Investigation of Full Moon or Bad Planning - Assignment Example

What are the facts of the case?

The case is about Rosemary a nurse who was working at Greenville community hospital. On that, particular night there was a full moon. She had gone to check the vital signs of a patient who had overdosed heroine. When she got to where the patient was, she saw the unexpected. The patient was having sex with her boyfriend past visiting hours, on a hospital bed. This came as a shock to her since the patient and the boyfriend had the audacity to do such kind of a thing in the hospital. She decided not to report the incident immediately. To her it was better to ask the visitor to leave since it was beyond visiting hours. This made the boy angry. He decided to become rude to the nurse by uttering some vulgar words and chasing her out of the room.

This came as a shock to the nurse since she did not expect the visitor to behave in that manner. She was unprepared for that kind of reaction. The visitor acted in a manner not many would. This as a result to his drug problem. Lucky for the nurse, the boy had a condition that caused involuntary co-ordination of muscle movement. This made him collapse even before he could reach her. This was a relief to the nurse since she had not succumbed to any injuries and could run and get help. She ran to the help desk to get help for the same visitor who hulled insults at her.

She called for a rapid response team to revive the patient’s boyfriend. These were the chronological events of that evening, well lit by the full moon. Some of the event were avoidable, if the hospital had better management policies.

What are the management implications of this case?

There are very many management implications that could have resulted from the events of that evening. Rosemary could have been injured while working in the hospital and later decide to sue the hospital. She had enough reasons to take the hospital’s management to court due to negligence. The poor working conditions in the hospital were the main cause of the events. The case could later lead to a bad reputation for the hospital. It would also lead to the ministry in charge of health care to come and inspect the hospital. Failure to meet all the required regulations would lead to its closure. There is also the security team that would face the consequences for allowing a visitor past visiting hours. There are regulations present in all hospitals and if they ignored them, then the management had a case to answer.

What should the management do to protect their employees?

They should have provided better conditions for the patient and the nurse. There should have been good security team to make sure that there are no allowed past visiting hours. The management should have also put in place security cameras and panic alarms in the patients wards and nurse stations (Blando et al, 2013). The visitor could not have had sex with the patient if he knew there were cameras.

The surveillance cameras would have also helped stop the boyfriend before he could even get to the patient’s physical location in the hospital. This way the nurse could have been protected from the boyfriend’s anger and vulgar language. If the management had put in place a panic button then the nurse would have been safe. She had to run to the help desk to get help for the boyfriend. The panic button would have saved the boy and the nurse at the same time. The hospital’s management should have also ensured that there are safety rooms. In case of danger or an attack from a patient or a visitor, the employees would run to these rooms. There they could be safe until the necessary help arrives.

If Rosemary had been injured, who would have been responsible?

If the boyfriend had injured the nurse, very many players would be responsible. First off would be the boyfriend for inflicting the injuries to Rosemary. Attacking the nurse was not a good option for him since she had already decided to keep quiet about them misbehaving in the hospital. He would have just walked away quietly. The other would be the hospital’s management. There are laws that oblige managements to ensure the safety of their employees. In this case, the hospital had neglected its role in ensuring a safe working environment for Rosemary. This includes a good security team to respond quickly enough. Good surveillance systems and panic button in case of any danger.

What if the visitor attacked another patient ?

Patients admitted in a certain hospital are under the hospital’s protection. Any harm sustained in the hospital could be ultimately be blamed on the hospital’s management. Negligence and other protection laws are already set for patients to seek justice in courts if they have been injured in hospital. In this case, if another patient was injured, they would have sued the hospital’s management for negligence (Thomas, 2004). Hospital’s management should ensure the safety of each patient that is admitted or presently being treated in the facility.

What are the legal and ethical obligations GCH has to its employees and to its patients and how do they apply to the case?

Security is a paramount legal obligation that the GCH has to its patients and to the employees. Law under the legal occupational safety act of 1970 mandates them (Buppert, 2017). There are also other human resource related legislations that the hospital’s management is obliged to offer the employees. Such is good working environment. If they had offered that, then Rosemary would not have been in that situation. The hospital should also protect patients from visitors who distress them. The boyfriend being rowdy and a drug addict could have forced the patient to have sex with him despite the condition she was in. It is wrong to do so and the hospital should have been able to stop that.

What would be the optimum physical space for these patients?

In the 21st century, the recommended physical space for patients is 12 m2. In GCH, the space was much more than that since the boyfriend was able to have sex with the patient on the hospital bed. This is to mean that the physical space allocated to that single patient was more than the required. It would mean that in that section there were no patients around to warn the two of doing such in the hospital. Only the required amount of space is to be allocated to avoid such circumstances in hospitals (Kaji, 2007).

How much do you think it would cost to install a panic alarm in the patients’ rooms? At the nurses’ station? A safe room? What are the costs of doing nothing?

There are various types of panic alarms with varying prices. The prices range from $19 to $179.77. The hospital could use the low-priced ones in the patient wards and nurse stations. Lack of this few panic alarms could have led to the injury of a nurse in the hospital and maybe other patients. There was an indecency act in the hospital. Sex in a hospital is uncalled for, especially in the wards. This would have led to some of the implications as discussed above. That would have led to the closure of the hospital, since they had not the necessary regulations. Installing panic alarms should have been a necessity to avoid such incidences from taking place in the hospital. Excluding some of the rooms to be safe would also be a good idea. This would not cost the management anything

Create an emergency plan for the staff in this unit while they await administration’s decision on renovation ?

The stuff has to work together in a coordinated manner in times of emergencies. A single nurse should not do patient’s checkup (Harrison et al, 2007). They should walk in pairs or at least an arm’s reach of each other. This way if such an incident was to occur again, they would save themselves or even sort better solutions. There should also be good working relation between the security team and the nurses. If everyone does their job, accordingly then such incidences would be unheard of. They should treat the patients with caution since they were former drug addicts. This is because one can never predict what an addict would do. Better handling of visitors and patients would ensure safer hospitals with no incidences at all.