📋 Management of Care · Lesson 5 of 7 · 7 min
Negligence, Malpractice, Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment
👩⚖️ Restrain a client without a reason, and that is false imprisonment. Threaten to give an injection, and that is assault. Give it against their will, and that is battery. The exam will describe the act and ask for the legal name.
💡 Key idea
Four elements prove malpractice: duty, breach, causation, damages. Assault is the threat, battery the touch, false imprisonment the unjustified confinement.
🧠 Why it matters
NEGLIGENCE is failing to act as a reasonably prudent person would; MALPRACTICE is professional negligence. Proving it needs four elements: a DUTY to the client, a BREACH of that duty, CAUSATION, and DAMAGES. ASSAULT is a threat or attempt that makes someone fear harmful contact; BATTERY is the actual unwanted touching, which includes performing a procedure without consent. FALSE IMPRISONMENT is restricting a client's freedom without justification, such as applying restraints without an order or refusing to let a competent client leave. DEFAMATION is a false statement that harms reputation, spoken (slander) or written (libel). INVASION OF PRIVACY includes breaches of confidentiality. Your best protections are competent practice within your scope, following policy, thorough documentation, and clear communication. Following a provider's order does not excuse carrying out an order you knew or should have known was unsafe; question it and go up the chain of command.
🏥 In the real world
🛏️ A nurse tells a confused but non-violent client, 'If you get out of bed again, I'll tie you down.' Assault. The client is later restrained with no order and no attempt at alternatives. False imprisonment, and possibly battery. A bed alarm, a sitter and a call to the provider would have been nursing. The threat was a lawsuit.
📌 Takeaways
- Duty, breach, causation, damages
- Assault threatens; battery touches; false imprisonment confines
- An unsafe order is not a defense; question it and escalate
✅ Test yourself
A nurse administers an injection to a competent client who clearly refused it. Which legal term applies?
- Assault
- Negligence
- Defamation
- Battery
Answer: D · Battery
Battery is intentional unwanted physical contact, including treatment given over a refusal.
A client falls after a nurse fails to raise ordered side rails and sustains a hip fracture. Which element of malpractice is the fracture?
- Damages
- Breach
- Causation
- Duty
Answer: A · Damages
Damages are the actual harm suffered. The failure to raise the rails is the breach; the fall linking them is causation.
A competent client wants to leave the hospital against medical advice. The nurse locks the door 'for safety.' Which legal issue has the nurse created?
- Assault
- Libel (written defamation)
- Negligence (malpractice)
- False imprisonment
Answer: D · False imprisonment
A competent adult may leave. Preventing it without legal grounds is false imprisonment. The nurse should inform the provider and ask the client to sign the AMA form.
NCLEX-style questions, XP and streaks in the app. No sign-up needed.
More in Management of Care
- 1Whose Job Is Informed Consent? (Not Yours)
- 2HIPAA in the Elevator, the Hallway and the Group Chat
- 3Living Wills, Proxies and the DNR That Is Not 'Do Not Treat'
- 4Six Ethical Principles the Exam Names by Name
- 5Negligence, Malpractice, Assault, Battery, False Imprisonment
- 6SBAR, Handoffs and When to Climb the Chain of Command
- 7Incident Reports, Root Causes and Who to Refer To