Legal Aspect of Nursing - Essay Example

Legal Aspect of Nursing Data from the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB) indicates that each year more nurses are ending up as defendants in lawsuits concerning negligence and malpractice[Cro03]. All nurses or any other professional needs to pay attention to actions, practices or routines that may end up making them susceptible to cases of malpractice or negligence. On average it becomes difficult to differentiate cases of negligence from cases of malpractice. According to Stubenrauch (2007) when a professional causes negligent act then it becomes a malpractice, however not all cases of malpractice result from negligence. The important fact that most professionals ought to understand is that; in both instances those professionals who end up causing either, in this case a nurse, often face serious consequences. Instances of malpractice often end up as lawsuits unlike in most cases of negligence; however it is common for a case of negligence to turn into a malpractice[Stu07]. Case study: Be you be the judge A clear assessment of the evidence of the case study indicates that this is a clear case of negligence which rightfully warrants for suspension. According to the investigations the only evidence on the nurse is her failure to tally the records between the computerized cabinet and the handwritten documentation. Considering the nurse’s reputation for the twenty five years she was working at the hospital, she at least was supposed to be given some consideration. The claims of the nurse diverting narcotics from the cabinet do not hold ground because there is no evidence that directly points to her doing the act. The only available evidence is the records which suggest the possibility of such malpractice but still remain unproven. Chances are high that the testimonies by the other nurses will affect the case in a positive way for the defendant. This will aid in proving to the court that the defendant is not diverting narcotics for selfish gain from the hospital and the errors in the reports can only be a case of negligence. The testimonies from the other nurses are enough to turn the case around implicating the hospital as the defendant. The court will be able to see that cases of negligence in the health care unit are common, which means that there is a high chance of the health care being subject to mismanagement. Following the turn of events in the case, the institution has to address some questions to clarify to the court why certain behaviors take place and the reason for certain decisions. The institution will have to address the court on why there were more nurses admitting to have commit cases of negligence such as filing the records with wrong information. It will also have to address the qualifications of the nurses in the hospital and why is seems that there is a lack of proper supervision at the hospital to curb the cases of malpractice by the nurses. The institution will need to produce further evidence on the nurse to prove their claims concerning the theft of the narcotics as the nurse seems to have a clean record for her 25 years at the institution. The nurse deserves leniency at best a pardon for her negligence charges. This is because of her clean record and reputation for her 25 years at the hospital. It is also because there was enough evidence from the testimonies to prove that it was a normal error following the hefty work of the institution. On the matter of committing a malpractice by diverting narcotics for personal gain the right judgment is to dismiss the case due to lack of enough evidence. The institution needs to at least have evidence of the nurse either abusing the narcotics herself or prove that she is trading them for personal gain. There is violation of various principles that involve protecting patient safety that arise in this case. One key principle is the proper administration of medications to patients; an error in medication endangers the safety of the patient[Aus08]. The second principle is effective communication; patient safety is at risk if the nurse fails to carry out proper communication on their progress and in terms of interpreting their records[The071]. Thirdly is a principle of timely and proper documentation; patients’ safety is a guarantee when there is proper and timely and accurate documentation of their records. The next principle is following facility procedures and policies, which establish the standards of care being administered. When the nurses admit to signing for narcotics and preparing drip bags in advance is a sign of improper following of institution set policies and procedures[Aus08]. There is no excuse for improper procedures and failure to carry out required duties when one is a nurse. The nurses are, therefore committing acts of negligence which could lead to serious cases of malpractice. They have to put in mind that one key principle guiding nurses is for them to ensure proper, timely and accurate documentation or record keeping[Aus08]. As a medical professional, delays and failure to carry out obligatory duties is a sign of low standards especially for a nurse. If such cases only happen once in a while with substantial reason then it would be understandable. In this case it is something that happens occasionally which prompts for there to be further investigations into the matter. From the organisation's point of view they have reason to suspect unethical behaviour of misappropriating hospital resources and narcotic abuse by the defendant. In the event the matter gets to trial it would be a held in a District Court and if found guilty the nurse can end up serving time either in jail a rehabilitation centre[Ame94]. However, judging from the evidence present the case is likely to be dismissed and forwarded to the nursing body; National Council of State Boards of Nursing for disciplinary measures concerning the negligence. The District Court can handle such matters because it is a case of unethical behaviour that has not yet brought harm to a third party. In the event the case proceeds to trial the defendants will be the suspended nurse as well as the hospital while the plaintiff on the other hand will be the state. This is because when a nurse or medical profession commits misconduct such as negligence, malpractice and in this case narcotics divergence then whole hospital is made responsible for the offence[Cro03]. The court is likely to rule that this is a case of negligence rather than divergence of narcotics, therefore the case is likely to be left for the State Board of Nursing to take over. This turn of events is likely to be brought in by the nurses’ testimonies and lack of sufficient evidence to implicate the suspended nurse to divergence of narcotics. Looking at the testimonies given by the nurse and the facts of the case it would be a necessary precaution to change the organization’s procedures and policies. Whenever there are cases of misconduct, malpractice and negligence and in this case persistent with most nurses then it can only mean the organizations policies and procedures are not working[Stu07]. This prompts for adjustments by adding more strict policies with clear indications of unfavourable consequences for violating the policies and procedures. The hospital board, senior doctors, representatives of the nurses and a representative from State Board of Nursing should be the ones to involve in coming up with new policies and procedures in the hospital. Works Cited Cro03: , (Croke, 2003), Stu07: , (Stubenrauch, 2007), Aus08: , (Austin, 2008), The071: , (The Joint Commission, 2007), Ame94: , (American Nurses Association, 1994), Read More