Criminal Prosecution for Nursing Practice Essay

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Identify what emotions are evoked

The only instance when actions leading to the death of a patient can be excused in the case of euthanasia. When the patient is subjected to immense pain in the course of treatment, allowing his/her death with his consent is an acceptable nursing practice. However, another cause of death that can be linked to a nursing practitioner whether it was with intent or not is considered to be a felony (Calfee & Plum, 1997). Considering this case, sympathy is one of the major emotions that are being provoked.

Should the judges consider error as factor in their judgment?

Therefore, in this case the judges could not consider error as enough grounds to stop the prosecution of the two nurses. One of the biggest challenges for the judges would be to prove the intention of the nurses. One can argue that this was a mere erroneous cause of death but there is no way to prove that the nurses did not intend to kill. Besides, the aspect of euthanasia cannot be evoked in this case because the patient is child. Children under the age of 18 are not considered to be independently decisive (Calfee & Plum, 1997). Therefore, for this case to take the euthanasia’s angle, at least the childes parent’s would have been consulted. The nurses cannot just decide to take the baby’s life to save it from pain without consulting its parents/guardians.

In addition, there intentions notwithstanding, the nurse administered the wrong prescription. This could have been an intention to kill or it could have been a genuine mistake. There is no way to conclusively determine whether the nurse made a mistake or not. If such an act of negligence is left to go unpunished, it could set a very misguided precedence in the nursing fraternity. Negligence is a contravention of the nursing professional code of conduct hence any death that occurs as a result of this the nurse responsible should take the blame (Calfee & Plum, 1997). It is the responsibility of the nurse to check and double check whenever he or she is administering medication to ensure and confirm that the right dosage in administered.

Other occupations in which consequences of unintentional errors have legal implications

This situation is also very common in the police department. Police errors can also lead to the death of an innocent citizen and this can cause a lot of trouble for the police man. Recently, two teens were shot dead in protest in Acornhoek after the police shot at the protesters in an effort to contain the situation (Calfee & Plum, 1997). Protesters had begun to throw objects to the police and the situation was getting out of hand. The police were not in position to tell the difference between the genuine protesters since there was a lot of commotion and looting going on.

How should nurses respond to this threat?

In an effort to disperse the masses, an officer fired two at the two teens and without intention to kill they died. This is an error that the legal justice department cannot overlook. The only way safe way to avoid or to respond to the frightening knowledge that one can be prosecuted for such neglect in or erroneous acts is to be extra cautious when dealing with patients.

Section of the State Nurse Practice Act violated

The section that the nurse violated in the state nurse practice act is article 15 New York state penal laws – Culpability (Calfee & Plum, 1997).

According to the law, Culpable mental state is any intentional, knowingly or reckless negligence of a patient leading to death. According to the law, although the nurse did not mean to cause harm to the child, her actions amounts to recklessness.

References

Calfee, B. E, & Plum, S. D. (1997). Nurses indicted: Three Denver nurses face prison in a case that bodes ill for the profession. Web.

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