ent to the protection of the public and the prevention of future harm.” Leslie Morrison, JD, MS, RN, president of the Northern California chapter of the American Association of Nurse Attorneys, agrees that the state board of nursing is the best way to sanction nurses who make errors on the job. She states, “Criminal prosecution without criminal intent is the wrong way to go, as long as there are civil sanctions, such as license suspension. Accidents happen. They shouldn’t be condoned, but going through licensing channels is more important than pressing charges.”In my opinion, nurses should not be prosecuted for mistakes made on the job. Nurses are human beings, which makes them capable of making mistakes. In criminally prosecuting nurses for these mistakes, nurses will less likely report and hide them, thus causing harm to the patient and the public. Also, although nurses have an extensive knowledge base when it comes to patient care, nurses are continually learning while still on the job. At times, learning means making an honest mistake and nurses should not be prosecuted for that. In making mistakes, nurses tend to fell bad as it is; they punish themselves emotionally even when the error did not harm patient. This is right in line with Adam Smith in which he states, “…to hurt or injure another…there is no commonly honest man who does not more dread the inward disgrace of such an action, the indelible stain which it would forever stamp upon his own mind, than the greatest external calamity which, without any fault of his own, could possibly befall him (p. 107). I am not condoning non-punished errors, however, it should be up to the state board of nursing to decide on the punishment that would best fit the error. Then depending on the severity and negligence of the error, should the state board of nursing call in the district attorney, rather than the district attorney stepping in on...
