Which statement correctly defines malpractice?

• A. Malpractice is the crime of misusing property.
• B. Malice is the purpose to inflict harm.
• C. Case law is law established by legislative action.
• D. Malpractice is the unskilled or faulty treatment by a professional that causes injury.

Answer: (D)

Malpractice in healthcare means professional negligence: failing to provide the level of care that a reasonably competent professional would offer, and causing harm as a result. This focuses on what a nurse or clinician did or didn’t do in practicing, not on intent to harm or on property issues. The statement that best defines malpractice captures both the unskilled or faulty treatment and the injury that results, which together establish malpractice. In practice, to prove malpractice there’s typically a showing of duty of care, a breach of that duty, causation linking the breach to injury, and actual damages. The other options describe concepts unrelated to clinical care—misusing property, malice (intent to harm), and case law (decisions that become law)—and don’t define malpractice in a healthcare context.