Registered nurse perceptions of legal risk in clinical practice

Presenter: Ms Pamela Savage (CQUniversity)

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Abstract

This presentation reports findings from a grounded theory study that have relevance to issues of retention, education, management policies and explain in the context of legal and professional accountability sources of nurse stress and anxiety.

One of the most powerful findings in this study was the levels of anxiety nurses reported in their clinical work that could attract legal or professional investigation. Questions and participant discussion exposed such levels of anxiety and stress that the researchers felt obliged to work with these findings and explain them in light of participant statements about the sources of this unambiguous and constant reference to stress and anxiety. Findings brought forward a number of reports that directly related the nurses' legal risks to management practices. As legal issues can have a career destroying potential for a registered nurse, the relationship of law to nursing practice needs to be understood, and nurse's need to address the way clinicians understand and perceive that risk.

Among the issues this research identified was the position of nurses working within a hierarchical health system; their professional standing in relation to other staff and management; the traditions of nursing deference to physicians; the effect of short staffing, forcing the nurse to work outside their scope of practice. These aspects of practice were related to these registered nurse participants' claims of feeling powerless and legally vulnerable. What became obvious in this study was that for these participants the ‘system' and "a culture of blame" were the underlying causes of their perception of being vulnerable to legal consequences in their clinical practice.

Speaker Bio

Dr Pam Savage, RN MN BA Dip N MHPEd DipLaw EdDoc MRCNA

Lecturer School of Nursing and Midwifery CQUniversity. An extensive background in clinical nursing in Australia and overseas, adult and nurse education and remote area nursing. As a lawyer and clinician has been involved in teaching 'health law' and applied legal learning to undergraduate and post graduate nurses and Aboriginal Health Workers. Author and coauthor of a number of publications and textbooks.

Date of Presentation

06 September 2011