In negligence, what does causation refer to?

• A. The hospital policy.
• B. The patient's complaint.
• C. The connection between the nurse's breach and the harm suffered.
• D. The cost of care.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is the link between what the nurse did (or failed to do) and the harm the patient suffered. In negligence, causation asks: did the nurse’s breach cause the injury? It’s about proving that the breach was the actual reason the harm occurred, and that the harm was a foreseeable result of that breach. Sometimes this is thought of in two parts: whether there is an actual cause (would the harm have happened if the breach hadn’t occurred?) and, in some systems, whether the cause is legally sufficient or proximate (is it the kind of harm that should be addressable by the nurse’s actions?).

An example helps: if a medication is given incorrectly and the patient is harmed, causation is satisfied if that incorrect administration directly led to the injury. Hospital policy may show a breach happened, and a patient’s complaint might raise concerns, but they don’t themselves prove the causal link. The cost of care relates to damages, not the link between the breach and the injury.

So the best answer is the connection between the nurse’s breach and the harm suffered.