Insights About the Legal System in Illinois, Creative Essay Example

As an advanced nurse practitioner, my insight about the legal system in Illinois is arrived after going through a case of a woman who had received a prenatal care from a nurse practitioner. The woman later gave birth to a child with macrosomia. The woman proceeds to sue the medical doctor for failure to examine her and nurse practitioner for incorrectly advising her. There should be a form of collaboration, supervision, and delegation from a physician to enable nurse practitioner to carry on. Malpractice burden and insurance premium of a medical doctor does not increase because medical doctor has collaborative support with nurse practitioners. The data reveals that the occurrences of lawsuits against nurse practitioners are less as compared to the incidence of law suits against medical doctors. I realized that insurers look into premium on actuarial data though no existence of legal requirement that premiums should be reduced. Insurers have the freedom to set whatever premiums they want. In this regard it may not cause medical doctor additional premium in order to collaborate with the nurse practitioner which is often manageable (Wendy, 2011).For effective risk management the following policies should be adhered to:

• Medical doctor should not co-sign a nurse practitioner note.
• In case a medical doctor meets with nurse practitioner patient, he or she should take into consideration the fact that she/he is establishing a duty of care to the patient. Incase nurse practitioner orally present a case Medical doctor recommends for tests or treatment. • If medical doctor has not come into contact with the patient for instance talking, then it is evidenced that the medical doctor does not have a duty to the patient. To avoid malpractice law suit one should apply four Cs which comprise of:
• Caring
• Communication
• Competence
• Charting

Since there are too many demands on the nurse practitioners, steps must be implemented and decrease the nurse practitioners liability.

Reference

Wendy L. (2011) Family Nurse Practitioner