Introduction
Medical practitioners’ central role is to provide primary and excellent patient care. Their goal is to examine, diagnose, and cure patients. The responsibilities of a nurse practitioner include patient wellness assessment, medical history evaluation, treatment, medicine prescription, and providing the patient with relevant counseling on disease control (Yoder-Wise, 2019).
There are often cases of medical practitioners engaging in legal malpractices and neglecting their role in providing quality services to patients. A patient may consider suing a nurse who participates in certain malpractices. The nurse will then be charged for violating the Nurse Practice Act and neglecting the standards of care (Yoder-Wise, 2019). The purpose of the paper is to analyze a case study involving Yolanda Pinellas and how the standards of care have been considered.
Case Description
The case involves a 21-year old Pinellas subjected to malpractices and resulted in some significant damages. When Pinellas was receiving the intravenous (IV) therapy, an infiltration took place. Despite the RN taking action to discontinue the infusion, Pinellas ended up developing necrosis which required surgery. She ended up losing her finger functions. The problems experienced at the hospital were linked to the nurses responsible for administering the treatment. However, the hospital was liable for the incident. It failed to arrange for the correct staffing before the incident occurred at the facility.
Violated Standards of Care by the Practitioner
Standards of care refer to authoritative guidelines that explain the skills and competencies needed for every practitioner to offer quality care to patients. Complying with the set standards of care is the principal responsibility of every specialist in the healthcare department. Cases and events of malpractices, such as the one described in the case study, are an example of violating such standards outlined by the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Standards related to Professional Nursing Practice. The practitioner violated the following standards as stipulated by the American Nurses Association.
Standard 5: Implementation
The standard requires the registered nurse to implement the identified plan. An implementation program in healthcare requires that nurses collaborate with the patients and their colleagues to ensure effective, efficient, safe, and quality care (American Nurses Association, 2015).
Full compliance with this standard requires the practitioner to possess all the skills necessary to carry out their duties. The case presented provides evidence of the practitioner violating healthcare implementation standards (American Nurses Association, 2015). The nurses failed to quickly respond to the issue while taking the necessary precautions to avoid further complications to the patient. The RN never made any efforts to communicate with the patient to explain the nature of the problem during therapy.
Standard 14: Quality of Practice
The standard stipulates that a registered nurse partakes and contributes towards quality nursing practice. It aligns mainly with the ethical and professional guidelines that healthcare practitioners working in the various specialties and the various functions are entitled to follow (American Nurses Association, 2015).
The standard states that a nurse should ensure a safe, efficient, effective, timely, equitable, and patient-centric nursing practice. The implication is that a nurse should strive for safety and efficiency on all occasions and regarding all patients. The standard also suggests that nurses promote quality care at the organizational level while advocating for the patients’ interests.
Considering the case study, the RN neither met standard 14 at an individual or hospital level. The nurse who administered medication to Pinellas could be lacking the skills needed to insert or remove the catheter (American Nurses Association, 2015). Patients can also blame the hospital for its failure to create a supportive environment that gives the nurses an opportunity for professional and technical assistance while creating a stress-free environment related to the work.
Risk Management Steps before the Incident to Alleviate the Issue
To prevent such malpractices, the hospital should focus on improving communication between the patient and the nurse. The practitioners should focus on creating a better relationship with the patients. Additionally, the practitioners should provide the necessary information about the treatment’s possible risks, saving the nurses from malpractices (Griffiths et al., 2018). Another strategy applicable to manage risk is to ensure adequate staffing to ensure work-life balance among the nurses.
Risk Management Steps after the Incident to Alleviate the Issue
In response to Pinellas’ action, the practitioner should consider admitting to their mistakes and make apologies. An apology can reduce costs related to the malpractices subjected to the patient (Raveesh et al., 2016). Another strategy is to open talks with the patient and agree with Pinellas about the compensation to avoid possible lawsuits. The hospital must put measures aimed at supporting patient care and safety. To avoid such risks in the future, the facility must ensure full compliance to all set professional standards. It could foster an attitude to the nurses to promote a culture of safety and quality.
Conclusion
In summary, health practitioners may engage in malpractices and even neglect their functions to provide quality services to their patients. The case study evidence that the acts of negligence and malpractices when providing health services in medical facilities can result in patient complications. RNs are at risk of being charged for failure to work within the stipulated standards of care. The case study presents a violation of standards 5 and 14 provided by the American Nurses Association.
There are specific measures that practitioners can undertake to minimize potential risks towards the patient before and after an incidence. Before the incidence, the health practitioner may consider improving communication between the patient and the nurse. After the incident, to avoid further complications, the practitioner should consider admitting to their mistakes and make apologies.
References
American Nurses Association. (2015). Scope and standards of practice nursing 3rd edition.
Griffiths, P., Recio-Saucedo, A., Dall’Ora, C., Briggs, J., Maruotti, A., Meredith, P., Smith, G. B., & Ball, J. (2018). The association between nurse staffing and omissions in nursing care: A systematic review.Journal of Advanced Nursing, 74(7), 1474–1487.
Raveesh, B., Nayak, R., & Kumbar, S. (2016). Preventing medico-legal issues in clinical practice.Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 19(5), 15.
Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2019). Leading and managing in nursing (7th ed.). Elsevier.