“Nurses are responsible for performing their tasks within their scope of practice and for acting in the best interests of the patient at all times. Where failure to do this leads directly to harm to a patient, a personal injury claim may be pursued," sayas Kirstie Haslam, partner at DSC Attorneys.
In her thesis - Investigation into the factors contributing to malpractice litigation in nursing practice within the private healthcare sector of Gauteng - researcher Amy Williams notes that the moment a nurse acts irresponsibly and fails to perform a task according to policies and procedural guidelines, they can be liable for professional negligence.
Nursing negligence can result in serious harm to patients, including:
In studies conducted by Professor Ethelwynn Stellenberg from Stellenbosch University’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the most common factors that lead to nursing malpractice were identified as the following:
Stellenberg warns that the quality of care is declining, in both the state and private sectors.
Hardly a month goes by in South Africa without a story of nursing negligence making the headlines. Haslam cites a few recent incidents:
In South Africa, claims based on medical negligence are dealt with under the common law – particularly on the basis of the law of delict, according to a report of the South African Law Reform Commission on Medico-Legal Claims.
“Where nursing negligence leads to injury or a fatality, it’s not against the nursing staff that a personal injury claim is typically made,” says Haslam.
“Instead, a claim may be made against the employer (the hospital), the owner of a private hospital or, in the case of injury at a state hospital, the MEC or Minister of Health.”
