title: The loneliness of the perinatal nurse in litigation.
abstract: Perinatal nurses are named in patient lawsuits more than most nurses might imagine, and perinatal nurses are especially vulnerable. In 2005, 15% of all payments in nursing cases involved perinatal nurses. This article describes what some nurses have felt when faced with litigation, and offers consideration for how nursing as a profession, and perinatal nursing as a specialty, should change its approach toward more support of nurses who find themselves in this circumstance.
authors.affiliation: University of Maryland Medical Center, Baltimore, MD, USA. mmccaffrey@umm.edu
authors.forename: Mary P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: McCaffrey
authors.forename: Darlene
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: Kathleen K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Furniss
authors.forename: Susan L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Lohman
authors.forename: Patricia M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Carpenito
authors.forename: Vicki L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Johnson