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Myers v. Heritage Enterprises12/10/2004
he evidence. A failure to do so is professional negligence.
The only way in which you may decide whether a certified nurse's aide possessed and applied the knowledge and used the skill and care which the law required of him is from expert testimony. You must not attempt to determine this question from any personal knowledge you have."
See IPI Civil (2000) No. 105.01.
The court rejected the instructions tendered by plaintiff:
"When I use the term 'negligence' in these instructions, I mean the failure to do something which a reasonably careful person would do, or the doing of something which a reasonably careful person would not do, under circumstances similar to those shown by the evidence. The law does not say how a reasonably careful person would act under those circumstances. That is for you to decide."
See IPI Civil (2000) No. 10.01.
"It was the duty of the defendant's employees, before and at the time of the occurrence, to use ordinary care for the safety of Mary Prillmayer. This means it was the duty of the defendant's employees to be free from negligence."
See IPI Civil (2000) No. 10.04.
It is within the discretion of the trial court which jury instructions to give to the jury, and the court's decision will not be disturbed absent an abuse of that discretion. Schultz v. Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter R.R. Corp., 201 Ill. 2d 260, 273, 775 N.E.2d 964, 972 (2002). Whether a trial court abused its discretion depends on whether, taken as a whole, the instructions fairly, fully, and comprehensively apprised the jury of the relevant legal principles. Schultz, 201 Ill. 2d at 273-74, 775 N.E.2d at 972-73. Reversal is warranted if the faulty jury instructions misled the jury and resulted in prejudice to the appellant. Schultz, 201 Ill. 2d at 274, 775 N.E.2d at 973.
Plaintiff argues that the trial court erred in giving the professional negligence instruction because (1) operation of the Hoyer lift does not constitute medical treatment or diagnosis by a professional and, therefore, does not require expert testimony; (2) the CNAs were not parties to the lawsuit, as plaintiff brought the suit under the Act, which imposes liability on facilities for the negligence of its employees; (3) the complaint sounded in negligence and the court instructed the jury on negligence in the issues instruction; (4) several of the allegations of negligence in the complaint did not relate to the actions of defendant's employees, rendering the professional negligence standard particularly inappropriate for those allegations; and (5) the proper standard of care should have been based upon the manufacturer's operational instructions.
Defendant frames the issue as whether the operation of a Hoyer lift to transfer a patient can be evaluated without an expert witness. If not, according to defendant, the proper standard of care is professional negligence.
A determination of the proper standard of care requires an examination of the nature of the action brought. Where, as here, the claim is statutory, an examination of the statute is necessary to determine whether it contemplates a professional standard of care or an ordinary, reasonable standard of care. See, e.g., Advincula v. United Blood Services, 176 Ill. 2d 1, 13, 678 N.E.2d 1009, 1016 (1996). When determining the legislative intent, a court must first look at the plain meaning of the statutory language. Long v. Mathew, 336 Ill. App. 3d 595, 603, 783 N.E.2d 1076, 1082 (2003).
Plaintiff brought a statutory claim under the Act. Pursuant to the Act, owners and operators of nursing home facilities are liable to residents for injuri
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