The Deputy Commissioner has found a registered nurse in breach of Rights 4(1) and 4(2) of the Code for undertaking a cursory and inadequate assessment of a resident, failing to arrange for another senior member to check on him or provide a care-giver with appropriate clinical instructions should the resident deteriorate, and for inadequate documentation. While it was acknowledged that the nurse may have been operating in difficult circumstances, the Deputy Commissioner noted that the nurse had "a duty of care to [the resident] which should have taken priority over...attendance at a meeting". The Deputy Commissioner also found that it was reasonable for the General Manager and rest home to have relied on the nurse to provide appropriate nursing care, and that the nurse's failure was a "fundamental clinical failure" which could not be attributed to any alleged systemic deficiencies: "Where there is a fundamental failing by an individual provider, a rest home will not be held liable for the individual's failings in the absence of conclusive evidence that the staffing levels and/or support were so deficient that it made the person unable to perform their duties appropriately". 09HDC02110
Register Now As you are not an existing subscriber please register for your free daily legal newsfeed service.
RegisterIf you have any questions about the service please contact customerservices@lexology.com or call Lexology Customer Services on +44 20 7234 0606.
Inadequate assessment and care of resident a "fundamental clinical failure"
- Buddle Findlay
- New Zealand
- May 30 2012
-
If you are interested in submitting an article to Lexology, please contact Andrew Teague at ateague@lexology.com.
Sonja Sarantis
Legal Counsel
State Street Bank and Trust Company