A New Legal Interpretation of Duty for Registered Nurses

Today, the courts are placing new emphasis on patient safety by recognizing a stricter duty for nurses to evaluate and question medication orders and protocols. Thus, nurses may find that they are more frequently named in civil lawsuits involving medication errors, a safety problem facing nurses in all patient-care settings. In the face of these changes, boards of nursing will need to protect the public and nurses by ensuring that regulations governing nursing practice are consistent with the court's expanded definition of a nurse's duty. This article discusses new challenges to ensuring that regulations governing nursing practice are consistent with the court's definition of a nurse's duty and safe nursing practice.