (if it even does). It isn't even a formal deposition.
It's fact finding time, they're gathering information prior to calling people in for depositions.
This isn't Law and Order, stuff doesn't happen in 45 minutes.
The OP has already stated the plaintiff has named him as a witness for trial, you could certainly push that to requiring an actual subpoena which is extremely easy for the plaintiff's counsel to do and really at that does is add you to the plaintiff's list of people to rip apart on the stand, not a list I'd chose to be on.
It is not contempt to say you are unable to attest to the actions of others.
You can simply say I do not recall....you may also plead the 5th..
Point being there are legal ways to not answer questions. Not answering isn't inherently "contempt of court" Therefore your statement Guaranteed Contempt and then losing the license is faulty.... not to mention there's no subpoena...talking about jumping the gun.
Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.
^^^Accuracy compels me to point out that 'taking the Fifth' applies only to criminal proceedings and your legal right to not incriminate yourself by testimony. It does not apply to deposition or trial testimony in a civil proceeding.
Quietriot, have you been to court or deposed on a hospital matter. Several of us have been and believe me, you should meet with hospital legal before you get subpoenaed. Makes life a whole lot easier.
It is not contempt to say you are unable to attest to the actions of others.
You can simply say I do not recall....you may also plead the 5th..
If you truly don't recall then you can answer that way, otherwise no, you cannot say that. You can actually be asked about the actions of other based on your understand of standards of care, protocols, etc. I don't think you know what it means to 'plead the fifth'.
Point being there are legal ways to not answer questions.
. True, this is why the OP was encouraged to get prepped, which they refused.
Not answering isn't inherently "contempt of court"
. That's exactly what it means actually.
Therefore your statement Guaranteed Contempt and then losing the license is faulty.... not to mention there's no subpoena...talking about jumping the gun.
SMH.
You're absolutely free to require the plaintiff to subpoena you, which they will have no problem doing, and in the deal have them go after your practice, I'm not sure why anyone would voluntarily choose that though.
Refer this attorney to legal counsel at your hospital. Otherwise, let them subpoena you...
It was the hospital's attorney that contacted him.
This is the hospital's counsel. The plaintiff has evidently named every person that documented something as a witness, so meeting with this attorney will do nothing to alleviate getting a subpoena.
Usually a plaintiff attorney doesn't contact you, they contact the legal department of the defendent hospital with a list of people they have taken from the chart in question. The hospital risk management and legal team then contact all the people they have named and have them come in to review the chart, ask questions, etc. It is for information and to see if there is fault. Most of the time things settle out of court and you never hear from them again.
There's only three ways a prudent person answers questions in a deposition" "Yes, No" and "I don't recall"
hppy
Wrong-o. You will be asked things like, "Would it be fair to say that...?" "Do you agree that...?" and maybe you do, or maybe you don't, or maybe it's not that simple, or maybe "I don't know" isn't a plausible answer. You will be asked questions with a lot of double negatives in them. All sorts of verbal maneuverings can trip up a witness in depo or at trial.
PP was correct in that a very small minority (like 4%) of malpractice cases ever go to trial. I do defense and plaintiff work, so I don't have to listen to anybody call me a defense whore or a plaintiff whore. The best advice is to tell the absolute truth and nothing but, ask the questioner to rephrase, never answer hypotheticals, and never provide more information than you're asked for. Take a deep breath before you answer anything.
There is a wonderful article in the upcoming Journal of Legal Nurse Consulting on being an expert witness, and a round-table discussion from a bunch of nurses who share their experiences (good and bad), advice, and opinions for exactly this process. It will be up at AALNC : American Association of Legal Nurse Consultants > journal of legal nurse consulting in about a week or so, free access.
And before you ever even get asked any questions at all, it's not a bad idea to talk once with the hospital risk manager to get the lay of the land. But do not sign ANYTHING and do involve your malpractice insurance company now.
Jensmom7, BSN, RN
1,907 Posts
Actually, it isn't, always. I do it all the time.