Medical Negligence Assignment Last name: Schultz
Re-read the case of Edith Rodriguez presented in this lesson and then type your responses to the following question directly below each question.
1. Were there any actions of malfeasance, misfeasance, or nonfeasance? Explain. (2 points)
I think in Edith Rodriguez’s case, there were all three actions.
Malfeasance is willfully and intentionally performing an illegal action. I believe that Linda Ruttlen, the nurse on-duty at the hospital and the police officers that arrested Edith Rodriguez could both be responsible for malfeasance. The nurse threatened to throw out another patient that complained that Rodriguez should receive care, and she also encouraged her co-workers to lie about the night’s
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Edith would not have passed away if people had done their jobs properly.
3. Was there evidence of a direct or proximate cause that produced the injury identified? Explain your answer. (2 points)
Yes, there was a proximate cause. The patient required medical treatment to an emergency condition but was left untreated. The medical staff at Martin Luther King Jr – Harbor Hospital were negligent for refusing to deliver any sort of care or medication to the suffering patient. It was later acknowledged that if the patient were treated in time, she would have survived. This undoubtedly demonstrates that there is a legal and proximate cause of the anguish and injury that the woman endured.
The police officers also failed to provide proper medical services for Edith, in the hospital and after the arrest, thus denying medical treatment that she should have lawfully received.
4. What could have been done to prevent this and maintain the proper standard of care? (3 points)
The main problem here is that there was dereliction of duty on the part of the entire medical staff at the
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How would you describe the actions of the hospital personnel with respect to scope of practice? (3 points)
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) is a federal law that requires anyone entering a hospital emergency room to be stabilized and either treated or transferred to another facility.
The nurse at the hospital in the Edith Rodriguez case ignored the woman and did not facilitate treatment even when as continued to complain of pain. This was inexcusable, and as with any emergency, they should have forwarded the case to a doctor, who is legally obligated to provide medical attention.
As far as the scope of practice, the hospital and the physicians should have had a designated a chain of command within the medical team. The chain of command helps to ensure that the nurse knows who to notify about any concerns or questions regarding a patient, to prevent the nurse from making decisions that she is not qualified to make. in this case ignoring and overlooking Ms. Rodriguez’s condition, was a decision that the nurse and other staff made on their own, without being qualified to do so. There were several people who failed to practice within their respective guidelines and played a part in the tragic and needless death of Ms.
While working at the OB-GYN department in the hospital, Dr. Vandall, as a Vice Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, learned that another employee of the hospital, Dr. Margaret Nordell was engaged in a level of treatment that was unethical and violated accepted standards of care. It was his duty to the hospital and to the patients, to monitor the competence of his staff members. Although he tried to take the proper steps to deal with it within the hospital, he ended up reporting this to the North Dakota Board of Medical Examiners. It was concluded by the Board that the treatment of Dr. Nordell was gross negligence and they suspended her license to practice medicine.
I agree with you that the nurses violated provision 9 of the nursing code of ethics. Nurses have an obligation to themselves, their whole team and to the patients to express their values. Communication is key in a hospital, so everyone knows what is correct and what isn’t within the workplace. In order to have a productive, ethical, positive environment. These values that should be promoted affect everyone in the hospital, especially the patients, and can have a negative outcome if those values are not lived out. Nurses have to frequently communicate and reaffirm the values they are supposed follow frequently so when a difficult situation comes along that may challenge their beliefs they will remain strong and their values will not falter.
In the case of Tomcik v. Ohio Dep’t of Rehabilitation & Correction, the main issue present was the medical negligence demonstrated by the staff of the medical clinic at the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction towards the inmate Tomcik. Specifically, nonfeasance, or the “failure to act, when there is a duty to act as a reasonably prudent person would in similar circumstances” (Pozgar, 2016, p. 192), was displayed when the employees at the medical clinic failed to give immediate medical attention to Tomcik when she continually signed the clinic list and “provided the reason she was requesting
The employee that was responsible for checking the code cart and making sure that all items were there should be held somewhat accountable for the death of Dixon. Her death was not a result of a surgical error, incorrect diagnosis or a terminal diagnosis; it was due to a lack of oxygen. It is unfortunate that it had occurred however, I agree that Dr. Taylor was not negligent in this case. The hospital failed to train the employees properly on the importance of checking code carts after they have been used to make sure that whatever was used is
The first provision of the American Nurses Association’s (ANA) “Code of Ethics” states, “ The nurse, in all professional relationships, practices with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems.” The second provision states, “The nurse’s primary commitment is the patient, whether the patient is an individual, family, group, or community” (Fowler, 2010). As nurses we need to respect the autonomy and allow for the patient to express their choices and concerns. We also need to provide them with support by giving them knowledge and understanding so they
For much of the United States’ history, problems with private hospitals refusing to treat people without financial means and transferring them to public hospitals existed. Many patients who were in serious medical crisis did not survive the journey or many died soon after. This proved that these transfers can be detrimental to the emergency victim’s health.
There was inappropriate staffing in the Emergency Room which was a factor in the event. There was one registered nurse (RN) and one licensed practical nurse (LPN) on duty at the time of the incident. Additional staff was available and not called in. The Emergency Nurses Association holds the position there should be two registered nurses whose responsibility is to prov...
According to the American Nurses Association (ANA), (2010) “the nurse promotes, advocates for and strives to protect the health, safety and rights of the patient” (p. 6). Nursing responsibilities should be acted upon at the highest standard and must be based on legal and ethical obligations. Healthcare provider’s perception and judgment of the patient’s well being, as well as taking into account the rights of the patient in every action, is one of the key elements in nursing practice. International Council of Nurses (ICN) (2006) states “The nurse at all times maintains standards of personal conduct which reflect well on the profession and enhance public confidence” (p. 3).
Section 5.4, which is the preservation of integrity, suggests that nurses will inevitably have to deal with threats to their moral or professional integrity at some point in their careers. Nurses should do their best to maintain professional integrity when met with adversity, weather it be from uncooperative issuance companies, an unsound work environment, or from the patients themselves. When working in an unsound or unsafe work environment that violates law or the ANA code of ethics nurses must go through the proper channels to fix the problem. If a nurse feels that a procedure or treatment their patient is having conflicts with his or her own moral integrity and they cannot participate, the nurse must report they unwilling to tr...
Medical malpractice cases are difficult for the families who have lost their loved one or have suffered from severe injuries. No one truly wins in complicated court hearings that consist of a team of litigation attorneys for both the defendant and plaintiff(s). During the trial, evidence supporting malpractice allegations have to be presented so that the court can make a decision if the physician was negligent resulting in malpractice, or if the injury was unavoidable due to the circumstances. In these types of tort cases, the physician is usually a defendant on trial trying to prove that he or she is innocent of the medical error, delay of treatment or procedure that caused the injury. The perfect example of being at fault for medical malpractice as a result of delaying a procedure is the case of Waverly family versus John Hopkins Health System Corporation. The victims were not compensated enough for the loss of their child’s normal life. Pozgar (2012) explained….
The Lewis Blackman Case: Ethics, Law, and Implications for the Future Medical errors in decision making that result in harm or death are tragic and costly to the families affected. There are also negative impacts to the medical providers and the associated institutions (Wu, 2000). Patient safety is a cornerstone of higher-quality health care and nurses serve as a communication link in all settings which is critical in surveillance and coordination to reduce adverse outcomes (Mitchell, 2008). The Lewis Blackman Case 1 of 1 point accrued
Nurses as part of regulated health care practitioners are responsible and accountable to abide by the standards, codes and guidelines of nursing practice (NMBA, 2016). The nurse in the case study has breached the standard 1.4 of the Registered nurse standards for practice. According to standard 1.4 the registered nurse should comply with "legislation, regulation, policies, guidelines and other standards or requirements relevant to the context of practice” when making decisions because this will be the foundation of the nurse in delivering high quality services (NMBA, 2016). The nurse in the scenario did not follow the hospital policy concerning “Between the Flags” or “red zone” and a doctor should be notified in this condition. Furthermore, the nurse failed to effectively respond to a deteriorating
Several ethical principles that are incorporated in the nursing care of patients on a daily basis are nonmalificence, autonomy, beneficence, justice, fidelity and paternalism. Nurses should strive to comply to as many of the principles as possible. In this case there are principles which support and conflict with the wishes of the patient. The first principle that supports the wish of the patient is autonomy. Autonomy means that competent patients have the right to make decisions for themselves and the delivery of the healthcare that they receive. Another factor that would support the patient’s wish to not be resuscitated is nonmalificence. Non maleficence means that nurses should not cause harm or injury to their patients. In this case the likelihood of injury after resuscitation was greater than if the patient were allowed to expire. A principle that could have negatively affected the outcome of the provision of ethical care was paternalism. Paternalism is when a healthcare provider feels that they know what is best for a patient, regardless of the patient’s desire for their own care. I demonstrated the principle of paternalism because I thought that I knew what was best for the patient without first consulting with the patient or family. This situation might have had some very negative consequences had the patient not have been competent. Practicing a paternalistic mindset might have caused a practitioner in the same instance to force their ideas about not resuscitating the loved one onto the family. This could have caused a sense of remorse and loss of control of care amongst the
Patient safety must be the first priority in the health care system, and it is widely accepta-ble that unnecessary harm to a patient must be controlled.Two million babies and mother die due to preventable medical errors annually worldwide due to pregnancy related complications and there is worldwide increase in nosocomial infections, which is almost equal to 5-10% of total admissions occurring in the hospitals. (WHO Patient Safety Research, 2009). Total 1.4 million patients are victims of hospital-acquired infection. (WHO Patient Safety Research, 2009). Unsafe infection practice leads to 1.3 million death word wide and loss of 26 millions of life while ad-verse drug events are increasing in health care and 10% of total admitted patients are facing ad-verse drug events. (WHO Patient Safety Re...
Another huge ethical topic is the patient’s right to choose autonomy in the refusal of life-saving medicine or treatment. This issue affects a nurse’s standards of care and code of ethics. “The nurse owes the patient a duty of care and must act in accordance with this duty at all times, by respecting and supporting the patient’s right to accept or decline treatment” (Volinsky). In order for a patient to be able make these types of decisions they must first be deemed competent. While the choice of patient’s to refuse life-saving treatment may go against nursing ethical codes and beliefs to attempt and coerce them to get treatment is trespass and would conclude in legal action. “….then refusal of these interventions may be regarded as inappropriate, but in the case of a patient with capacity, the patient must have the ultimate authority to decide” (Volinsky). While my values of the worth of life and importance of action may be different than others, as a nurse I have to learn to set that aside and follow all codes of ethics whether I have a dilemma with them or not. Sometimes with ethics there is no right or wrong, but as a nurse we have to figure out where to draw the line in some cases.