Respiratory therapy - Essay Example

Respiratory therapy/Radiology There are numerous standards that govern the care that is given to patients are every given level. These standards areset to ensure that every client receives the highest level of medical care in cases of emergencies as well as other cases. As such, it is mandatory that medical professionals observe these standards to avoid casualties as well as other conditions that may affect the health of the patients due to negligence. In the case study under analysis, there are several breaches to the standards of care that were either due to negligence of inactivity of the professionals that were responsible for the health of the plaintiff.

There are several standards and guidelines that dictate the practice of medicine in the country and it is important that every set of standards is complied with for the benefit of both the patients and the medical practitioners. Failure of compliance may result in litigation measures against the responsible practitioners. In the case study involving the plaintiff involved in a single-vehicle accident, most of the breaches to the standards of care lie between the start of the transfer to its completion.

Several standards were breached by both the registered nurse and the respiratory therapist in terms of compliance to the standards that govern the transfer of patients in such critical conditions. Once of the breaches was using half full tanks during the transfer of the patients. The standards of care dictate that all the tanks used during the transfer of ventilator dependent patients be full in case of unexpected conditions that may occur necessitating the use of additional oxygen tanks. In the event that the patient under transfer needs more oxygen than predetermined, the half full tanks will imply that the plaintiff would be unable to sufficiently supply with the necessary oxygen for his survival.

The end result would be deteriorating health conditions especially brain damage and in worst case scenarios, death of the patient. Another breach of standards of care was failure of the respiratory therapist to record the portable ventilators settings and alarm parameters before leaving the neurological intensive care unit. The nurse also played a role in the breach by failure to verify the same considering it is the duty of the stated nurse to do so. The registered nurse also failed to make any entry in his medical record regarding both the patient’s vital signs and the alarm parameters.

This is a clear breach of the standards of care that state the records should be updated before the transfer of such patients. The failure of both the registered nurse and the respiratory therapist to keep the necessary records implied that in the event of further deterioration by the patient, the alarm system was unable to go off and notify the respective practitioners on the situation. Failure of the nurse to record the patient’s vital signs ensured that consequent monitoring could not be done.

The other breach of standards of care was failure of the nurse to inform the other healthcare providers that she had administered a paralytic drug to the patient. Lastly, both the respiratory therapist and the registered nurse did not focus on the cardiac monitor for fluctuations as is required by the standards of care. Instead, the nurse was listening for alarms who parameters were never set in the first place. As a result, no alarm sounded despite the failing conditions of the plaintiff.