Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Conclusin Of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice research paper
Conclusin Of Medical Malpractice
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Conclusin Of Medical Malpractice
Medical Malpractice and Negligence in the Healthcare System
The study of medicine is not like any other field of study. Throughout the years of medical practice the doctor-patient relationship has been defined in many different ways. The doctor-patient relationship is what most people refer too when discussing medical issues. It defines the interaction between a healthcare professional and patient. The interaction made with patients’ initiates the basis for compliance, trust, and communication. That being said, the work that is performed within the study of medicine has a direct impact on people’s daily lives. This reason results in why strict rules are conducted and structured within the Code of Conduct for every medical organization. For
…show more content…
However, not every employee or patient acts the way they are expected. This often results in reporting occurrences that involve medical malpractice. Global wide, health care organizations constantly face a numerous amount of legal issues due to these occurrences. One of the most common occurrences is medical malpractice and negligence. For healthcare providers, there is no other word that causes as much fear, anger and confusion as “malpractice.” While the majority of health care providers aim to practice the highest standard of care for all patients, there are times when events can critically go wrong. Medical malpractice and negligence affect society and the healthcare industry every day due to mishaps that are conveyed by patients and employees. Medical malpractice is one of most common lawsuits filed against doctors or any healthcare organization. According to the American Board of Professional Liability …show more content…
Malpractice cases require a vast amount of attention, because if a healthcare professional makes a mistake with a treatment or outcome, it does not automatically mean that the healthcare provider committed malpractice. Medical malpractice is measured as a specific area within the wide-ranging area of negligence. In order for a medical malpractice case to be considered under the law, the claim must have one of three certain characteristics: 1) a violation in the standard of care, 2) an injury that had been caused by negligence, or 3) any injury that resulted in significant damages. The injured patient must show that the healthcare professional acted negligently during the representation of care. It requires four elements to be met for the plaintiff to recover damages: 1) a professional duty owed to the patient, 2) breach of duty, 3) injury caused by the breach, and 4) resulting damages. If the plaintiff is awarded money for the damages caused, typically they take into account both actual noneconomic loss and economic loss (e.g. pain, suffering, quality of life). The effects of malpractice on patients, whether or not they are actually involved in a legal suit, can be extensive. For a medical malpractice claim to be valid, it is not necessarily a healthcare provider violated the standard of care simply because of a patient statement. A patient must have valid proof that he or she
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….
In order for a client to successfully bring a legal malpractice suit they must show the required elements of legal malpractice which are “(1) an attorney-client relationship; (2) a duty owed to the client by the attorney to use such skill, prudence, and diligence as lawyers of ordinary skill and capacity possess in exercising and performing the tasks which they undertake; (3) a breach of that duty; (4) the breach being the proximate cause of the client's damages; and (5) actual loss or damage resulting from the negligence.” Mainor v. Nault, 101 P.3d 308, 310 (Nev. 2004).
In the healthcare industry, medical malpractice has a history that extends way beyond the days of physicians carrying a black bag full of medication and remedies to treat patients. Health care has since evolved to digital technology that can detect and treat disease. However, before physicians had advanced machinery making medical diagnosis, doctors had their textbooks and medical judgment to rely on for treatment. Physicians are human and medical mistakes can happen, but should not happen due to negligence. With that said, medical malpractice lawsuits are not the latest trend in the United States. According to the US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, medical malpractice lawsuits first appeared in the United States beginning in the 1800s. However, before the 1960s, legal claims for medical malpractice were rare, and had little impact on the practice of medicine. Since the 1960s the frequency of medical malpractice claims has increased; and today, lawsuits filed by aggrieved patients alleging malpractice by a physician are relatively common in the United States.
Medical malpractice lawsuits are an extremely serious topic and have affected numerous patients, doctors, and hospitals across the country. Medical malpractice is defined as “improper, unskilled or negligent treatment of a patient by a physician, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, or other health care professional” (Medical malpractice, n.d.). If a doctor acts negligent and causes harm to a patient, malpractice lawsuits arise. Negligence is the concept of the liability concerning claims of medical malpractice, making this type of litigation part of tort law. Tort law provides that one person may litigate negligence to recover damages for personal injury. Negligence laws are designed to deter careless behavior and also to compensate victims for any negligence.
Malpractice is defined as improper, illegal, or negligent behavior that falls below the professional minimum standard of care or service for a patient or a client, when injury or loss has been suffered by patient or client.(Merriam-Webster) Malpractice happens when you turn a blind eye to the wrongdoing in a healthcare setting, also known as omission. Omission is when you fail at doing something that you have a legal obligation to do.(Merriam-Webster) Malpractice essentially has four parts, duty, breach, damages, and causation. (“The 4 Elements of Medical Malpractice”) Duty, what you owe the patient, as a healthcare professional. Breach, what is owed to the patient when they are breached by the responsible party. Damages,
Day by day medical technology is improving, unfortunately so are cases of nursing malpractice. By understanding the laws that governs nursing practice, it will help the nurse protect client’s rights and reduce the risk of nursing liability (Sommer, 2013, p. 23). It’s usually necessary to prove that the nurse was negligent to prove nursing malpractice. The Joint Commission defines negligence as a “failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would under similar circumstances” and malpractice as “improper or unethical conduct or unreasonable lack of skill by a holder of a professional or official position. Sommer defines professional negligence as the failure of a person who has a professional training to act in a reasonable and prudent manner (p. 24).
Medical malpractice is like a virus that spreads contagiously and has been going on for many years. This phenomenon has caused deaths, diseases, and injuries due to the negligence of medical professionals towards their patients. Hospitals are losing their reputation and doctors are losing lots of their money. Usually after the doctor does something wrong, the patient should file a lawsuit against them and the hospital. One way to prevent malpractice is to pick younger doctors who are more careful with what they are doing. Malpractice is an occurrence that should be stopped soon or many injuries could occur to the patient due to the doctor’s negligence.
Negligence and malpractice are terms that many use interchangeably, but the meanings are very different. Healthcare is one practice that has been in existence for centuries whether informally or formally. Since the first birth of any kind, the nurturing and caring of each other man or beast utilized the methods available to restore or maintain life. Since the 19th century, instructional school for nursing was established, streamlining the institution of health care today. In the previous centuries, caring for the sick was not the industry we know today. One did not worry about negligence and malpractice lawsuits, but today one has to be knowledgeable and aware of the implications of both negligence and malpractice in the 20th century practice of healthcare. This paper will explore the difference between negligence, and malpractice, and what one can do as humanly possible, to avoid being the subject of either. It will explore the importance of accurate and adequate documentation and how important it is for nurses to maintain Professional
In short, medical negligence becomes medical malpractice when the doctor’s negligent treatment causes undue injury to the patient -- makes the patient’s condition worse, causes unreasonable and unexpected complications, or necessitates additional medical treatment, to name just a few examples of what’s considered “injury” in a malpractice case.
That is the rising number of negligent acts committed by medical professionals. Failure to follow standard of practice is the leading root cause of the troubles involving malpractice. Failure to assess and monitor the patient, failure to communicate, medication errors, negligent delegation or supervision and failure to obtain informed consent from patients are the top failures leading to malpractice. The American Nurses Association provides scopes and standards that if followed could prevent many of the negligent acts. Duty, Breach of Duty, Foreseeability, Causation, Injury, Damages must be proven for a nurse to be held
When evaluating medical malpractice, this can be performed by any healthcare professional. It is easy to classify this to be misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, even not taking the time to evaluate a patient properly. When practicing medicine it is important that all measures be taken when a patient is showing signs of infection or having any adverse reaction to medication. In the case study below this is a prime example of the importance of checking patient progression.
There are weaknesses in professional guidelines and rules because they are unable to provide the directives for moral reasoning and action is health care situations. Many people state that biomedical ethics provides a framework and emphasis on the person rather than the professional code and legal policy (Beauchamp and Childress, 2001). On the other hand they serve a purpose to provide some direction for professionals however codes of practise do not dismiss.
Generally speaking, negligence, error, incompetence, these are the words commonly associated with malpractice, yet many have no idea what the true definition states. Malpractice can be defined, according to the legal nurse consultant of Independent Medical Evaluations Inc., Jan Parrish (2010), “as a violation of professional duty or a failure to meet a standard of care or failure to use the skills and knowledge of other professionals in similar circumstances.... ... middle of paper ... ...
Medical malpractice is a serious allegation and hence, should be taken seriously too. The life of the patient in which the negligence was committed against can be actually put in the one because the practitioner was not mindful enough of his responsibilities. This is why, it is only right that people would seek legal assistance if they were ever put at risk from such a situation, if you incurred physical injuries as a result of such a negligence, you want to see to it that appropriate complaint is field towards the right authorities.
Negligence is defined as “the failure to act in a reasonable way as a health care clinician” 1, encompassing failure to follow up, to refer when necessary, to disclose necessary information to a patient, and to give necessary care.2 A clinician’s negligence may result in malpractice, which is “the failure of a professional to exercise that degree of skill and learning commonly applied by the average, prudent, reputable member of the profession.” 2 A malpractice suit must prove four factors: a duty of care owed to the injured party within an established patient-nurse relationship, a breached accepted standard of care, damage or sustained injury to the patient, and demonstrated direct causation by the clinician.3 As an APRN, I will avoid the