Business Law

student A

Issue:

Nursing Services was contracted by the hospital to care for Janine around the clock while in the intensive care unit.  Janine received the services for two weeks while in the hospital and for two weeks while out of the hospital at her home.  Nursing Services billed Janine for the services, but Janine is refusing to pay due to never have contracted them personally.  Due to no express contract formed, can Nursing Services recover the amount owed from Janine?

Rule:

The hospital entered in an express contract with Nursing Services for the around the clock care of Janine while in the hospitals care.

Janine entered an implied contract with Nursing Services for the around the clock care for the two weeks while out of the hospital.

Application:

Since the doctor told the personnel staff of the hospital to order the care for while Janine was in the hospital, they entered in an express contract with Nursing Services and are bound by that contract.  Janine did not ask for the external use of the nursing services.

After Janine left the hospitals care, she continued to receive the care of the services provided by Nursing Services.  This continued use of the services became an implied contract.  Janine did not have to have an express contract with them due to the conduct, not words, of her acceptance of the help. The requirements for an implied contract are clear; The plaintiff furnished some service(two weeks of round the clock care at Janine’s home), the plaintiff expected to be paid for services and the defendant knew or should have known that payment was expected(nothing is free), and the defendant had a chance to reject the services and did not.

Conclusion:

The hospital should be liable for the first two weeks of the care provided by Nursing Services.  They entered into a contract, with an outside nursing company, instead of using the hospital nurses for Janine’s care.  Janine did not ask for the outside companies help while in the intensive care unit.

After Janine left the hospital, she accepted the in home nursing services for an additional two weeks.  She entered an implied contract because she did not refuse the services after she left the hospital.  Once she left the hospital it was up to her to decide to either continue the nursing care or reject it.  It is implied that since she is no longer under the hospitals care, she is responsible for the two weeks of care she got while at home.  Janine should be held liable for the two weeks of home care and pay half of the services billed to her.

 

 

 

 

Other student answer

Issue: Nursing Services Unlimited is looking to recover $4,000 from Janine because they have provided her with nursing assistance in hospital and at home as well. Janine states she was never contracted in any way shape or form to pay for the at home care although she was fully aware of the services. Nursing Services wants Janine to pay the bill in order to cover the costs of the services they provided.

Rule: Implied contract rule states that it is a contract where two or more parties abide by this contract due to actions that have occurred that all parties are aware of. When it comes to dealing with an implied contract it gets tricky because it is a contract that is settled on the fact that actions or services are being provided and it doesn’t even have to be a written or verbal contract it is just something that should be known. Different circumstances decide whether a contract is implied or not and if a contract is implied therefor you can be legally obligated to abide by the stipulations of the contract regardless if they were written or verbalized or not.

Analysis: In this case, Janine had been hospitalized and was aware that Nursing Services Unlimited was providing these round the clock services to her. She was hospitalized for two weeks and received there services the entire time even leading into two more weeks of in home care as well. Although Nursing Services Unlimited made Janine not aware verbally or through writing that she was obligated to pay for these services it was implied that because these services are expensive and they are being provided to you by your doctor in hospital and at home you should know that you must repay them for their services. Janine is arguing that she was never aware she had to pay for these services because they never made her sign a contract or verbalized stipulations for the at home care so she isn’t obligated to pay it. The bill came out to $4,000 and Janine is not okay with it simply due to the fact that even though she was aware of the services she didn’t know she was obligated to pay for these services.

Conclusion: In my honest opinion it can go both ways, Janine in court could make a case where she could get away with not being obligated to pay for the in home services she was aware of but didn’t think it was going to be an extra cost but realistically if you were aware of what was going on it should be implied that this was going to cost her money therefore unfortunately i think she would have to pay the ticket regardless if there was a contract blatantly expressed to her or not. Janine could have refused the services then exempting her from having to pay but by accepting these services for two weeks in hospital on top of two weeks at home as well you should know that you will be obligated to pay up.

Issue: Janine an intensive care unit patient received care from Nursing Service Unlimited  under her doctor’s orders. She received around- the-clock nursing care, but once she left the hospital she received additional care at home. She was fully aware of the care she was receiving. However, when the Nursing Services Unlimited billed Janine $4,000 for their services she refused to pay because she stated she never wrote or orally stated she agreed to the contract of service.

Rule: A contract is an intended legal agreement between two or more. In order for a contract to be valid it needs to meet four requirements: an agreement, considerations, both parties are able to formally make a contract, and the contract must be legal. According to the defendant she never wrote or orally stated she agreed to the contract. This form of contract would be an express contract in which a contract needs to be written out or said orally. However, another form of contract is an implied contract in which the performance or behavior of the parties implies if the contract is made.

Analysis: According to what is given we know that Janine was fully aware of the service she was given, and she did not want to pay for the services because she believed she did not write or orally state she agreed to the service contract. Under the express contract sure she would not have to pay the Nursing Service Company money for the services they delivered, but under the implied contract she would possibly have to pay for the services. In order for an implied contract to be formed three requirements have to be met: plaintiff needs to have dealt a service, the plaintiff expected to be paid for the services dealt and the defendant knew or should have known there would be a payment, and the defendant had a chance to reject the services, but never did. Nursing Service Unlimited provided in hospital care and two extra weeks at home for Janine. They serviced Janine and the company expected to be paid for the services. Nursing Service Unlimited is a company and in order for a company to stay in business it needs payments from the customers they deal with. Janine is implied to be capable of making a contract; it never states otherwise. Under that idea I would assume she knows that in order for a business to keep running it needs money, so she knew or should have know there would be a charge for the services she received. As stated she was fully aware that she was receiving care from this company at the hospital and at her house and never once denied the service.

Conclusion: According to the implied contract Nursing Service Unlimited can recover the $4,000 dollars from Janine. They performed a service, they expected to be paid, and Janine never once refused their services. The only thing they really need to prove is whether or not Janine knew or should have known that there would be a charge for their services.