Fundamentals of Nursing Q 277
The nurse puts a restraint jacket on a client without the client’s permission and without the physician’s order. The nurse may be guilty of:
A. Assault
B. Battery
C. Invasion of privacy
D. Neglect
Correct Answer: B. Battery
A battery comprises a direct and intentional [or reckless] act of the defendant which causes some physical contact with the person of the plaintiff without the plaintiff’s consent. Touching a person that does not invite touching or blatantly says to stop is a battery. For example, going by a coworker’s desk and continually pinching, slapping, or punching them, when the force is strong enough to hurt them and your intent is to hurt them, would constitute battery.
Option A: Assault is the intentional act of making someone fear that you will cause them harm. You do not have to actually harm them to commit assault. Threatening them verbally or pretending to hit them are both examples of assault that can occur in a nursing home.
Option C: Invasion of privacy is the unjustifiable intrusion into the personal life of another without consent. However, invasion of privacy is not a tort on its own; rather it generally consists of four distinct causes of action.
Option D: Negligence is defined as doing something or failing to do something that a prudent, careful, and reasonable nurse would do or not do in the same situation. It is the failure to meet accepted standards of nursing competence and nursing scope of practice.