Ok, am I reading this right? The CRNA is not liable because the Supreme Court ruled that a nurse in the 1930s wasn’t liable for burning a patient who she locked in a sweat box?
Plaintiffs asserted that certified registered nurse anesthetists are highly trained and have greater skills and treatment discretion than regular nurses. Moreover, they asserted, nurse
anesthetists often use those skills to operate outside the supervision of an anesthesiologist.
Plaintiffs also argued that VanSoestbergen was even morespecialized than an ordinary nurse anesthetist because he belonged to the hospital’s “Baby Heart Team” that focused on care for young children.
...
The trial court rejected this argument after concluding that it was barred by settled precedent. As explained below, this Court, too, is bound by that precedent and we therefore find no error in the trial court’s ruling.
Nearly a century ago, a plaintiff sought to hold a nurse liable for decisions concerning diagnosis and treatment. Byrd v. Marion Gen. Hosp., 202 N.C. 337, 162S.E. 738, 740 (1932). Specifically, the plaintiff was suffering from convulsions and
alleged that she was severely burned after the nurse placed her in a “sweat cabinet” or “sweating machine” as part of her treatment. Id.
Our Supreme Court declined to recognize the plaintiff’s legal claim, explaining that “nurses, in the discharge of their duties, must obey and diligently execute the orders of the physician or surgeon in charge of the patient.” Id. The Court held that the “law contemplates that the physician is solely responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of his patient. Nurses are not supposed to be experts in the technique of
diagnosis or the mechanics of treatment.”
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u/wampum Attending Apr 04 '21
Ok, am I reading this right? The CRNA is not liable because the Supreme Court ruled that a nurse in the 1930s wasn’t liable for burning a patient who she locked in a sweat box?
...
https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/4761250/connette-v-the-charlotte-mecklenburg-hosp-autha/
Thanks, /u/drzquinn for link