The circumstances regarding the passing of Mr. Ard are unfortunate and were preventable. Patients put their lives in the hands of medical professionals every day expecting the highest level of care possible. This paper will examine the case of Mr. Ard to determine what happened, who was at fault, and how his passing could have been prevented. On May 20th, the patient, Mr. Ard, experienced nausea, shortness of breath, and pain while being treated in the hospital (Pozgar, 2014). The patient’s wife, Mrs. Ard, attempted many times to reach a nurse by pressing the nurse call button (Pozgar, 2014). Once the nurse finally responded, anti-nausea medication was administered (Pozgar, 2014). Mrs. Ard continued to monitor her husband’s situation, and felt as if the nausea and shortness of breath were getting worse (Pozgar, 2014). Mrs. Ard continued to ring the nurse call button for approximately 1.25 hours prior to a response from a nurse (Pozgar, 2014). A code was called, and Mr. Ard did not survive (Pozgar, 2014). Mrs. Ard brought a wrongful death law suit against the hospital (Pozgar, 2014). The original verdict found in favor of Mrs. Ard, but the hospital appealed the court’s ruling (Pozgar, 2014). During the course of the appeal, an investigation of the records showed no documentation, by a nurse; of a visit to Mr. Ard during the time that Mrs. Ard stated she attempted to contact a nurse (Pozgar, 2014). The nurse on duty stated that she did check on Mr. Ard during that time; however, there were no notes in the patient’s chart to backup the claim that Mr. Ard had been checked on (Pozgar, 2014). One expert in nursing, Ms. Krebs, agreed that there was a failure in the treatment of Mr. Ard by the nurse on duty (Pozgar, 2014). ... ... middle of paper ... ...oper tests would have been performed making it obvious to the nurse that Mr. Ard was in need of further medical treatment. Since the nurse was under employment by the hospital, and she was performing standard work duties, then the hospital would also be liable in the medical malpractice suit. In conclusion, the death of Mr. Ard was the result of negligent behavior by the on duty nurse. If the nurse would have followed standard policies and procedures the patient outcome would have been different. This would include being more attentive to the patient’s call button, as well as, performing standard respiratory tests given the patient’s condition. There was also a failure to properly review documentation, and add new notations to patient’s medical chart as needed. In the end, the court of appeals should have found the hospital negligent in the death of Mr. Ard.
Adae Cynthia’s husband telephoned Dr. Avera about Cynthia’s hospitalization and relayed that she was suffering from continuing pain. Upon Dr. Avera's recommendation that he should transport his wife to the Middletown Regional Hospital emergency room, where Cynthia was seen by Tao Nguyen, M.D. They started by giving Cynthia a CT scan of her chest and head, which ended up being negative result for pulmonary embolism but it did reveal a sinus infection. Dr. Nguyen requested copies of her medical records from Clinton memorial hospital but Clinton’s record department was closed for the weekend. Dr. Nguyen discussed Cynthia’s case with Dr. Avera and instructed her to follow up with Dr. Avera on Monday, July 3. She was discharged with a prescription for pain medication. On the same day laboratory reported to a resident on duty that Cynthia’s blood cultures were showing gram positive cocci in clusters. The next day the laboratory reported to Dr.Pesante the Cynthia’s blood cultures were positive for staphylococcus aureus. Neither the resident on duty nor Dr. Pesante contacted Dr. Bain or the attending physician on-call about Cynthia’s blood culture results. The trial court found it unclear whether any Clinton memorial hospital employee attempted to contact appellees or Dr. Avera. Dr. Avera said if he would have learned of the positive blood culture she would have admitted her immediately to hospital and would have empirically started her on antibiotics and then
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
The nurse-patient relationship is one that is built on a mutual trust and respect that fosters hope and assists in a harmonious healing process. A nurse has the professional duty to the patient to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual care to avoid injury. Any negligence in rendering care to the patient is direct disregard and results in malpractice. This is the crux of the problem with Nurse Ratched. In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched is guilty of malpractice due to the cruel medical treatments she practiced, mental anguish inflicted by her on the patients, as well as the undue authority she had in the hospital that she consistently misused.
Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes. Some of the best lessons in life are learned from making a mistake. But in the healthcare world making mistakes means losing lives. This has started to happen so frequently there has been a term coined – Failure to Rescue or FTR. Failure to rescue is a situation in which a patient was starting to deteriorate and it wasn’t noticed or it wasn’t properly addressed and the patient dies. The idea is that doctors or nurses could’ve had the opportunity to save the life of the patient but because of a variety of reasons, didn’t. This paper discusses the concept of FTR, describes ways to prevent it from happening; especially in relation to strokes or cerebrovascular accidents, and discusses the nursing implications involved in all of these factors.
This case study examines a case of an LPN who became ill while about halfway through her shift and chose to go home. This LPN was assigned to care for five patients in an obstetrical ward, four of which were considered stable. The fifth patient was awaiting an obstetrical consultation when the LPN became ill and vomited. At this time, she notified the other nurses and, subsequently, the charge nurse that she needed to leave due to illness. The charge nurse instructed her to notify her supervisor prior to leaving the facility; however, the LPN chose not to do so and went home. Her reasoning in not notifying her supervisor as she was instructed was that she feared that the supervisor would ask her to go to the emergency room for care. The LPN testified that she did not want to pay for an emergency visit and that she intended to make an appointment with her family doctor early that same day. The facility terminated the LPN’s contract and also reported her to the state board of nursing for patient abandonment. As a judgment, the board of nursing suspended here nursing license pending a psychological examination and fined her $1000 for abandoning her patients. In this paper, we will examine the viewpoints of the LPN, the charge nurse, and the nursing supervisor as they relate to the Nurse Practice Act and the board of nursing.
patient's death. This leads to the assumption that both nurse Ratched and McMurphy are not
My colleague and I received an emergency call to reports of a female on the ground. Once on scene an intoxicated male stated that his wife is under investigation for “passing out episodes”. She was lying supine on the kitchen floor and did not respond to A.V.P.U. I measured and inserted a nasopharyngeal airway which was initially accepted by my patient. She then regained consciousness and stated, “Oh it’s happened again has it?” I removed the airway and asked my colleague to complete base line observations and ECG which were all within the normal range. During history taking my patient stated that she did not wish to travel to hospital. However each time my patient stood up she collapsed and we would have to intervene to protect her safety and dignity, whilst also trying to ascertain what was going on. During the unresponsive episodes we returned the patient to the stretcher where she spontaneously recovered and refused hospital treatment. I completed my patient report form to reflect the patient's decision and highlighted my concerns. The patient’s intoxicated husband then carried his wife back into the house.
Ohio Dep’t of Rehabilitation & Correction are the poor-quality patient care that Tomcik received and Tomcik’s health being at risk. Once engaged in a doctor-patient relationship, physicians are obligated to provide the best possible care for the patient by utilizing their skills and knowledge as expected from a competent physician under the same or similar conditions (“What Is a Doctor’s Duty of Care?” n.d.). However, in Tomcik’s situation, Dr. Evans did not deliver high-quality care, for he administered a perfunctory breast examination and thus did not follow standard protocols. There is evidence of indifference conveyed by Dr. Evans, and the lack of proper care towards Tomcik is an issue that can be scrutinized and judged appropriately. Additionally, Tomcik’s health was at risk due to the failure of a proper physical evaluation and the incredibly long delay in diagnosis and treatment. The negligence from Dr. Evans, along with the lack of medical attention sought out by Tomcik after she had first discovered the lump in her breast, may contribute to Tomcik’s life being in danger as well as the emotional anguish she may have felt during that time period. Overall, the incident of Tomcik’s expectations from the original physician and other employees at the institution not being met is an ethical issue that should be dealt with
As a result, she breached the standard 6 which states that “registered nurses should provide a safe, appropriate and responsive quality nursing practice” (NMBA, 2016). In line with this standard, nurses should use applicable procedures to identify and act efficiently to address potential and actual risks such as unexpected changes in a patient’s condition (NMBA, 2016). Through early identification and response by the nurse, this will ensure that the patient’s condition is recognised and appropriate action is provided and escalated (Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, 2011). Moreover, the nurse did not immediately escalate the patient’s deteriorating condition to the members of the health care team.
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...
In this essay the author will rationalize the relevance of professional, ethical and legal regulations in the practice of nursing. The author will discuss and analyze the chosen scenario and critically review the action taken in the expense of the patient and the care workers. In addition, the author will also evaluates the strength and limitations of the scenario in a broader issue with reasonable judgement supported by theories and principles of ethical and legal standards.
The term “failure to rescue” refers to a clinical scenario where hospital doctors, nurses, or caregivers fail to recognize symptoms. Responders do not respond adequately to clinical signs that would prevent harm (Morse, 2008, p.2). Dr. Jeffery H. Silber, Director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research, first coined the term “failure to rescue” in the 1990’s. He characterized the matrix of institutional and individual errors that contribute to patient deaths as “failure to rescue” (Aleccia, 2008). Since 1990, it has been well documented patients usually exhibit signs and symptoms of impending cardiac or respiratory arrest 6-8 hours before an arrest (Schein, Hazday, Pena, Ruben, & Spring, 1990). Buist, Bernard, Nguyen, Moore, and Anderson’s (2004) research reported similar findings. They found patients had documented clinically abnormal signs and symptom prior to arrest (Buist, et al., 2004). When certain abnormal signs and symptoms are identified early, critical bedside consultat...
A 25 year old, male patient with cerebral palsy and poor motor control is admitted through the ER. He is complaining of severe abdominal pain, vomiting, and increased fatigue. Due to frequent hospitalizations in the past, he is well known to the team on the floor he is being admitted to. The RN admitting the patient, tells the ER nurse calling in report that she is very familiar with him and really doesn't need a a whole lot of details in her report. After admission to the floor, the patient continues to complain of pain and vomits a small amount of coffee ground emesis. After a physical assessment,
The facility should have written statement to refer to in case of emergency to help and protect the health care workers that are onsite. So that it would minimize the confusion. We all know that in the case of cardiac arrest time is very critical. The nurse wasted the patient greatest opportunity of survival by standing there and refusing care. It’s the policy of this facility to not make care for cardiac arrest patient difficult. I understand at 87 years of age the end result is most likely not going to be a promising, but I would help to know that there are some people who are willing to help. I hope the nurse learned her lesson and stand clear of confusion for future patient that reside the
...ve heard, it may not be possible to prosecute the nurse as she was just following the home’s policy. In the same manner, it may also not be possible to prosecute the nursing home because such conditions (i.e. not administering CPR) are clearly stated in their policy, and all of their clients understand and are amenable with it. However, in cases like this, I don’t think that the law should be the be-all and end-all of things, that is, I think that mere compliance with the law does not necessarily equate to good management or administration; rather, I believe that good administration should also be guided by moral and ethical guidelines.