Medical Malpractice - Essay Example

? Medical Malpractice Medical risks are a potential occurrence whenever medical team engage in any given treatment procedures. The doctors usually inform their patients of the possibility of an unfavourable outcome concerning them, during treatment. However, these risks are not always accidental, as most people may want to believe. In some cases, the medical staffs are responsible for some of these medical malpractices (Fabre 2008, p. 10). For instance, in the hospital I have been working for some time, I had such dreaded experiences in my area of specialization, obstetric department. I had been part of the team presiding over the delivery procedure for a young mother in her late twenties. According to record, the receptionist booked for admission three days earlier to the hospital to have her baby. However, it had latter been identified that she was experiencing false labour pains. The contractions otherwise referred to as Braxton’s Hicks contractions are usually as a result of regular contraction of uterine muscles in readiness for labour (Lisa 2011, p.22). Thus, many people mistake their occurrences to the real labour pains especially towards the closing stages of that pregnancy (Fabre 2008, p. 67). In such a situation, an obstetrics team on duty usually have a superior responsibility of ensuring the wellbeing of both the mother, and that her baby, she is expecting. The medical staff comprising of nurses, obstetric doctor, and physician are all assigned varying duties during delivery procedure, according to their field of specialization. A failure on the part of any of this professional could jeopardise the efforts of every other person in the theatre room, to achieving a successful delivery (Fabre 2008, p. 33). This time she came back with her “water already broken”; this time to be sure she was ready to have her baby. It had already been determined also, through ultra-sound scan that she was going to have a baby boy. She was anxious and worried, as well. The nurses were going through a hard time calming the woman to ensure a relaxation mood during the birth procedure. This is for regulating her blood pressure (Mary 2008, p.92). An overly excited person can trigger unnecessary muscle contractions and stiffness. At the obstetric department, already the medical test report were out and were showing she had mild backaches and contractions by the time the procedure started, thus the labour pains. This condition is common to confirming onset of giving birth. As much as doctors would wish to maintain a high degree of professionalism, we got a report of malpractice case arising in the theatre where a procedure is in progress in helping a patient. The obstetric team comprises not less than five individuals. Unfortunately, the baby ends up developing cerebral palsy. This means that it has developed an extensive brain damage. The reason was as a result of negligence on the part of the physicians. The error occurred during labour as the mother gave birth (Janet 2009, p.65). Normally it is usually a requirement to follow carefully and monitor the baby progress and its status. This is to ensure that the operation patient and the baby in particular do not have any sign of distress. In case of any abnormality, especially in the appropriate air passages, immediate and specific preventative steps are mandatory in an effort to ensure that the baby receive adequate and appropriate supply of oxygen. The mother is usually aware in advance, of the delivery procedure. She gets the information of the entire medical practitioner attending her and their duties. Doing this enable the doctor to get her consent for the doctor to do his duty (Janet 2009, p.67). However, this failed to happen in the delivery room on that dreaded night. Apparently, the umbilical cord entrapped the baby, making it difficult to receive oxygen. The procedures in the hospital are effective in preventing such cases. The medical staff failed to raise an alarm since the fetal monitoring strips were there to report the distress, indicating the need to carry out the necessary corrective measures (Mary 2008, p.88). This failure was the cause for the situation going wrong. Therefore, we could not perform a caesarean since it was too late when realized the missed realization of the distress. The only option was to resolve to use suction and forceps in an effort to remove the baby from mother’s birth canal. This initiative aims at speeding up the delivery of the baby (Janet 2009, p.55). The situation had become worse, due to the lengthy time the team took to realize the error. It had gone from being mild to being traumatic. The case was so severe that the baby suffered brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. The condition otherwise known as anoxia led to a more serious condition referred to as cerebral palsy (Mary 2008, p.96). Were it, not for the quick response and teamwork among the nurses and my support doctor, the baby would have undoubtedly lost its life. The team, in normal circumstances, work in collaboration with one another, to attaining the best result. This situation was so unfortunate considering the technology and the expertise of the individual in the theatre. The use of external monitors was in place, to monitor the health status of the child and its mother. This technology tracks the progress of the birth process. The nurses in charge effectively had attached this equipment to the mother’s lower abdomen (Mary 2008, p.102). Doppler ultrasound technology plays a vital role in detecting the delicate heartbeat of the foetus. For easier analysis and evaluation of the procedure, the information collected by the monitoring systems, and then it appears in print form on foetal monitor strips. The situation arose here since the responsible party failed to interpret or rather missed reading the information from the monitor, in good time to give room for doctors to rectify the problem (Shi 2007, p.33). To support the extent of the problem, some medical tests and current child’s medical conditions, proves the damage of negligence on the part of the nurses (Learning 2011, p.37). The injury to the brain structure exhibits the extent of the problem, as well. This as a result, disrupts and prevents the normal brain functioning as it interferes with its development (Shi 2007, p.44). The brain damage injuries or the congenital brain injury occurs before the while or before giving birth. It was evidently clear that the nurse in charge of keeping watch of patient’s status failed to report the information, as the monitoring machines were detecting the distress in proper time. This did not provide the doctors with sufficient time to save the unborn baby. As a result, specialists have observed the baby born, as having a variety of some neurological disorders caused by cerebral palsy. At times, the baby display to exhibit epileptic behaviour due to the birth injuries. This condition is common in causing devastating brain development problems. Neurosurgical procedures clearly determined traumatic brain injury as the reason behind the cerebral palsy. They established a large part of the brain comprising the dead cells. The surgeons in charge have clearly established that such an occurrence is only possible if condition exposed the brain cells to prolonged oxygen deficit environment. The kid is also undergoing rehabilitation treatment a therapy only applicable to people with brain problems (Philip 2004, p.106). In several instances, the baby has had convulsion cases. This is evident of brain damage common with epileptic people. Loss of brain function is yet another evident fact that the baby suffered a brain damage. Ethical Issues The main concern has been the aspect off ethical risk. The healthcare practice requires that the professionals operate under extremely strict code of ethics. Firstly failing to ensure the confidentiality of the patient information would be a failure on the part of medical staff. Thus, it certainly would not avail part or full details of the procedure to anyone other than the person himself (Philip 2004, p.55). Another ethical risk that would lead to malpractice is the failure to implement professional standards of transcription. I aim at training the transcriptionists to enable them meet high level of accuracy. This way we could minimize if not eliminate case of negligence within the team (Philip 2004, p.58). The most evident ethical risk in this case is undoubtedly the failure of the nurse to provide timely information when it was highly critical. Provision of accurate and timely information is crucial at whatever the circumstances. This is because the life of a person cannot be compromised for anything (Iyer 2001, p.20). A pay of consideration follows provision of medical services. The risk here is that the medical practitioner might be tempted to inadequately exercising integrity in their billing practices. I would not be practicing ethical practices if I used billing method that does not meet the principles of measurable, consistency, fair and honesty (Iyer 2001, p.32). The ethical risk entails failing to comply with the patient laws of documentation. It is also essential that I ensure an atmosphere that effectively enables a professionalism atmosphere. The cases of negligence should not be there in the first place, thus offering only the best for the patients (Iyer 2001, p.35). Evaluation of the guidance of national policy on safeguarding patients in clinical practices The national policy aims at specific, fundamental responsibility that nurses should aim at achieving in an effort to safeguarding the interests of the patients. This is also in an attempt to ensure the quality services of medical staff. The national policies are useful as they regulate these practices. In general, these professional become required to carry out several activities. This includes the responsibility of promoting health, preventing health, restoring health, and alleviating suffering (Stephen 2004, p.45). The nurses always supposed to hold in confidence any personal information related to their patients. They should also have a personal responsibility for the nursing profession and aim to ensure competence by continual learning. In accepting delegation of responsibilities, these professional should always use sound judgment based on their individual competence (Stephen 2004, p.48). The nursing profession should have qualified professions who maintain high standards of personal conduct at all times. The individuals should also participate in the establishment of equitable economic and social working conditions in their professional (Stephen 2004, p.77). In conclusion, the occurrence of this event, it significantly helped me gain insight on the utmost importance of the need to continuous training of staff. There was also the aspect of lack of teamwork since the obstetric team that handled the delivery exhibited a highly level of miscommunication (Stephen 2004, p.12). The national policies in the country are in place for the better good of the patients. The laws enacted, regulating the medical practitioners should include continuous evaluation to enable additions, to include any new practice in the nursing profession. Bibliography Fabre, J., 2008, Smart nursing: nurse retention & patient safety improvement strategies, New York: Springer Publishing Company. Iyer, P. W., 2001, Nursing malpractice, California: Lawyers & Judges Publishing Company. Janet S. Fulton, B. L., 2009, Foundations of Clinical Nurse Specialist Practice, New York : Springer Publishing Company. Kay Kittrell Chitty, B. P., 2010, Professional nursing: concepts & challenges, Philadelphia: Saunders. Learning, J., 2011, Nurse's drug handbook, Kansas: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. Lisa Dougherty, S. L., 2011, The Royal Marsden Hospital Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures, England: John Wiley & Sons. Mary DiGiulio, J. K., 2008, Medical-Surgical Nursing Demystified, New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Philip Burnard, C. M., 2004, Professional and ethical issues in nursing, cardiff: Elsevier Health Sciences. Shi, L., 2007, Managing human resources in health care organizations, kansas: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Stephen Tilley, R. W., 2004, Accountability in nursing and midwifery, Blackwell: John Wiley & Sons. Read More