Medical Negligence: The Case Of Edith Rodriguez

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

events. The police officers did not provide care to the patient, when she was clearly suffering and instead they chose to bring her to jail before she received proper medical attention. The lying and denial medical care were illegal and directly contributed to Edith's death.
Misfeasance is an act that is not unlawful but is done in a way that harms another. The hospital’s medical staff failed to treat Edith and could be guilty of neglect. Numerous medical providers failed to triage or assess Edith’s condition. The staff ignored her suffering and neglected to provide her the medical treatment she required.
Nonfeasance is the failure to perform a necessary action. the emergency telephone operators chose not to take the emergency call seriously, make excuses and did not dispatch help for the woman. They chose not to act, and they could have helped to prevent the patient’s death if they had acted as they are supposed to.

2. Was there a dereliction or neglect of duty? Explain. (2 points)
Yes, there were several examples of neglect of duty.
-The nurse on Duty (Ms. Ruttlen) disregarded Edith Rodriguez’s complaints while she was in laying on the floor in pain, but she should have assessed her, taken her vitals, and called the doctor to examine her.
-All the hospital staff who were watching her struggling in pain should have tried to help or advocate that she sees a doctor, especially after repeated pleas for help.
-The emergency dispatchers who said that the ambulance could not be provided because she was already in a hospital, should have investigated the case to see how she could help the woman. The operators also said that it was not an emergency, without knowing the facts and chose not to send help. The 911 operators did not treat the matter genuinely or professionally.
Lastly, when the police officers arrived and took her to jail, they should have been of standing up for the patient or helping her receive care.

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

hospital.

Ms. Rodriguez had visited the hospital several times over only a few days complaining of severe stomach pain, but her pleas were continuously turned down.
The emergency telephone operators did not take any of the calls for help seriously emergency responders were not dispatched. No one helped Edith.
This could have been avoided by:
•The nurses taking the patient’s complaints seriously
•The nurse on duty handling the situation more professionally.
•Better training or stricter policies that address humane treatment of patients who complain of pain or illness for medical staff and emergency call takers.

5.

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.

Rodriguez.