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Medical Negligence and Duty of Care

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Negligence can be defined as a failure to take reasonable care or steps to prevent loss or injury to another person. In healthcare, negligence occurs when a healthcare professional fails to take reasonable care or steps to prevent loss or injury to a client.

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Negligence can be defined as a failure to take reasonable care or steps to prevent loss or injury to another person. In healthcare, negligence occurs when a healthcare professional fails to take reasonable care or steps to prevent loss or injury to a client. Being negligent is not the same as making a mistake or error of judgement. Even if a particular risk eventuates, or a desired outcome is not achieved, this does not necessarily mean negligence has occurred. This is particularly true in healthcare, as most medical interventions have risks and complete safety can rarely be guaranteed.

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Ausmed
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Ausmed’s editorial team is committed to providing high-quality, well-researched and reputable education to our users, free of any commercial bias or conflict of interest. All education produced by Ausmed is developed in consultation with healthcare professionals and undergoes a regular rigorous review process to ensure the relevancy of all healthcare information and updates to changes in practice. If you have identified an issue with the education offered by Ausmed or wish to submit feedback to Ausmed's editorial team, please email ausmed@ausmed.com.au with your concerns.
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363 reviews by Ausmed Learners
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Sarah Guerrera
19 Apr 2022
Registered Nurse
I found this to be a very useful reading.
LH
Lynn Hancock
23 Oct 2020
great article well resourced.
HD
Huynh Diep
25 Aug 2021
That was very good to read and helped understand acknowledge
JJ
Jayaletchimi Joganathan
20 Apr 2022
Registered Nurse
Good resource for professional practice.
WK
Wendy Knights
15 Feb 2021
Short but concisely to the point.
CH
Chantele Hanley
26 Jan 2022
Very informative
NT
Naomi Terblanche
29 Oct 2021
Amazing and good go to for more information
WT
Weisam Tang
14 Oct 2021
Good
Portrait of Melina Gerding Faivre
Melina Faivre
08 Sep 2021
Amazing resource and easy to understand
RC
Robyn Cosgrove
21 Oct 2020
This article was very helpful in defining what negligence actually is.
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