Guidelines for Reducing Liability Risk

Maintain open, honest, respectful relationships and communication

• Don’t offer opinions if someone ask what you think is wrong; you may be accused of making a medical diagnosis
• Don’t make a statement that may be interpreted as an admission of fault or guilt
• Don’t criticize health care providers or their actions
• Maintain confidentiality

Maintain competence in your specialty area of practice

• Attend relevant continuing education classes
• Expand your knowledge and skills
• Read professional literature

Know legal principles and incorporate them into everyday practice

• Know your nursing practice act and other laws that affect nursing practice; function within those constraints
• Follow established standards of practice
• Keep up to date on your agency’s policies and procedures
• Use the American Nurses Association’s Code of Ethics for Nurses to solve an ethical dilemma

Practice within the bounds of professional licensure

• Perform only the skills allowed under your scope of practice and that you are competent to perform
• Always document your actions as they apply to your practice setting
• Know who to contact and what to do if licensed or unlicensed practitioners violate the nurse practice act. Remember, you have an obligation to uphold the state nurse practice act and to see that others likewise uphold the act
• Delegate appropriately. You must consider the task being delegated, the patient and the person being delegated to. You can delegate a task but not nursing assessment or judgment

Reference
Croke, Eileen (2003). Nurses, Negligence, and Malpractice. American Journal of Nursing. Vol.103, No. 9, p 54-64.

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