Handwriting and a nurse's duty of care

摘要

The standard of care imposed on nurses was established in Bolam v Friern HMC 1957 and confirmed by the House of Lords in Sidaway v Bethlem Royal Hospital 1985. Described as the locus classicus, or authoritative basis, for the standard of care, it requires nurses to act in accordance with a practice accepted as proper by a responsible body of professionals skilled in that particular art (Gold v Haringey HA 1998). Although the courts are generally content to allow the profession to establish the standard of care in particular circumstances, judges retain a supervisory role over that professional standard and have the authority to reject a standard that does not stand up to logical analysis (Bolitho v City Hackney Health Authority 1998).