I am currently working towards becoming a qualified paramedic which is an unregistered occupation. When the Health Practitioners Competency Act (HPCA) was passed, paramedics were considered to pose a low risk of harm to patients; however, with the progression of the paramedic identity, this certainly requires re-evaluation (ref). The primary purpose of registering is to maintain professional standards and to protect the health and safety of the public (ref). This includes malpractice, negligence or discredit to the profession. Accusations will not be permanently held against the paramedic which is a safety risk to consumers (ref). Alternatively registration would enable appropriate discipline, rehabilitation and integration back into the organisation in a …show more content…
They are liable under their specified employment protocol and the HDCA (Health and Disability Commissioners Act, 1994). However this has clear limitations. Disciplinary action is managed within the employee’s private sector, which hinders standardisation and transparency across the border of the profession. Additionally it does not include the withdrawal or suspension of registration if the policy is breached or the practitioner does not meet the expected standard of practise, which applies to registered health practitioners (Berry, 2015). This has the potential for repetition of malpractice as the employee is able to resign, relocate and seek new work opportunities without formalised constraint. In the absence of mandatory reporting to a disciplinary committee, unprofessional behaviour has the potential to slip under the radar and continue unchecked if information is not shared between paramedicine sectors (Berry, 2015). This may be seen as an advantage to a subjected paramedic but at the cost of risking public health and safety, this is not ethically acceptable and is a strong jurisdiction for paramedics to be
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
Health Care workers are constantly faced with legal and ethical issues every day during the course of their work. It is important that the health care workers have a clear understanding of these legal and ethical issues that they will face (1). In the case study analysed key legal and ethical issues arise during the initial decision-making of the incident, when the second ambulance crew arrived, throughout the treatment and during the transfer of patient to the hospital. The ethical issues in this case can be described as what the paramedic believes is the right thing to do for the patient and the legal issues control what the law describes that the paramedic should do in this situation (2, 3). It is therefore important that paramedics also
Not only do health care providers have an ethical implication to care for patients, they also have a legal obligation and responsibility to care for the patient. According to the Collins English dictionary, a duty of care is ‘the legal obligation to safeguard others from harm while they are in your care, using your services or exposed to your activities’. The legal definition takes it further by making it a requirement that a person act towards others and the public with watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence which a reasonable person in the circumstances would use. If a person’s actions fail to meet the required standard, then the acts are considered negligent (Hill and Hill, 2002). If a professional fails to abide to the standard of practice for their practice in regards to their peers, they leave themselves open to criticisms or claims of breach of duty of care, and possibly negligence. Negligence is comprised of five elements: (1) duty, (2) breach, (3) cause in fact, (4) proximate cause, and (5) harm. Duty is defined as the implied duty to care/provide service, breach is the lack thereof, cause in fact must be proven by plaintiff, proximate cause means that only the harm caused directly causative to the breach itself and not additional causation, and harm is the specific injury resultant from the breach.
Everyday there are hundreds of ambulances, fire engines and police cars being called to the scene of emergencies. I’m sure you hear the roar of their sirens, but you don’t think twice about them and are able to tune them out. The only time most people even think about the sirens is if they are forced to wait at a light or move over to the right shoulder and let them pass. When you look back and think about those sirens, where do you suppose they are going? Most people probably think that they are going to a car accident with entrapment, or a person with crushing chest pain to try and intervene and get them to the hospital.
When the practices in the healthcare delivery system or organization threaten the welfare of the patient, nurses should express their concern to the responsible manager or administrator, or if indicated, to an appropriate higher authority within the institution or agency or to an appropriate external authority” (3.5 protection of patient health and safety by acting on questionable practice, ANA, 2015). The example of the practice is a patient discharge from the rehab facility to the Personal care unit with pending PT/INR results, which turned out to be critical. The admitting nurse demonstrated moral courage by questioning physician who wrote discharge orders and the nurse who completed discharge. Rehab physician refused to address lab results and referred the patient to the PCP. Admitting nurse raised a concern to administration to review discharge protocol and deviation from safe practice. Nurse acted on behalf of the patient and requested readmission to rehab based on patient’s unstable medical
In an ideal medical society, no dilemma should arise on whistleblowing associated with poor medical practice or illegal behaviours. However these dilemmas arise when these whistle blowers take privileged information to the public in order to address their personal concerns or conscience. It can however be said that they are often left with little or no choice. Lipley (2001) discusses a case which occurred in the UK where a nurse wrote to the media reportedly that the elderly inpatients at her organisation did not receive adequate care and that this was jeopardising their lives. The appeals tribunal ruled that her decision was right and was both reasonable and an acceptable way to raise such issues ...
One of the proudest accomplishments of my life was earning my high school diploma, despite all the hard work that led me where I am today was well worth it. Many people would expect me to say I am coming to college to better myself as a person or to continue my education. The truth is I want to change a life in my community, make my parents proud of their daughter and start a tradition in my family.
A Paramedic (EMT-P) works directly with the public providing personal assistance, medical attention, and emotional support. They respond to medical emergencies providing on-scene treatment, crisis intervention, life-saving stabilization, and transport of ill or injured patients to a treatment center.
If a person commits a “tort a civil wrong committed to another person or their property and the person is a nonprofessional this is negligence.” (Guido, 2014) In the case of Thomas v. Sheridan (2008) a sheriffs’ deputy not trained in handling a prisoner properly, allowed the unrestrained prisoner to take possession of his weapon, fire a shot and take a nurse hostage, no harm ensued, but the courts found the Sheriff’s department was negligent in favor of the nurse. (Guido, 2014) Anyone including nonmedical personal can be negligent. Tort law violations based on “fault” is the most common violation seen in the health care setting. Even if you are not the negligent individual, if you are overseeing staff and you are the licensed personal you could be named in ones’ negligent suit and be in violation of malpractice because of your professional
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...
The main issue here is that professionals are morally being held accountable for it but not legally; situations like this can cause uprising issues because it can affect decisions on what is best for the patient at the time. The best solution for this problem would be for the professionals to educate their patients all all possible health procedures and to let them know that if they cannot take care of it someone else in the field will. Also, educating patients on what the medical procedures would entail would also be beneficial for example at they might be going though, recovery time, or even how
A few documented cases can be found in the literature that directly looks at the complex issue of medical error reporting. For example, Cleary & Duke, (2017) research demonstrates the nexus of ethical issues present in the case of Bundaberg Base Hospital (BBH) in Australia. In 2004, BBH which is a 136-bed hospital that provides emergency medicine, general medicine, general, to a population of 87,933 in Bundaberg, Queensland, Australia. Director of Surgery, Dr. Jayant Patel, was employed at BBH April 2003 and April 2005, in which time saw 1457 patients, performed approximately 1000 operations, and 400 endoscopic procedures. From May 2003 until April 2005, nurses from several hospital departments reported and raised concerns about Patel's competence. Sighting evidence of post-operative complications, lack of infection control measures, and general decision-making process to perform complex surgeries instead of transferring patients to a more equipped hospitals and specialists. Nurses perused ever possible option available to them for reporting the errors in this situation continually from May 2003 through April 2005 (Cleary & Duke, 2017). The case represents nurses using verbal and written complaints, incident
However, we are looking at a case study where patients safety has been compromised, professionalism has been voided, lack of communication, nurses aren’t liable for their work, the duty of care has been breached and lot more issues can be discovered. Which will be incorporated in this paper. Looking at the patient Christopher Hammett
When professionals in the health sector are compliant to the standards and ethics of practice, then accidents in the sector and any activities that undermine patient safety are bound to be addressed. In particular, whistleblowers in the sector should also be protected to improve service delivery in the health sector.
Paramedics bear a tremendous amount of responsibility. They are heavily relied upon during emergency situations, and are often the only medical professionals at the scenes. A combination of qualities that are essential for paramedics include: a compassionate nature, a healthy physical condition, and a strong mental capacity.