Which of the following represents a failure to act as a competent professional would, leading to patient injury?

Negligence is defined as a failure to exercise the care that a reasonably prudent person would under similar circumstances, particularly in a professional context. In healthcare, this concept is crucial because it directly relates to the duty of care that providers owe to their patients. When a healthcare professional fails to follow the established standards of practice, resulting in harm or injury to a patient, it constitutes negligence.

For example, if a nurse overlooks critical signs in a patient’s condition that another competent nurse would have recognized and acted upon, leading to deterioration in the patient's health, this failure to act appropriately can be classified as negligence. The patient suffers harm that could have been prevented with the proper attention and care.

Assault, battery, and libel represent different issues. Assault involves the threat or attempt to cause physical harm, while battery refers to the actual unauthorized physical contact with a person. Libel involves defamation through written statements, which is separate from the context of direct patient care and injury. Thus, negligence is the appropriate term for the described situation where a professional's failure to act competently results in patient injury.