521 Week 4 Replies

Apply the differences between negligence and malpractice to the practice of nursing.  Provide examples to illustrate your points.

Reply 1 Veronica

Both medical malpractice and negligence are unintentional torts (Sommer, Johnson, Roberts, Reddings, & Churchill, 2013). Negligence is an unreasonable or careless act that occurs when an individual deviates from the standard of care while malpractice is a form of negligence that is carried out by a professional person such as a nurse, accountant, or physician (Pozgar, 2014, p.191). Some examples of negligence include a nurse administering the wrong dose to a patient, or if a nurse fails to implement safety measures for a client who has been identified as at risk for falls (Sommer, et. al., 2013). As healthcare professionals, it is essential that we abide by specific protocols and procedures that are in place to prevent malpractice and keep our patients safe.

 

Reply 2 Annie

 

Understanding the difference between medical negligence and malpractice helps in making informed decisions about personal injury claims a person wants to file. According to personal injury law, negligence is a concept used to refer whether a company or person’s recklessness or carelessness injured an individual (Mulheron, 2016). The end goal is holding the indivudal or company liable for the damages incurred as a result of the injury. To sue for medical negligence, the accused person must be a medical institution or professional including nurses, hospitals, doctors that have a provider-patient relationship with the person suing. To the extent that actions vary from the accepted medical care standard can assist in determining if the injury was caused by unintentional or avoidable mistake or an intentionally negligent action (medical malpractice). In other words, the key differences between malpractice and medical negligence is that a medical malpractice suit aims in proving the professional actions were intentionally reckless. Therefore, negligence involves a person’s failure to exercise care in a way that a reasonable person would have done in a similar situation while malpractice is a type of negligence that specifically relates to licensed professionals who fail to offer services that meet the required standard of care. An example of negligence claims include a negligent surgeon being intoxicated when conducting a surgery. Examples of medical malpractice claim include surgical errors, birth injuries, anesthesia mistakes, medication errors, and misdiagnosis.

 

Prompt 2

 

Read the following article and view the video on the same case.  How can this example be used as an illustration of maintaining patient safety and  providing safe, effective care?  Identify some of the possible barriers that nurses face when acting on what they believe to be the morally correct action in this particular case.

Patient Safety Advocate Carole Hemmelgarn

 

 

Reply 1 Roberto

 

This story is devastating. Failure to see all the multiple signs and admitting to the multitude of errors is an unfortunate aspect of medicine. Hearing the pain in the mothers’ voice is a reminder to all that enter the medical field, how important it is to listen. Listen to the signs happening in front of and listen to the patient and their families. Anchoring is common in the medical field but should not be the resolve. This video also shows how important it is to be a patient advocate. As nurses, we are in a position of significant importance as we are the barrier and often the buffer from the patient and provider. It gives us an insight that providers simply don’t have. It is not always easy to be that buffer, but I would guess that many of us in this course have met a provider that didn’t take to our advocacy, and saw it as something other than that. I’ve faced resistance and sometimes what felt like punishment for advocating for a patient by a provider. However, it needs to be done. Nursing is not an easy job, but to maintain patient safety and to provide adequate care is to remember that patient safety is our safety. It’s our livelihood to practice safety and to advocate for our patients.  Keeping that in mind, we have to keep in mind the importance of communication, which is often a significant barrier. In a separate prompt, we discussed negligence and malpractice, and what I’ve found is the most identified form of negligence by medical attorneys is lack of communication. Communication is a critical element in providing quality care for our patients (Zois & Law, 2019).

 

Reply 2

 

Question to myself from the teacher

 

My discussion

 

The video provides essential instances and information that can be utilized as an illustration of ensuring the safety of the patient while providing effective and safe care. After a severe error has happened, especially that leads to harm or loss of life, the hospital should examine the cause of the problem and implement important safety changes that would improve the effectiveness and safety of care. There is a need for nurses to be extra careful when providing care to avoid errors and situations that lead to infections while in hospitals. The patient’s problem should be well examined to make sure only the appropriate treatment is given to avoid the occurrence of multiple errors. Medical records well recorded and interpreted when providing care to avoid providing inferior or wrong care that may harm patient safety (Shah, Classen,  & Ladner, 2019). When an error happens, it should be disclosed to help fix the problem to prevent it from happening in the future. Family members also have the responsibility to ensure that necessary safety measures are taken into consideration by care providers by enquiring about these measures by asking questions to caregivers before treating the patients. The patients themselves may as well question their safety.

Nurses experience some barriers when they believe that particular action is the right thing to do. One of the barriers is the ethical dilemma nurses find themselves in, especially when they observe colleagues offering inferior care to patients that threaten patient safety. The best thing in such a situation would be to report the colleague. Still, again the act could result in termination, leaving the already understaffed facility in a worse problem of nurses’ shortage, but is the correct thing to do. It’ s important to communicate with the family member, how is the patient and the prognosis, that can be very difficult for the family to accept and denial is very common among family members.

 

Professor question base in my discussion:

 

How can this example be used as an illustration of maintaining patient safety and providing safe, effective care?

 

Also, identify some of the possible barriers that nurses face when acting on what they believe to be the morally correct action?

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