How to Deal With 3 Legal Issues Keeping Nurses and Managers Awake at Night

As one of the “experts” who answers questions for Medscape's “Ask the Expert” feature, the author, a nurse and attorney, receives many legal questions from nurses. While lawyers usually have time to research a question, apply a legal analysis, and come up with a reasoned opinion, nurses and their managers often must make a decision on the spot. Outsiders may think that nurses have access to in-house attorneys who can answer their questions, but it is often managers at the largest institutions who submit questions to the Ask the Expert panel. It follows that nurses and managers at smaller facilities probably don't have access to their agencies' attorneys, or at least, not “stat” access.