Krishna Lynch, RN, MJ, CPHRM and Rita F. Morris, RN, MJ
Court decisions on nurse liability draw a fine line between failing to take action in the patient’s best interest and advocating for patients in an uncollaborative manner.
Two trends in medicine are altering what patients expect from their doctors and nurses and what doctors and nurses of both sexes now expect from each other.
In reports of industry-funded studies that compared the ocular hypotensive efficacy of topical prostaglandins, conclusions in the article abstracts differed from the results of the main outcome measure 62 percent of the time.
Advance directives, substituted judgment, and the best-interest standard all have limitations that constrain their usefulness in making medical decisions for patients who cannot choose for themselves.