Abuse Of Patient: Court Says Giving Enema Without An Order Is Negligent, Not Abusive
Legal Eagle Eye Newsletter for the Nursing Profession
May 1997
A good faith error in judgment is not patient abuse. A nurses’ aide misunderstood the nursing home’s "laxative list." Their bowel movements were to be closely monitored and noted on the flow sheet, but no resident, on the list or not, was to be given an enema without a specific physician’s order.
The aide and another gave a resident an enema. The aide was reported to the state for abusing a patient. After a series of administrative appeals, the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin ruled that the aide, although mistaken, did what she thought was in the best interest of the resident.
She was negligent for not checking to see if the resident had a physician’s order for an enema. However, the aide’s actions were not in "willful and wanton disregard" of the resident’s needs and interests. The aide’s name was to be removed from the state’s registry of healthcare workers known to have abused a patient. Kennedy vs. Wisconsin Department of Health and Social Services, 544 N.W. 2d 917 (Wis. App., 1996).