Question

An older adult client falls and fractures her hip while a nurse is assisting her to the bathroom. The client sues the nurse for negligence. The nurse should identify which of the following principles as the standard that will legally determine her liability for the client's injury?

Answer 1

The nurse should identify the principle of negligence as the standard that will legally determine her liability for the client's injury.

Step-by-step explanation:

The nurse should identify the principle of negligence as the standard that will legally determine her liability for the client's injury. Negligence is a legal concept that refers to the failure to exercise the level of care that a reasonably prudent person would have exercised in a similar situation. In this case, the nurse's duty of care towards the client would be examined, including whether she acted in a manner that a reasonably prudent nurse would have acted in a similar situation.

To establish negligence, four elements must be proven: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages. The nurse had a duty to assist the client safely to the bathroom, and by falling and fracturing her hip, it could be argued that there was a breach of duty. The nurse's actions (or lack thereof) directly caused the client's injury, and the fracture of the hip resulted in damages to the client.