Legal Aspects of Nursing - Essay Example

Legal Aspects of Nursing Insert Several principles of protecting the patient safety are involved in this particular case which involves Judy who is the patient and healthcare professionals who are the nurse and the psychiatrist. First, the patient herself reported that she wanted to commit suicide. That is a principle to protect the safety of the patient even if it is made by the patients themselves. Second, the police leaves the patient; Judy, under hospital care since her life could be at risk with depression and stress if not helped by a psychiatrist, that is majorly why the police take them to the hospital where medical health could be found the third principle is that the patient is placed under psychiatrist check and a nurse is assigned to the patient for around the clock monitoring and check (NPSG, 2013). By the nurse unlocking the bathroom door and allowing the patient, Judy to shower by herself is a case that can be argued out both to be negligence on one hand and not negligence on the other hand. This act amounts to negligence following the fact that the nurse left the patient under no watch yet it is required that such kind of a patient should be under strict watch throughout and should not be left alone before they fully recover. Judy was found alone when she wanted to hang herself using a rope, this means that when given time alone anymore, gross mistake can be committed because the nurse do not know what Judy is capable of doing. Therefore, the nurse was not supposed to leave Judy alone in a place like a bathroom where there are several harmful objects that a patient like Judy can use to accomplish what they have really wanted to do over a long period of time. On the other hand, it was a bright idea for the nurse to have left Judy to shower alone and with the bathroom door unlocked. This is an act that the patient requires to make them feel free when doing something which might make them have a sharp reflection over their lives and try to recollect the broken pieces together which can also , greatly provide a solution to the patient. In as much as Judy wanted to commit suicide, she also deserved to have some peaceful moment on her own may be while she’s showering to relieve her at least from some kind of stress. The other issue here is that fact that the bathroom door was left unlocked. This was a good practice that can not amount to negligence whatsoever due to the fact that; by leaving the door open, it would be very easy to monitor the patient and even to come to their rescue in case of any trouble unlike when the bathroom door could have been locked. The nurse however, needed to ensure that the patient was not left alone at any one time and even certain tools that could be used by the patient to accomplish a suicidal act were not left anywhere at the disposal of the patient. It was in order for the nurse to have left the bathroom door unlocked when the psychiatrist has come to see Judy since at that moment, the psychiatrist or any other person could pop into the bathroom and watch over Judy to see how she was faring on or even notice earlier if she was planning to do something that could take away her life again. Once such a thought had been realized, plans could have been put underway to rescue her earlier enough before any gross injuries could be caused. However, the nurse needed to keep a close check when the psychiatrist was leaving so that the nurse could take over and watch over the patient and make sure she is not left alone in the bathroom (Austin, Bergium, & Goldberg, 2003). To prevent this injury that was caused to Judy, the nurse, instead of letting Judy take a bath on her own, could have assisted her to take a bath or could have stayed with her in the bathroom and then ensured that she was taken back to her resting room safely where continuous monitoring was being done to her. From a legal perspective, the patient was under the control of this particular nurse, therefore the nurse was obligated to offer all the services that were duly required by the patient even showering her or being with her when she was showering. If this could have been done, the injury could not have arisen. There lies a greater duty to this patient from an ethical perspective for the patient is one who really knows that suicide is not a good act until she goes ahead to report herself to the police, yet, she still goes ahead to do the very act she considers wrong. Now the greatest duty Judy has been to overcome what led to her getting depressed hence thinking of committing suicide. She needs to open up and talk to the psychiatrist who can help her solve this problem. Moreover, the greater the duty becomes the fact that she now has to stay under the watch of the nurses for as long as the nurses feel she has changed her perception completely about committing suicide. She also has to live now with the pain that was caused by the injury. When caring for such kind of patients, the ethical principles involved include round the clock watching of the patient so that they are sure to be safe. Such kind of patients normally takes it like they are unwanted and unfit in the society hence they feel lonely and live in solitude. Therefore, the moment they are left alone, the only thing they think of is how they can do away with their lives by taking it away through suicide. They can use any materials around them and turn them into suicidal tools hence close round the clock monitoring should be offered to them by nurses. The defendants in this case are the nurse and the psychiatrist. The defendant who could be held much liable is the nurse since it is within the nurse’s duties to take full care of such kind of a patient and do not let them leave their eye focus. Being that the psychiatrist went to see the patient and left the patient without informing the nurse to get back and watch over her, does not make the psychiatrist more liable in this case since the psychiatrist did not have to remind the nurse of her duty. However, the psychiatrist being that this was his patient, also needed to avoid the negligence created by him not informing the nurse that he was leaving the patient hence could then take over and watch over the patient. Therefore both the nurse and the psychiatrist were held liable, but the nurse could be proved more liable in this case since due to her negligence and malpractice, a gross injury was done by a patient which almost took away the patient’s life. The court could summon the nurse and the psychiatrist to compensate the patient’s family for the injury caused due to their negligence and malpractice, with the nurse paying a larger amount of the fine. A similar case example is a September 2012 Legal Case Study where a nurse practitioner prescribed Prozac for a teenager who then attempted suicide three weeks later and finally died three years later. The defendant in this case was the nurse who was charged a sum of $3.4 bench verdict (Lewis, 2012). In a nutshell, patients of suicidal cases should never be left alone under any circumstances since they are looking for just a slim chance to do something gross. Nurses found guilty of letting their patients on their own without a close watch, are liable of negligence and an ethical malpractice and shall be prosecuted. References Austin, W., Bergium, V., & Goldberg, L. (2003). Unable to Answer the Call of ours Patients: Mental Health Nurses. Nursing Inquiry , 10 (3), 177-183. Lewis, L. (2012). Legal Case Studies And Malpractice Verdicts Dealing with Healthcare Professionals. Nurses Service Organization , 1-4. NPSG. (2013). The Joint Commission. National Patient Safety Goals , 1-16. Read More