About 20 nurses faced criminal proceeding for negligence or malpractice over the past eight years, yet nurses still have a “false sense of security” that leads them to believe they are immune to legal action by patients, union president Paul Pace said.
Nurses had to learn to be more cautious and aware of the legal repercussions of their words and actions around patients, he told a conference about medico-legal nursing organised by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses.
Very often, Mr Pace said, the problem stemmed from the fact that nurses felt overly comfortable around patients without realising that, if something went wrong, their words could be used against them.
We should go home and be proud of ourselves... we made someone’s life better
A nurse talking about the fun he had the night before could backfire if a legal issue arose, for example.
Such lack of boundaries was also leading to instances of cyber bullying.
He cited the example of a nurse who was casually talking to a colleague about her personal life while bathing a patient.
Sometime after, the patient posted the nurses’ personal information on Facebook.
Another growing problem, he said, was brought about by social media as some nurses exposed themselves to risk when they failed to respect the patient-nurse boundary.
He knew of cases of nurses who befriended patients or started a relationship when a patient left care. But, in one case, the patient returned to the hospital and alleged malpractice when the relationship turned sour.
Mr Pace called on nurses to be aware about the legal implications of their words and actions in a society where suing was becoming more common. He also urged them not to go beyond their job description even if this was for the benefit of a patient as they would not be covered legally.
Antoinette Saliba, the chairwoman of the union’s education committee, spoke about the lack of clear policies outlining procedures to be used in various situations.
Nurse George Saliba, who specialised in geriatrics and bioethics, called on nurses not to take anything for granted. He said the Maltese health system lacked advanced directives that allowed sick patients to leave a “living will” outlining the way they wished their treatment to progress. For example, a patient might ask not to be resuscitated if the need arose.
He told the nurses present that, while they were answerable to patients, their relatives and hospital management, they were firstly answerable to themselves.
“After 12 hours of duty we should go home and be proud of ourselves... we made someone’s life better,” he said.