Legal Question in Medical Malpractice in Oklahoma
If a nurse is told she needs to sign a document that ends with the statement " I understand that continued noncompliance can result in the loss of ____ privileges", isn't he or she admitting to noncompliance with whatever policy the hospital is putting forth?
Also, could this admission be used against an individual in the event of a lawsuit by a patient or his family?
1 Answer from Attorneys
I don't think the statement necessarily means the nurse has been non-compliant. It says only that the nurse realizes that "continued noncompliance" can (but not will) result in loss of privileges. Much depends on what the rest of the document says; ie, does the rest of the document affirmatively state that the nurse has been non-compliant in at least one instance?
In the event of a patient malpractice claim there would likely be defense efforts to keep this document out of evidence based on one or more privileges, but you couldn't count on it being excluded from evidence. And, obviously, if the document indicated some negligent act or error on the part of the nurse, then it could be incriminating.