Good Malpractices And Negligence In Nursing Profession Research Paper Example

In 2006, specifically June 28, Cynthia Adae, a geriatric, was admitted into a hospital with a claim that her right shoulder was in pain, reduced mobility especially in her upper right extremes and fever. As a result of these symptoms, the doctor who attended to Adae diagnosed her to be suffering thyroid abnormality and based on this diagnosis, the doctors considered performing a spinal tap even though they didn’t perform it (Crow, 2013). However, the doctors ordered for blood tests to be performed on Cynthia and the next day, she was given a discharge notice the very next day without knowledge of the test results. One of the attending doctors was notified of the tests which implied that Adae was infected on July 2nd but did nothing. Cynthia was later admitted to Middletown hospital with full blown epidural abscess. As a result, she is weal in her upper and lower extremes with slurred speech and kidney failure despite the fact that she is aged. She filed a negligence suit for the University of Cincinnati (Crow, 2013).
On the other hand, a doctor and a nurse ended up working and operating on the wrong side of the brain of their geriatrics patient (Griffin, 2013). One can only imagine the degree of damage one surgeon could have done on the brain. This happened at the Rhode Island hospital that is believed and esteemed to be among the top performing hospitals in that state. In addition, this hospital is a teaching hospital for students of the Brown University. The students who attend practicals at this hospital are given the necessary skills through practice and following a doctor. However, as the claim goes, this particular student failed to mark the particular side of the brain with the condition and as a result, the surgeon opened up the wrong side of the brain (Griffin, 2013).
Another instance of malpractice is where Carol Weihrer was to be operated and have her eye removed as her doctor found that to be the best solution to her problem. During the operation, she awoke in the middle after her eye had been removed buts she was surprised to find out that the surgeon was listening to music rather than concentrate on the surgery (Griffin, 2013).
Malpractice on the other hand implies the professional violation of the guidelines set for certain practices such as nursing (Scott, 2007). Negligence and malpractice are on the rise with the nursing profession. For a negligence suit to be filed, four attributes are assessed. First, the physician failed to perform duty. In addition, there was a violation of the standards of care, the patient incurred injuries and the fact that the injuries resulted from sub-standard care (Scott, 2007). The doctors attending to Cynthia Adae indulged in malpractice and neglected her when she arrived for medical treatment. This is only worsened by the fact that Cynthia is an aged individual who in fact needs very much, the doctors’ attention but instead she was diagnosed and discharged. In addition, the surgeon and his nurse failed to follow the guidelines and regulations by allowing a non-professional to attend to a patient.
Some of the guidelines that would assist my colleagues in the avoidance of indulging in negligence or malpractice include the fact that they should ensure that they attend to all their patients and complete or finish whatever they had started. As a matter of fact, they should provide medication or tests in order to avoid a similar case like that of the geriatric patient, Cynthia Adae. The elderly need to be treated carefully and fully by the doctor in order to avoid the case of injuries as a result of poor treatment leading to malpractice suit. My colleagues in the geriatric ward need to follow the guidelines set in the management of geriatric patients in order to avoid such cases of malpractices or negligence. In a nutshell, all geriatric doctors and nurses need to understand that there are penalties for negligence and malpractice.

References

Crow, B. (2013). Paralyzed Woman Settles Medical Negligence Case with University of Cincinnati for $2.3 million. COURT NEWS OHIO (CNO). Retrieved at http://www.courtnewsohio.gov/cases/2013/COC/1104/2007-08228.asp#.VSfr2b3nmg4
Griffin, S. (2013). 10 Horrible Cases of Medical Malpractice. LISTVERSE. Retrieved at http://listverse.com/2013/05/29/10-horrible-cases-of-medical-malpractice/
Scott, R. W. (2007). Guide for the new health care professional. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.