Bates ex rel. v. Dodge City Healthcare Group, L.P., 291 P.3d 1042

Parents allege nurse Unruh breached standard of care causing Hayley Bates's injuries; hospital vicariously liable under respondeat superior.
Five-week jury trial; experts split between national/universal standard for most claims and local standard for chain-of-command issue.
Instruction No. 9 (PIK Civ. 3d 123.01) used community/similar-communities language; district court deleted it then restored language for chain-of-command.
Jury found no fault by hospital; Dr. Chotimongkol not party; damages and fault allocated under comparative fault rules.
Court of Appeals affirmed; Supreme Court granted review on instruction No. 9; majority held the instruction correct under the facts; contemporaneous concurrence/dissent addressed standard-of-care distinctions.
Key procedural posture includes ongoing dispute over which standard applies to which claims and the role of community vs national standards in jury instructions.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Instruction No. 9 properly stated the nursing standard of care.	Bates argued national standard applies to all 12 claims; delete community language.	Hospital contends chain-of-command claim requires local/community standard; others use national standard.	Instruction No. 9 correct under the facts; community standard permissible for chain-of-command; national standard governs others.

Chandler v. Neosho Memorial Hospital, 223 Kan. 1 (1977) (recognizes coexistence of universal and local standards in medical care)
Puckett v. Mt. Carmel Regional Med. Center, 290 Kan. 406 (2010) (requires evidence to support jury instruction on standard of care; supports reasonable minds differing)
Nold ex rel. Nold v. Binyon, 272 Kan. 87 (2001) (medical standard established through expert testimony; causation required)
Wozniak v. Lipoff, 242 Kan. 583 (1988) (malpractice proof requires recognized standards and departure from them)
Chandler v. Neosho Memorial Hospital, 223 Kan. 1 (1977) (locality factors in standard of care; some universal standards may apply)
State v. Plummer, 295 Kan. 156 (2012) (progressive analysis for jury instruction errors (Plummer framework))