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Offers information on negligence issues concerning a midwife in England who delivered a baby in shoulder dystocia. Background information on the case; Time factor to be considered; Basis of the court decision.

Presents information on two English court cases relating to consent issues from medical and parental opinion regarding a child's best interest, focusing on implications for nurses working in paediatrics. Conditions children were diagnosed with; Legal proceedings which took place in each case; Decisions made by judges.

Presents tips for making medical incident reports. Example of a legal case; Purposes of the incident report; Considerations during the occurrence of a serious incident.

Examines a legal case in which anaesthetist John Asare Adomako was charged for the death of a surgery patient in England. Description of the incidents leading to the death of the patient; Standard procedures that were allegedly not done by Adomako; Description the processes and equipment used after the surgery.

Examines cases of carelessness or negligence in cancer care involving physicians in England. Case of medication error at the Peterborough General Hospital; Case involving the failure by an anaesthetist to notice that the ventilator tube to the patient had become disconnected; How negligence was proven on both cases; Importance of risk management in hospitals.

Presents a case study of a tracheostomy patient who died as a result of inaccurate documentation in a high dependency unit in an Australian nursing home. Coronial inquest on the case.

Presents a case of medical malpractice by a nurse in Australia accused of negligent handling of an infant patient that resulted in septicemia. Medical background; Plaintiff's argument; Aseptic techniques used by the nurse; Role of nursing care plans in infection control; Central nature of nursing car plans in the nurses' defense.

Explores the options open to Australian nurses who believe they are being sexually harassed. Conduct which constitutes sexual harassment; Sex-biased harassment; Mutual attraction; Warning signals.

Discusses the legal aspects of unauthorized performance of invasive procedures without a patient's consent. Legal implications of congruence of information in doctor's and nurses' notes and patient's idea of the procedure; Case of a hysterectomy performed without an Australian patient's consent; Need for clear, specific and accurate charting of information. INSET: Sister says it is alright...

Looks at a medical malpractice suit in Australia. Allegations of negligence of two doctors as the cause of brain damage of an epileptic child; Description of the incident; Evidence against both doctors; Decision of the court. INSET: Epilepsy--its complications and treatment..

Examines how breast-implant-injury claimant Julie Breen encountered the Australian law concerning access to medical records held by private medical practitioners. Legal ownership of medical records; Surgical procedures undergone by Breen; Test case in the Supreme Court of New South Wales; Investigation of possible claim against implant manufacturer Dow Corning; 1956 Health Act; 1993 Privacy Act.

Examines the general terms with regard to the legal requirement in relation to withholding cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for patients. Historical background of CPR; Factors for the uncertainty of the legal status to withhold CPR; Circumstances presented for a lawful excuse to withhold treatment; New South Wales-based John Hunter Hospital's guidelines in relation to CPR.

Discusses the convening of a coroners' inquest in determining the manner and cause of deaths in a hospital setting in Great Britain. Inquests involving allegations of negligence against hospitals and health professionals; Coroners' privilege of filing to the nursing or medical board of critical findings; Case of a patient's alleged overdose with methotrexate; Evidence relating to the standard of care given.

Presents an alleged negligence case against England-based Exeter City Hospital filed by obstetric patient Pauline Wakeham. Background history; Expectation for a delivery of twins; Onset of labor; Delay in securing a qualified attendant; Brain damage incurred by the second baby due to the delay in delivery; Rulings on the case.

Looks at how the Australian Confederation of Operating Room Nurses Standard was accepted as evidence of safe practice in a Queensland case. Failure to retrieve the sponge from the patient's body after the operation; Evidence given to the trial court of the counting and checking process; Decision of the Australia's Court of Appeal.

Illustrates a nursing case in Victoria, Australia, which emphasizes the importance of any health care facility having proper lifting and incident reporting policies in place. Facts about the case; Comments about risk management for fall prevention in the elderly; Recommendations.

Discusses safety issues in relation to a patient in physical restraint. Facts about the case of `Gordon'; Evidences presented in the inquest; Findings of the inquest; Recommendations of the Victorian Department of Human Services concerning the case.

Discusses the court case `Robertson versus Hospital Corporation of America' which is about negligence. Background of the case; Intraoperative protocols; Predisposition of the case.

Presents information on legal issues concerning the nursing profession. Medical negligence case resulting from the complications of an esophageal dilatation procedure; Case about the negligence of a surgeon to inform the patient on the procedure which was performed.

Opinion. Discusses the legal issues pertaining to nursing in Australia, with reference to the dangers of refusing blood transfusions, and the choice of life or death. Reference to a patient in Victoria, Australia who refused to have an blood transfusion because of religious beliefs; Why the patient needed the blood transfusion; How the law responded to the issue.

Presents information on nursing and the law while focusing on an incident which occurred in a nursing home which involved a nurse state enrolled nurse (SEN) and a nursing assistant. Indepth look at the incident; Reference to court case number 0228/90 Coronial Inquest: Victoria, May 1992, Coroner Iain Treloar West.

Presents the case of a woman in labour who accepted to be operated by a surgeon but refused the injections of the anaesthetist because of her phobia to needles. General law principles applicable to the case; Requirements invoking the capacity to decide argument; Determining the best interest of the patient.

Examines the Scottish case of Hay versus Grampian Health Board ((1995) 6 Med LR. 128) in which the concepts of `close' and `special' observation are explored. Background and presentation of the case of Shona Hill, a patient in psychiatric care at Royal Cornhill Hospital in 1987 who committed suicide; Evidence presented in the court regarding the negligence of the hospital's nurses on their duties; Legal lesson from the case.

Describes cases in Western Australia showing how miscommunication contributed to the back injuries suffered by two nurses. Ruling by the Supreme Court of Western Australia that nursing homes have the responsibility to prevent exposing nurses to risk of injury; Ruling on the allegations of contributory negligence by a nurse.

Examines the case of Sharon Allin versus the Hackney Health Authority illustrating the importance of communication in the delivery of health care. Facts of the case; Physical evidences presented in the case; Evidences from psychiatrists.

Focuses on the role of Coroners. Recommendations and comments on matters of safety in the public interest; Cases associated with nurses engaged in triage and medication rounds; Factors resulting to stress related illnesses.

Presents a case which focused on how neonatal care given in 1991 was viewed in the context of a 1997 trial and why nursing observations were critical to its outcome. Facts in the case; Allegations and arguments; Evidence presented.

Reports on the appeal to higher courts of the case examined in the October 1995 issue of the Australian Nursing Federation, concerning the failure to treat childhood epilepsy. Implications of the use of rectal diazepam in childhood epilepsy; Debate in medico-legal circles about the issue.