APRNs and Malpractice
QUESTION
Initial Post
Review Tables 29.1, 29.2, 29.3, and 29.4 in the Joel text (2018) and compare APRN adverse events and malpractice claims to MDs in your state of practic (COLORADO). Identify the differences, why you think there is a difference, and how malpractice suits affect patient access.
APRNs and Malpractice
ANSWER
APRNs and Malpractice
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APRNs and Malpractice
From the data provided from (Joel,2018) indicates an ever-increasing number of nurse practitioners being named in law suits as defendants. The tables 29.1, 29.2, 29.3, 29.4 outlines, Medical Malpractice Payments of Advanced Practice Nurses: Reports of Suits and Settlements to the National Practitioner Data Bank by State and Year: 1990 to 2014 APNs Including CNSs, NAs, CNMs, and NPs, Adverse Actions Against Advanced Practice Nurses Reported to the National, Practitioner Data Bank by State and Year: 1990 to 2014, Medical Malpractice Payments: Physicians: Reports of Suits and Settlements to the National Practitioner Data Bank. Physicians Include Medical Doctors (MDs) and Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine and Adverse Actions Against Physicians Reported to the National Practitioner Data Bank by State and Year: 1990 to 2014 respectively.
Nurse practitioner is legal cause of action that takes place when a medical or healthcare professional provides poor quality healthcare standards by deviating from the expected delivery tiers from their profession thereby inflicting harm to a patient (Joel, 2018). Adverse events in this respect includes lawsuits and medical payments with regards to malpractice. In the state of Colorado, there has been less than a hundred cases of malpractice payments as fines by nurse practitioners, every year being less than ten with the highest being 7. Adverse actions against nurse practitioners have been less than five over the years. There have been approximately 3,500 medical malpractice settlement payments made by physicians.
This statistic shows that there has been a large malpractice on the part of malpractice on the part of physicians as opposed to nurse practitioners (McMichael, 2019). The increases in malpractice claims reduces patient confidence on particular healthcare institutions and for instance in the state of Colorado increases confidence in nurse practitioners as opposed to physicians (McMichael et al., 2017). Physicians are more inclined to err as they make more complex decision on diagnosis.
References
Joel, l. (2018). Advanced Practice Nursing Essentials for Role Development (4th ed.). Advanced Practice Nursing Essentials for Role Development.
McMichael, B. (2019). Shifting Liability with Licensing: An Empirical Analysis of Medical Malpractice and Scope-of-Practice Laws. Journal of Tort Law, 12(2), 213-253
McMichael, B., Safriet, B., & Buerhaus, P. (2017). The Extraregulatory Effect of Nurse Practitioner Scope-of-Practice Laws on Physician Malpractice Rates. Medical Care Research and Review, 75(3), 312-326.