Bradley v. Southern Baptist Hosp.

943 So. 2d 202, 2006 WL 3017218
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedOctober 25, 2006
Docket1D05-1816
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 943 So. 2d 202 (Bradley v. Southern Baptist Hosp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Bradley v. Southern Baptist Hosp., 943 So. 2d 202, 2006 WL 3017218 (Fla. Ct. App. 2006).

Opinion

943 So.2d 202 (2006)

Brian BRADLEY and Markesha Bradley, individually and as Parents and Next Friends of Brian Bradley, Jr., a minor, Appellants,
v.
SOUTHERN BAPTIST HOSPITAL OF FLORIDA, INC., a Florida corporation, Appellee.

No. 1D05-1816.

District Court of Appeal of Florida, First District.

October 25, 2006.
Rehearing Denied November 30, 2006.

*203 Tracy S. Carlin of Mills & Carlin, P.A., Jacksonville, for Appellants.

William E. Kuntz, Earl E. Googe, Jr., and Michael H. Harmon of Smith Hulsey & Busey, Jacksonville, for Appellee.

THOMAS, J.

Appellants, Brian and Markesha Bradley, appeal a final judgment entered in favor of Appellee, Southern Baptist Hospital, Inc. ("the Hospital"), finding Appellee not negligent for medical malpractice. Appellants raise three issues on appeal. We find that Appellants have not preserved their third issue, whether the Hospital impermissibly argued that Appellants will receive free medical services, in violation of Florida Physician's Insurance Reciprocal v. Stanley, 452 So.2d 514, 515 (Fla.1984). We address Appellants' remaining two issues on appeal, but because we find that neither issue presents reversible error, we affirm the judgment entered in favor of the Hospital.

Facts and Procedural History

Brian Bradley, Jr. ("the child"), was born with congenital heart defects. Less than one year after his birth, he was admitted to the Hospital for a planned surgery. During this surgery, two catheters were implanted into his heart, allowing various fluids and medications to be infused directly into his heart. These catheters were covered with sterile gauze dressings at the wound site.

Following surgery, the child continued to experience problems with blood flow and low oxygen levels, and his cardiac surgeon performed emergency surgery the next morning to insert a pulmonary artery shunt. The child was monitored throughout the day by Nurse Wells and the surgeon. The child had an elevated temperature, low oxygen levels, and poor blood flow throughout the day, requiring various interventions. Around 5:30 p.m., the surgeon felt the child was stable. The surgeon left the Hospital but remained in contact with the nurses.

*204 At 7:00 p.m., Nurse Harris took over from Nurse Wells. Nurse Harris assessed the child, noted that the dressings around the catheters were saturated, and reinforced the dressings with more gauze pads. She charted all assessments, reported them to the surgeon, and tested the child's glucose level, as required by the Hospital following shift changes. Because his glucose was extremely low, she again called the surgeon, who instructed her to check one of the catheters leading into the heart. Nurse Harris reported that she could not get a blood return, and the surgeon instructed her to switch all medications to a catheter on which she was able to get a blood return. Even with this intervention, the child's condition continued to deteriorate, and the surgeon returned to the hospital. Because the child did not have a pulse when he arrived, the surgeon began CPR. Although he was able to start the child's heart, the child suffered a catastrophic brain injury. Tragically, the child is now a quadriplegic with the brain function of an infant.

Appellants filed a complaint against the Hospital, alleging that the Hospital was negligent, through its employees, when the employees failed to adequately maintain the catheters supplying medicine and nutrition to the child and failed to correct the malfunctioning catheters, which resulted in hypoglycemia and caused the brain injury.

The Hospital denied Appellants' negligence claims, contending that the brain injury resulted not from hypoglecemia, but from his congenital heart abnormalities and multiple interventions during and following the surgeries.

The case proceeded to trial and at the conclusion, the court instructed the jurors on the applicable law, explaining that the jury first had to decide whether the Hospital was negligent through its employees, Nurse Wells or Nurse Harris. The jury was then to decide whether the Hospital was negligent through its nurse managers or supervising employees. The court further instructed the jury that they could consider the defense raised by the Hospital only if the greater weight of the evidence supported Appellants' claims. The verdict form specifically instructed the jury that if they answered no to the first two questions, they should not answer any other questions.

The jury answered no to the first two questions on the verdict form, thus finding the Hospital was not negligent. The jury never reached the third and fourth questions, which asked them to decide if, at the time of the nurses' negligence, the nurses were acting as the borrowed servants of "one or more" of the child's physicians. Based on the jury's finding of no negligence, the trial court entered judgment for the Hospital.

Appellants filed a motion for new trial, arguing that the Hospital's conduct throughout the trial, including counsel's remarks during closing argument, although unobjected to, were improper. In addition, Appellants argued that they were entitled to a new trial because the trial court erred when it gave the borrowed servant instruction. The trial court denied Appellants' motion for new trial. We affirm, but separately address two of the issues Appellants raise.

The Borrowed Servant Instruction

Appellant's first issue on appeal concerns whether the borrowed servant doctrine applies as a matter of law and, if so, whether the trial court properly instructed the jury regarding this defense. While the trial court's instruction on the borrowed servant defense correctly stated the elements of the defense, we find that the borrowed servant defense does not apply here as a matter of law; however, *205 we determine that the trial court's error in giving the instruction was harmless.

While a hospital is generally liable for the negligent actions of its nurses, a nurse can come under the direction and control of a physician, and liability for the nurse's actions then shifts from the hospital to the doctor. Variety Children's Hosp., Inc., v. Perkins, 382 So.2d 331, 334 (Fla. 3d DCA 1980); Hudmon, M.D., v. Martin, 315 So.2d 516, 517 (Fla. 1st DCA 1975). "The most familiar example of this process occurs in the operating room where each of the attending personnel comes under the authority of the surgeon as the `captain of the ship.'" Perkins, 382 So.2d at 334-35. In order for the doctrine to apply, the nurse must be under the complete control of the doctor. See Abraham v. United States, 932 F.2d 900, 902 (11th Cir.App.1991) (applying Florida law and citing Postal Telegraph & Cable Co. v. Doyle, 123 Fla. 695, 167 So. 358 (1936)). In addition, the doctor only becomes liable for the nurse's negligent acts involving professional skill and knowledge, with the hospital remaining liable for the nurse's acts which are purely ministerial. Beaches Hosp. v. Lee, M.D., 384 So.2d 234, 237 (Fla. 1st DCA 1980).

While the Hospital established facts which might generally support giving the borrowed servant instruction under principles of agency law, there is no view of the evidence to legally support giving the instruction. In Perkins, the Third District held that the borrowed servant doctrine did not apply as a matter of law in a post-operative setting. 382 So.2d at 334.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Jackson v. Pena
58 So. 3d 303 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2011)
Hollenbeck v. Hooks
993 So. 2d 50 (District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2008)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
943 So. 2d 202, 2006 WL 3017218, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/bradley-v-southern-baptist-hosp-fladistctapp-2006.