Legal Liability for Negligence: Nurse Aides Working in Hospitals

Abstract

Nurse aides are the most important direct-care providers and are indispensable in caring for hospitalized patients. Most of the hospitalized patients who need care in their daily lives hire nurse aides as regular caregivers. Care work involves numerous risks, and negligent care that results in patient injury may put a nurse aid caregiver at risk of litigation. To help nurse aides better understand their care duties, the concept of risk and prevention in care and three civil lawsuit cases involving negligence in care are presented in this paper. In the legal cases, the nurse aides were found guilty of causing death or injury due to negligence, highlighting that these caregivers did not meet their duty of care in providing care to their patients. These cases are used to analyze the causes of care negligence and the types of negligence and to propose preventive strategies for hospitals, care providers, and nurse aides to implement preventive measures and enforce self-autonomy. In addition, regular government programs focused on inspection, supervision, and accreditation can strengthen the supervision and responsibilities of hospitals. Nurse aides are expected to fulfill their care duties and develop ethical norms as well as internalize these into their personal beliefs as the framework for providing care. It is hoped that nurse aides will understand and fulfill their care duties to prevent patient injury or death due to negligence as part of their duty to protect patient rights.