Nurse Expert Witness Litigation Landscape
Hot topics for Nurse Expert Witnesses in 2024–2025 are driven by emerging legal trends, healthcare policy changes, technological developments, and shifts in patient care standards.
Below are the most in-demand and litigated areas where nurse expert witnesses are frequently engaged:
Key Focus Areas
Nursing Standard of Care & Negligence
- Medication administration errors (especially with high-alert drugs)
- Falls and pressure injuries (failure to follow fall protocols or Braden assessments)
- Failure to monitor or assess (e.g., post-op patients, labor and delivery, sepsis cases)
- Inadequate documentation and EMR discrepancies
- Missed changes in condition / failure to notify physicians
Long-Term Care & Elder Abuse
- Staffing shortages and neglect in skilled nursing facilities
- Inappropriate use of restraints or psychotropics
- Fall risk management and wound care
- Dehydration, malnutrition, elopement
- Allegations of abuse or wrongful death in LTC or ALFs
Life Care Planning & Catastrophic Injury
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI), spinal cord injury (SCI), amputations
- Future care needs and cost projections
- Medical necessity disputes in personal injury and medical malpractice cases
- Complex pediatric and adult cases involving lifetime care planning
Emergency Department & Critical Care Cases
- Delay in triage or failure to escalate care
- Sepsis, stroke, or cardiac event mismanagement
- Allegations of abandonment, crowding, or understaffing
- Use of restraints and sedation in ER or ICU
Maternal & Neonatal Care
- Labor and delivery injuries (e.g., HIE, shoulder dystocia)
- Mismanagement of fetal monitoring (EFM)
- Delayed C-section or inappropriate Pitocin use
- Postpartum hemorrhage or maternal death
Behavioral Health & Suicide Prevention
- Inpatient psychiatric facility standards
- Suicide or self-harm in ER or while under observation
- Use of 1:1 sitters or elopement from behavioral units
- Incarcerated patients’ mental health care
Correctional Healthcare Litigation
- Delayed or denied care to inmates
- Medication mismanagement and withdrawal syndromes
- Inadequate management of chronic conditions
- Deaths in custody and Eighth Amendment violations
Telehealth & Digital Health Documentation
- Failure to triage appropriately during virtual visits
- Inadequate documentation during telehealth encounters
- Cybersecurity and HIPAA violations
- Nurse call centers and telenursing accountability
COVID-19–Related Litigation (Ongoing)
- PPE shortages and unsafe working conditions
- Wrongful death suits in LTC facilities and hospitals
- Vaccine mandate-related employment disputes
- Delayed or denied care due to pandemic protocols
Scope of Practice & Delegation
- Misdelegation to unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP)
- Advanced Practice Nurse roles in prescribing or diagnosis
- Informed consent issues involving nurse practitioners
- Overstepping scope in high-acuity settings
