A patient falls and sustains a fracture after a provider's order to assist with walking is given. What is the most likely legal conclusion?

• A. The nurse will be found guilty of malpractice
• B. The nurse will be guilty of negligence
• C. The nurse will be charged with technical battery
• D. The nurse will not be found liable for any harm

Answer: (B)

The key idea is whether the nurse met the standard of care during ambulation. When a patient falls and is injured after a provider orders assistance with walking, a claim typically centers on negligence—did the nurse fail to exercise reasonable care to prevent harm while helping the patient? Negligence examines the duty to protect the patient, whether that duty was breached, and whether the breach caused the injury. In this scenario, the nurse followed an order to assist, and the patient ended up with a fracture, which points to evaluating whether reasonable safety precautions were taken (for example, proper use of assistive devices, adequate supervision, fall precautions). This is not battery, since there’s no indication of intentional harm, and it isn’t malpractice by default—malpractice would require showing a breach of the professional standard of care; simply following an order doesn’t itself prove breach. It also isn’t a finding of no liability, because harm occurred during care. Therefore, negligence is the best conclusion because it focuses on whether reasonable care was used to prevent the harm in the given situation.