A nurse fails to irrigate a feeding tube as ordered, resulting in harm to the patient. This situation could be considered which of the following?

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Prepare for the Legal and Ethical Aspects of Nursing Test. Use clinical scenarios and practice questions to understand real-world dilemmas nurses face. Ensure you're ready to excel and safeguard patient care, your career, and ethical principles in healthcare.

Multiple Choice

A nurse fails to irrigate a feeding tube as ordered, resulting in harm to the patient. This situation could be considered which of the following?

Explanation:
Professional negligence (malpractice) is involved. A licensed nurse has a duty to provide care that meets accepted standards and to follow orders when appropriate. Failing to irrigate a feeding tube as ordered breaches that duty, and if the patient is harmed as a result, there are damages. The combination of duty, breach, causation, and damages defines malpractice in nursing. Describing the outcome as harm to the patient doesn’t capture the practitioner’s breach of professional standards; while negligence is the broader idea, the professional context makes malpractice the precise label. A nurse practice act violation would point to regulatory rules, but the scenario centers on the professional breach leading to harm, which is best described as malpractice.

Professional negligence (malpractice) is involved. A licensed nurse has a duty to provide care that meets accepted standards and to follow orders when appropriate. Failing to irrigate a feeding tube as ordered breaches that duty, and if the patient is harmed as a result, there are damages. The combination of duty, breach, causation, and damages defines malpractice in nursing. Describing the outcome as harm to the patient doesn’t capture the practitioner’s breach of professional standards; while negligence is the broader idea, the professional context makes malpractice the precise label. A nurse practice act violation would point to regulatory rules, but the scenario centers on the professional breach leading to harm, which is best described as malpractice.

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