daisydotedu

Edited to say, what elkpark said!! Here's what my textbook says (Perry & Potter, Fundamentals of Nursing, 7th Edition) under Unintentional Torts: Negligence is "conduct that falls below a standard of care... In general, courts define negligence... as that degree of care that an ordinarily careful and prudent person would use under the same or similar circumstances. Negligent acts such as hanging the wrong intravenous solution for a client or allowing a nursing assistant to administer a medication often will lead to disciplinary action by the state. Malpractice is "one type of negligence, often referred to as professional negligence. When nursing care falls below a standard of care, nursing malpractice results. To establish nursing malpractice, there are certain criteria" that must be proved: nurse owed duty to the client, nurse did not carry out that duty, client was injured, the nurse's failure to perform the duty is what caused the injury. (Not that you asked, but just to remind myself here... a tort is a civil wrong made against a person or property: intentional torts are willful acts that violate another person's rights (assault, battery, false imprisonment) quasi-intentional torts are ones where intent was lacking... invasion of privacy and defamation of character are listed in that same textbook... this is where HIPAA comes in and lastly there are unintentional torts explained above.)