RN sued an Ohio Hospital for False Imprisonment, Defamation, and Negligence

See this Ohio case that held the RN was not confined by the hospital, while awaiting drug test results. The RN sued the hospital for false imprisonment. Her case was dismissed on motion for summary judgment filed by the hospital and she appealed. The appeals court affirmed the motion for summary judgment for the hospital.

Make sure you read the dissenting opinion.

Do you think this was false imprisonment? How would your employer handle this type of situation?

The case is Sharp v. Cleveland Clinic, 176 Ohio App.3d 226, 2008-Ohio-1777. Click on the link to review the case

http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/rod/docs/pdf/11/2008/2008-ohio-1777.pdf

Comments

[Ohio RN]

I suppose this is not technically false imprisonment but it certainly qualifies as intimidation and bullying. It is unfortunate that this nurse had to go through this experience.

While we all know that appropriate documentation is the nurses responsibility, one must still ask themselves under what circumstances did the error occur?

Did anyone counsel the nurse?
How many patients was she caring for?
Did she need some assistance with the Pyxis system that was contributing to her error?

At your workplace the "innocent until proven guilty" does not necessarily apply. This seems to me to be an extreme example of intimidation and disrespect...

[Ohio Health Insurance]

I think the Court made the correct decision. The only thing that was accomplished was some wasted money for Ohio taxpayers.