Court Opinion

ID: 9854655
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 06:11:09.063247+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:23:12.369182
License: Public Domain

CONCURRENCE
PAGE, Justice
(concurring).
I concur in the court’s analysis and the result reached with respect to a nurse’s qualifications to offer an expert opinion with respect to a duty to inspect for skin integrity and with respect to Broehm’s nursing malpractice theory.1 What is not clear to me is why the construction (in the sense of how it was put in place and not how it was designed) of the restraint here, which the court concedes has the “essential characteristics of a dressing,” does not fall within Broehm’s nursing malpractice theory given that a nurse is often the one applying or changing dressings. It is also not clear to me why Wick is not qualified to offer an expert opinion regarding necrosis of the skin resulting from the application of the restraint at issue here. It seems to me that nurses are uniquely qualified to offer expert testimony regarding necrosis resulting from the application of such a dressing. Finally, it is not clear to me why any expert opinion is necessary with respect to the doctor’s duty to construct a restraint that does not cause injury.

. While this case has been characterized as a thoracic surgery malpractice claim, that characterization is misleading. The claimed malpractice only involves the taping of the restraint to Broehm's forehead and the failure to inspect that tape.