Legal Aspects Of Nursing - Essay Example

Legal aspects of nursing Patient safety in medical field is the greatest and paramount thing that practicingprofessionals as well as the legal frameworks strive earnestly to realize in the day-to-day operations. Failure to observe patient safety results to lengthy stay in the hospital by patients, permanent injures as well as even death. It is therefore the responsibility of all the stakeholders (all involved in the welfare of a patient) to ensure that effective principles of patient care are observed. For instance, in this case study, there are various principles of protecting the patient safety that are in application. These include the rushing of the patient to a health care facility as the fire rescue does when he brings Mr. Ibrahim into the hospital. This is a safety principle, which ensures that patients receive the right attention from qualified personnel, which would be effective in saving the life of such a patient. The police officer at the scene of accident reported to have taken the test of alcohol content in the patient’s blood system which can be seen as a safety principle which would not only assist the medical practitioners in handling the patient but also would be necessary for any legal suit that would follow. Upon reaching the hospital, the patient showed no sense of cooperation and this made the medical staff to secure his cooperation through restraining him by use of wrist restraints and a poesy vest. This was a safety principle in that through this, the patient would minimize movements, which had a higher capacity of worsening the injuries that he sustained, and at the same time allow the medical staff to complete on comprehensive assessment of the patient. It was necessary as through such measures, the nurses and other medical staff in contact with the patient would have ample information as regards the patient s for efficiency in treating him. Moreover, upon noting that the patient was likely to untie the restraints, the nurses took another safety measure through securing him in a room near to their station, which would warrant easy check on the patient by the nurses regularly. They also ensured that they tied the bed restraints, vest secure on the patient and ensured that the patient was comfortable. The bed restraints were meant for not only securing the patient from much movement but also for ensuring his safety against falling from the height of the bed, which would be fatal. In this regard therefore, the nurses would be said to have responded appropriately to ensure the safety of the patient through the application of the principles. However, as the excerpt reveals, despite the great effort taken by the nurses to ensure the safety of Mr. Abraham, he eventually manages to untie himself from the restraints and in efforts to climb down the bed, he falls and sustains serious head injuries from which he later succumbs. From a legal point of view, the nurses would have applied other principles to ensure more safety to the patient besides what had been done. For instance, when they noted the patient’s unrest, they would have probably administered sleep-inducing medicine to the patient in order to have him asleep as they carried out their tests. Besides, one-hour intervals of monitoring such a patient who showed higher chances of untying himself was long durations and the nurses ought to have adopted lesser periods in order to be effective. Through the relatively shorter periods, the nurses would have probably chanced on the patient before the fall. Moreover, we would reason that the nurses failed to prioritize on the patient as is seen from the statement that they visited him on hourly intervals from the room he was restrained from as he awaited tests and treatment. From a legal point, this would be interpreted as negligence on the part of nurses because they would have prioritized on attending to the patient as a safety measure. Failure to have employed these measures by nurses in effect is blamed to have resulted to the injury, which ultimately led to the death of the patient. There is no greater ethical duty to such a patient than as accorded in the case scenario. Ethics explain an acceptable code of conduct by individuals within a given context (Butts, 70-73). In this case, therefore, the patient portrayed no ethical behavior as described by his intention to leave the hospital and go for revenge in the bar besides being assisted by the nurses and the fire rescue to safety. It would be interpreted morally wrong and ethically accepted behavior where the patient shows no sense of cooperation when being assisted by the nurses. In fact, it is more wrong to have the patient struggle to untie the wrist and chest restraints as applied by the medical staff for having him cooperate as tests and treatment were done on him. Such efforts by the practicing nurses and the fire rescue indicate very high ethical concerns towards the patient and under such, no higher duty would be accorded to him than this. Life is interpreted to be very precious and as such, despite his condition of being drunk and unruly, the nurses and other persons in contact with such a patient has the ethical responsibility of saving his life. It is also ethical to handle the patient with care as the family members would reiterate and accord him the respect dew to human beings. Finally, it would be ethical to have such a patient attended to quickly, which would reduce the level of suffering that the patient would be undergoing from the injuries sustained before. This implies that it is ethically correct for the nurses to minimize the level of pain suffered by such a patient. The case leveled by the patient’s family points towards having doctors, nurses as well as the hospital at large being defendants. However, the nurses as defendants had higher likelihood of being held liable for the death of the patient. This is partly because of their direct contact with him but also for the reason that they showed some level of negligence in attending to him. The nurses frequently attended to him through ensuring that the restraints were in place in order to have him cooperated in tests and treatment. Moreover, as pointed out earlier, from a legal perspective, the nurses exhibited some reluctance in attending to the patient as shown by spending hours before completion of tests and possible treatment. The nurses therefore were to be blamed more than the doctors and the hospital at large. Possible court rulings in the suit would be that the nurses on duty be fined or have their nursing licenses refuted for unprofessionalism in attending to the patient. Moreover, in the event that they are prosecuted with charges of murder, more severe sentences would be passed against them, which would include but not be limited to death. Works cited Butts J. B., “Ethics in professional nursing practice” 70-73. Web. 13 September, 2013. Read More