Nurses who perform medical services are subject to the same standards of care and liability as physicians.  COURT OF APPEAL OF LOUISIANA, 1999.

   The Court of Appeal of Louisiana recently upheld a jury’s verdict absolving a nurse and physician of legal liability for medical complications from a patient’s post-surgical wound infection.

   The patient had a quadruple bypass and was discharged home ten days later. Her home was 140 miles away. She returned to the hospital two weeks later for outpatient follow-up. The physician and nurse who saw her removed her stitches, packed the area of the wound that was draining, instructed the patient how to re-pack the wound, and took bacterial cultures.

   Four days later the patient’s temperature rose to 100^o, so she called the nurse from her home. The nurse looked at the bacterial culture report and noted what the court said was an abnormal finding for that type of surgical operation. The nurse told the patient to return to the hospital that day.

   The patient refused. She said she did not want to make the trip. She asked the nurse to ask the doctor to prescribe an antibiotic over the phone. The nurse refused, and told her again to come to the hospital right away. The nurse then told the patient at least to see her own physician that day.

   The patient did not see her doctor, as by this time the office had closed for the weekend. When she did get into her doctor’s office, she had to be hospitalized for removal of infected tissue.

   The court ruled the nurse fully complied with a nurse’s legal duty of care or standard of care under the circumstances.

   The court specifically overruled the following allegations filed against the nurse, as incorrect statements of this nurse’s legal duty of care:

   The nurse should have informed the patient of the urgency of her situation.

   The nurse should have advised the patient to see a physician within twenty-four hours.

   The nurse should have located a physician, hospital or emergency room near the patient’s home and made arrangements for the patient to be seen.

   The nurse should have obtained an agreement with the patient that the patient would have herself seen by a physician within twenty-four hours.

   The nurse should have followed up when the hospital was not notified within twenty-four hours that another facility had been contacted by the patient. King v. State of Louisiana, 728 So. 2d 1027 (La. App., 1999).