A health care provider instructs the nurse to bladder train a patient. The nurse clamps the patient's indwelling urinary catheter but forgets to unclamped it. The patient develops a urinary tract infection. What do the nurse's actions exemplify?

• A. Malpractice
• B. Battery
• C. Assault
• D. Neglect of duty

Answer: (A)

Professional negligence, or malpractice, is at play when a healthcare professional fails to provide the standard of care and a patient is harmed as a result. Here, the nurse had a duty to follow the physician’s bladder-training orders and to manage the catheter according to accepted standards. By clamping the indwelling catheter and then forgetting to unclamp, the nurse deviated from that standard of care, allowing urine to back up and wounds to become infected, ultimately causing a urinary tract infection. This harm arose from the breach of the expected professional duties, not from an intentional harmful act. Assault and battery involve intentional harm or contact, which isn’t demonstrated here. While neglect of duty can describe failing to perform duties, the clinical terminology that captures harming a patient through a professional’s failure to meet the standard of care is malpractice.