Discuss the legal responsibility of the nurse in the following:

An Incident report: An incident report is an agencys legal record of an incident or unusual occurrence. The nurse must ensure that as soon as an incident has occurred that care is given to the client if injury has occurred. ALS ! care must be ta"en to ensure that the incident does not reoccur. #t is also the nurses responsibility to document the incident on an incident report which must be completed as soon as possible. As he$she completes the report they must ensure that the patient or person who suffered injury is clearly identified! document the time! date and place of the incident! and describe the incident ma"ing sure that only the facts are stated and that his$her opinions and any conclusion is omitted. The nurse must ensure that all witnesses to the incident are identified on the incident report! and that their account is included in direct %uotes. #f an e%uipment was involved this machine &machines' must be identified by its name! location! an e%uipment number. Similarly if the nature of the incident pertained to medication! the medication name and dosage must be noted. After completing the incident report the staff nurse must ensure that immediate supervisors are made aware of the incident. A() adverse client reactions must be treated and recorded.

Avoiding Malpractice/Liability Situations: A nurse can ensure that he$she avoids the above by first and foremost ensuring that he$she protects the client from injury or harm. *e$she must "now the policies of the agency and must ensure that the care provided to clients is done so within the scope of education! job description! and the nursing practice and that competency level in the nursing practice is maintained. To also avoid the above legal actions! the nurse must ensur that any order %uestioned by the client is double+chec"ed and if the order is unclear or ambiguous! it must be verified with the doctor prior to the admission of care. bserve and monitor client care! and ensure that when care is provided no distractions are present. ,- sure to observe the ./s during medication administration 0 1right med! time! dosage! route! patient2 3hen an incident has occurred he$she must ta"e every effort to prevent further injury from occurring and ensure that the incident is reported promptly and as accurately as possible. #n all practices the nurse must ensure that he$she adheres to the policies and procedures of the agency at which they are employed or the nurses practice act.