Q How are expert witnesses used in a lawsuit?

A Expert witnesses are an important component of a nursing malpractice lawsuit. Generally, parties involved in a malpractice lawsuit will utilize the deposition and trial testimony of an expert witness to help prove each side of the case. These expert witnesses are used to set a “standard of care” for the nurse on trial.

An expert is a “hired gun” who testifies for either the plaintiff or defendant. Many times a malpractice lawsuit becomes a battle of the experts. The expert hired by either the plaintiff or defendant will testify as to the “duty” or“standard of care” of a nurse in the same or similar locality or under similar circumstances. In other words, a critical care nurse on trial will only have an expert testify for or against him or her who is also a critical care nurse in the same...

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