Proposed change: Medical malpractice trial outcomes are increasingly influencing nurses and nursing practice. We will provide information about the integral roles of nursing, medicine, and law, and how these professions work together on issues of quality care. We will rely on cases that have gone through the judicial system to support the principle points. We will provide examples of key elements discussed and decided in the courts (Duty, Care, Standards, Proximate Cause, and Proof).  We will demonstrate how the legal system, which is the arbiter of standards, has influenced nursing and medical care of women and infants. 

Implementation, outcomes and evaluation: Nurses will apply the information learned in this session to their practices by understanding the dual principles of autonomy and teamwork. We will create an awareness of the strengths and vulnerabilities inherent in professional perinatal practice. An awareness of duty, care, and standards, as taken from trial decisions, will inform nursing practice. 

Implications for nursing practice: Upon returning to their work settings, nurses will be in a knowledge position to comment on the trial and appeals, and consider applications to their nursing practice.

Keywords: nursing duty, care, standards, malpractice, judicial system