LEGAL ASPECTS OF NURSING - Essay Example

Negligence on either side of the teams gives rise to severe consequences. These consequences are sometimes lethal and several patients have been reported dead on grounds of negligence. Other than filing law suits against the healthcare providers and healthcare facilities, patients and plaintiffs have in the past gone an extra step to sue jurisdictional governments for their failure to make available sufficient funds for up-to-date facilities (Martzo & Sherman 2010, 43). There are a number of federal regulations that health facilities need to observe in assuring client’s safety.

The first regulation is the identification of laid down set of measurements of patients’ protection critical to the therapeutic error detection. Another parameter is classifying a set of performances concerning patient safety significant to medical inaccuracy prevention. The third guideline is identifying matters connected to implementation of mandatory reporting for diminution of errors (Martzo & Sherman 2010, 63). Establishing the utmost accommodating way to show information on the incidences of medical oversights to the civic is also a federal law.

Healthcare facilities need to take levelheaded steps to ensure that medical workforce adhere to these guidelines by the established modus operandi that encourage patient safety. There are several principles of protecting patients’ safety that applied in Mr. Abraham’s case. First is the Principle of Autonomy. This is the agreement to respect a patient’s right to determine his own course of action. The agreement demands that medical practitioners respect independent decisions made by a patient.

Patient Self Determination Act of 1990 passed by the United States Congress reserves a patient’s right to make decisions over what he wants to do with his life. The law, however, applies to a person in a stable state of mind and body (competent person). This principle does not apply to Mr. Abraham’s demand to leave the clinic since he was drunk at the time of his admission. His alcohol level was above the legal limit and this disqualified him from the principle of autonomy. The nurses reserved the right to decide on his behalf to stay within the facility for further treatment.

The second principle applicable in the case study is the Principle of Beneficence. This states the nurses’ need to be compassionate, take positive action to help others and always desire to do well. This principle is considered the core principle of patient advocacy. In Abraham’s case, the nurses and medical personnel who attended to him had his best interest at heart. After attending to the patient, the nurses restrained Mr. Abraham onto his bed using Posey vest and soft wrist restraints so that he could not leave to cause more harm to himself in another fight.

The nurses’ care was evident in their decision to move the patient to a room close to their station so that they could have a close check on him. Further, they devised an hourly visit to ensure his best care. Nonmaleficence is the third principle that applies to the case of Mr. Abraham. This principle demands that medical practitioners may not inflict any harm on the patients as they take positive action to help (Martzo & Sherman 2010, 143). It is the central medical oath of medical ethics.

In medical practitioner’s efforts to do utmost good to sustain the patient’