Nursing Malpractice Issues - Essay Example

Malpractice/negligence and liability Malpractice/negligence and liability Introduction: The concerned nursein the case was working in a critical care unit, but was later accused of diverting the narcotics for personal use. In addition, the hospital facility had previously implemented a computerized system that could facilitate in the narcotic distribution process in the facility. In this case, every nurse in the health facility has the personal responsibility of documenting the time, details and dosage that has been administered to each patient. In the above case, the authorities in the health facility discovered a discrepancy that the written documents could not reconcile with the electronic date record (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). The concerned nurse could hardly explain the cause of the discrepancy to the supervisor. According to the above case, nurses in the health facility did not follow the acceptable procedures in nursing since some prepared IV drip bags in advance and discarded them when not needed by the physician or patient. Surprising, nurses selected to provide medication by an IV route rather than following the physicians orders for the IM injection. The healthy facility also failed in implementing a well documented that guide the preceptor and mentee relationship in drug administration. Surprisingly, the concerned nurse testified she even recorded some of the drugs she had issued the following day (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). The law concerning negligence and liability of nursing practitioners is clear that nurses should exercise due care and diligence in their work. The established standards of nursing practice assert that nurses should be guided by the informed consent of the patient in delivering the health care services (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). The patients have a right to be treated with dignity and also receive information concerning the risks and benefits associated with every medication. It is the duty of the nurse to disclose to the supervisor any nursing process that he or she deems may present a health risk to the concerned patient (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). I believe that the hospital has enough evidence to issue suspension to the concerned nurse. The nurse has already testified that in some cases she recorded the drugs issued to patients in the following day. According to nursing practice guidelines, it is the duty of the nurse to execute the physician orders unless she has a reasonable suspicion of an error. In such cases, the nurse is expected to clarify the issue with the concerned physician or forward a complaint to the supervisor. If event the nurse breaches this duty of care, the patient can sue for damages in case of harm or injury due to the negligence of the nurse in his or her duty. Supervisors in the health facility must ensure that nurses have the necessary skills when making a request for floatation to another unit (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). Nurses who float to other units without the necessary skills will bear personal responsibility for carrying out a mandate that is not within their skills and knowledge. Nurses are expected to report to the management of the health facility on any suspicion or errors in administering medication to the clients (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). Surprisingly, nurses are supposed to sign for the narcotics through an electronic system and prepare IV drips in advance. The others nurses evidence is useful in determining the ruling in the case. Other nurses asserted that they also did not follow the standards of nursing care involved in medical documentation. The testimony of the other nurses is clear that no policy that could guide the relationship between a mentee and preceptor. The institution has a duty of issuing clear guidelines on the preceptor-nurse relationship. In the above case, the suspended nurse would be also guilty for not following the standards of care in nursing practice (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). Some of the principles of safeguarding patient safety that are involved include the principle of due care and diligence. According to this principle, nurses are expected to exercise reasonable care and skill in their decision making and respect the informed consent of the patient. Nurses must promote the wellbeing of the patient through the provision of safe health care services. Accordingly, the principle of disclosure requires nurses to pin point out any unsafe healthcare practice or errors in nursing while accountability principle makes nurses liable for negligence and misconduct in their work (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). Standards of nursing practice require all nurses to document all drug movements in a timely manner. The records should be detailed enough to include the frequency of usage and nature of the medication. In this case, the nurses are liable for delay and impropriety in patient medical documentation (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). The healthy facility can deal with the causes of the problem through ensuring several ethical guidelines guide the decision making process. For instance, the Nonmaleficence ethical principle require the nurses to immediately report any deviations from the standardised nursing practice since such omissions may lead to patient hard (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). Suppose the above case found its way to a court trial, the charges that would be preferred to the nurse include negligence and malpractice in the nursing profession contrary to standardised nursing rules of care. The narrow charges will include omissions in patient documentation and incomplete medical records. The State trial courts have jurisdiction in medical liability cases, but cases occurring in federal-funded clinics can be referred to the Federal District Court. The defendant is the suspended nurse and the health facility while plaintiff would include any patient that has suffered damages from the unsafe nursing practice. Both the nurse and health facility would be guilty for injuring the patient since there is lack of a policy that guides the personnel in their work (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). The nurse would be guilty for negligence and malpractice while documenting the patients records and administering medication. The State Board of nursing should be included in the above case since it regulates the standards of nursing care. The State Board of nursing is also tasked with licensing, disciplinary issues for malpractice and legal framework development. In this case, the Board will facilitate the prosecution of any malpractices in nursing practice (Lyer & Aiken, 2001). The policy must be changed. Since there is no formal policy to guide the nurses in the documentation of medication, the health facility must implement a policy that guides the relationship of the preceptor and mentee. The health facility must also clarify the responsibilities of each employee and procedure of issuing IV route and attending to orders from physicians. Some of the key stakeholders that should participate in the policy development include supervisors, and heads of each department, physicians. References: Lyer, P.W & Aiken, T.D. (2001). Nursing malpractice. Tucson: Lawyers & Judges Publication. Read More