Scott Trueman discusses the crucial importance of nursing documentation in legal proceedings

Nursing documentation or "nursing notes" have several functions not least of which are to record faithfully and actually what occurred at the relevant time. Such documentation is highly valued by lawyers because nurses deliver the bulk of the care to patients and it is core business for nurses to monitor, observe, report and record. Nurses are therefore vital to the process of litigation - in particular their documentation is a vital aspect to lawyers prosecuting cases. Invariably when a case has navigated through the tortuous pre-trial process and is ready for hearing there are at least two...