Kean University NURSING 3000 A new graduate nurse is working in the pediatric intensive care unit

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Kean University NURSING 3000

A new graduate nurse is working in the pediatric intensive care unit. She has been employed a total of 5 months, three of which were spent in orientation. Her patient, a child with a cardiac defect and pneumonia, has a very unstable condition and has needed an increasing amount of supplemental oxygen during the night. This is the most complex and unstable case the new nurse has cared for. The physician has been called four times during the night with reports of deterioration in the child's status. Telephone orders have been issued each time but have not resulted in the patient's improvement. The nurse has kept her charge nurse apprised of the child's changing condition and the physician's orders. The charge nurse advises her, "Try to get the doctor in here a little earlier this morning and make sure he sees your patient first; she's not looking good." Twenty minutes later, the child has a cardiac arrest and cannot be resuscitated.

1. What are the four elements that must be proved to uphold a claim of negligence?
2. Can the child's family assert a claim of negligence against a new graduate with very limited experience and seniority?
3. What duty, if any, did the charge nurse have to the child?
4. Would the physician's knowledge of the child's condition serve as a defense against a claim of nursing negligence, particularly because the new graduate had spoken to the physician four times?