Nurses Involved in Lawsuits - Research Paper Example

Case ‘Patricia Fierle and Daniel Fierle, Husband And Wife, Appellants, vs. Jorge Perez M.D., Ltd., A Nevada Professional Corporation, D/B/A Sierra Nevada Oncology Care; Jorge Perez, M.D., Ph.D, MRCP, MRCPATH, An Individual; Linda Lesperance, R.N., APN-C, An Individual; Charmaine Cruet, R.N., APN-C, An Individual; and Melissa Mitchell, R.N., An Individual, Respondents.’ (Lexis-Nexis, 2009) The case was heard in the Supreme Court of Nevada. A brief history of this case is that it was also heard and dismissed in the district court, repudiating a post judgment motion (Lexis-Nexis, 2009).

Overview Mrs. Fierle, Daniel’s wife was a patient under chemotherapy at the medical facility, Jorge Perez M.D., Ltd. She suffered burns on her skin as a result of this treatment and the husband and wife filed a case against Jorge Perez M.D., Ltd. They sued the facility but the action was dismissed by the court. The claims were of ‘medical malpractice’ (Lexis-Nexis, 2009), and the people who are the target were Jorge Perez, Linda Lesperance, Melissa Mitchell and Charmaine Cruet. The affidavit requirement of Nev. Rev. Stat. §41A.071, (Lexis-Nexis, 2009) was applicable and the requirement was to file expert affidavits ‘non-res for ipsa loquitur claims’ (Lexis-Nexis, 2009), but the couple failed to attach them, however in case of assistants like the nurses, there is no such requirement, which is why under Nev. Rev. Stat. § 41A.100 (1) (Lexis-Nexis, 2009), registered nurse was accused of professional negligence.

Facts Patricia had been diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 and she was under treatment at the John Perez medical facility, she had mastectomy, and a catheter was put in her chest, so that chemotherapy medicines could be instilled. One part of the catheter was attached to the subclavian vein, so this setting would let the caretaker administer the chemo medicine via a needle inserted in the catheter. Chemotherapy was to be administered under the supervision of Dr. Perez and her nurses Charmaine Cruet, Linda Lesperance and Melissa Mitchell.

Mitchell was the only registered nurse (being a registered nurse is very important for legal accusations). On her third visit, Patricia felt something was wrong during chemotherapy. According to the patient’s narrative, Mitchell’s chemo administration did not go into the catheter, instead it went into the tissue, causing a skin burn, known as the “extravasation” (Lexis-Nexis, 2009). She complained of the pain but medical attention was not given. The other day, a nurse noticed red spot on her chest and sent her to radiologist, which after ultrasound test, confirmed that catheter tip was not in subclavian vein but in the tissue.

Patricia went to another doctor, Dr. Miercort, for her treatment, who also provided the affidavit for the case that “negligent extravasation” (Lexis-Nexis, 2009) had ensued by previous treatment. Patricia’s claim in the court says that Mitchell failed to provide due care while administering chemo and that negligence caused her severe burn over her right shoulder and in subclavian region with epirubicin (Lexis-Nexis, 2009). Strategy to prevent it NSCA ("Standards and competencies," 2012) has issued a report how doctors and nurses can be extra careful while administeri