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Nurses being called to testify in more cases

Case Management Weekly, April 7, 2004

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Hospitals are eliminating their "education director" functions at an increasing rate, forcing nurses to find their own training. This is trouble for hospitals if they're sued over poor patient care or improper discharge, says Kathy Ann Lee, a partner with law firm Cline Farrell Christie Lee & Caress in Indianapolis. Lee is a prosecutor who has called nurses in to testify in malpractice cases. "The juries really feel they have something when there's evidence that hospitals have cut nursing staff or decided to forgo purchasing a product. That's substantial in the eyes of most juries today," she says. Another big problem in cases today is when there's evidence that the plan of care was in place, but no one carried it out. "There are so many people responsible for case management and discharge planning, but often, no one takes the lead, no one's accountable," says Jackie Birmingham, RN, a discharge planning consultant from Suffield, CT. She says, part of the problem is the fact that nurses blame the doctors, failing to realize that the discharge duties fall on their shoulders.

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