Quick Summary: The patient offered no expert affidavit in support of his case, and for that reason alone the case had to be dismissed.  The court did not rule for or against the hospital’s protocol for nursing assessment of the need for raising the bed rails.   COURT OF APPEALS OF GEORGIA, 1995.

   The patient filed suit against the hospital, in which he claimed he fell from his bed, while writhing in pain, and sustained injury when he struck the floor, due to the negligence of the hospital. The alleged negligence of the hospital was that "the bed rail on the bed was down and not secured, and the hospital’s agents and employees failed to exercise reasonable and ordinary care in the attendance and supervision of the patient, and said failure solely, foreseeably and proximately caused serious bodily injury to the patient."

   The hospital countered the allegations of the suit by offering to the court the affidavit of an expert witness, a senior registered nurse employed by the hospital. Her affidavit described the hospital’s fall-risk protocol. Under the protocol, staff nurses were allowed to determine when side rails should be employed to physically restrain hospital patients as a matter of nursing judgment. Nursing judgment was to be predicated upon an overall assessment of the patient, including such factors as the patient’s combativeness, degree of disorientation and confusion, risk of falling out of bed for other reasons, treatment needs and hospital staffing levels.

   The patient claimed his case was not a case charging professional malpractice, but alleged only "ordinary" negligence. Thus, it was contended on behalf of the patient, no expert’s affidavit was needed to show that there had been a departure by the hospital from the accepted standard of professional care. State law required the court to dismiss any healthcare professional malpractice case that was not supported by such an affidavit produced by the patient at the time of the filing of the suit.