Robb, J.
Case Summary and Issues
Michael Curts, acting individually and as personal representative of the Estate of Dorothy J. Curts, brought suit against Miller’s Merry Manor nursing home (“Manor”), claiming wrongful death, breach of contract, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Manor. Curts appeals, raising two issues: 1) whether Theresa Weitkamp, as a nurse and nursing home administrator, can qualify as an expert witness and offer an expert opinion as to whether Manor breached its standard of care and whether such alleged breach caused Dorothy Curts’s injuries and subsequent death; and 2) whether a genuine issue of material fact exists such that summary judgment is inappropriate. Concluding nurses can potentially have sufficient expertise to qualify as experts for the purposes of medical standards of care and medical causation, but that the evidence designated does not demonstrate that Weitkamp has sufficient expertise and thus no genuine issues of material fact exist, we affirm the trial court’s grant of summary judgment for Manor.
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… However, the case before us asks whether a nursing home failed to meet its standard of care and whether injuries from Dorothy’s fall caused her death approximately twenty-four hours later. In a scenario such as this, we cannot foreclose the possibility that some nurses have sufficient expertise to qualify as an expert witness.
We conclude we are not prepared to declare a blanket rule that nurses cannot qualify as expert witnesses under Indiana Evidence Rule 702 and testify as to whether a healthcare provider breached a standard of care or whether an alleged breach caused an injury. Indiana Evidence Rule 702(a) provides “a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise.” Just as the Rule states, we hold a nurse could qualify as an expert regarding medical standards of care and causation in some circumstances. The determinative question is whether the nurse has sufficient expertise, as provided in Rule 702(a), with the factual circumstances giving rise to the claim and the patient’s injuries.
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Affirmed.
BAILEY, J., and MATHIAS, J., concur.