Healthcare professionals operate in a delicate environment where they should ensure that they provide quality and safe healthcare services without harming patients. Normally, healthcare professionals comply with the code of ethics and principles that guide them on how they practice their profession. In this view, strict adherence to healthcare ethics and principles is central to ensure that healthcare professionals do not harm patients and attract unnecessary lawsuits due to negligence. Medical malpractices usually occur due to negligence, which predispose patients to harm. Bal (2009) defines medical malpractice as “any act or omission by a physician during treatment of a patient that deviates from accepted norms of practice in the medical community and causes an injury to the patient” (p. 343). In this view, it means that any healthcare professional should be liable for acts and omissions that violate standard practices and harm patients. Hence, the essay examines different ways that medical professionals can use to prevent unnecessary harm on patients and reduce the risk of lawsuits.
Healthcare centers that often cause unnecessary harm among patients due to malpractices and negligence usually undergo through a thorough scrutiny. Consequently, regulatory bodies may close healthcare centers and revoke practicing licenses of medical professionals. Some healthcare centers employ the concept of patient involvement and feedback as a strategy of enhancing service quality offered to patients. According Ha and Longnecker (2010) provision of healthcare services is an art that requires effective communication and interpersonal relationship between medical professionals and patients. Therefore, medical professionals working in hospital and healthcare centers should develop effective communication strategies and create relationships with patients so that they can optimize diagnosis, treatment, and management of medical conditions.
In the medical field, injuries are legal damages resulting from malpractices or negligence on the part of medical professionals. Actual and future damages are compensatory damages that emphasize on immediate and long-term compensation. Actual damages compensate the patients as per the medical expenses incurred. The actual damages include medical expenses and any loss made during recovery period such as wages. Furthermore, the future damages represent expenses that patients incur in the course of life due to injuries sustained because of negligence or malpractice. Bal (2009) argues that damages lead to losses such as loss of income, future medical expenses, incapacitation, and mental experiences like anguish and pain. Therefore, to prevent and avoid unnecessary harm or malpractice on patients, medical professionals should adhere to standard practices and protocols or risk to pay hefty penalties.
Sometimes medical professionals jointly inflict injuries on patients because of negligence or malpractice. The acts and omissions lead to indivisible harm as medical professionals jointly contribute to the occurrence of harm or injuries among patients. In this scenario, it is impossible to apportion liability to a particular medical professional because the acts or omissions, which cause harm, occur in every aspect of healthcare settings and cumulatively contribute to harm. Therefore, medical professionals share the liability occasioned by the damages that patients incur. To prevent occurrence of harm, Piper (2011) recommends that leaders in the healthcare must create a culture of responsibility, which encourage medical professionals to engage in practices that are in line with the provided code of conduct and standard practices. When medical practitioners abide by the provisions in the code of ethics and standard practices, acts and omissions that constitute negligence are unlikely to occur.
Medical professionals must adhere to standard practices and protocols when providing healthcare services to patients. Frequent injuries inflicted on patients usually result from carelessness, negligence, or malpractices on the part of medical professionals. These malpractices emanate from acts and omissions that healthcare professionals make in healthcare centers, and cause patients to incur unnecessary losses. In addition, malpractices affect the reputation of healthcare centers and make medical professionals lose their jobs and practicing licenses. Therefore, it is important for every medical professional to operate within standard practices, ethics, and principles to minimize or prevent harm and expensive lawsuits.
References
Bal, S. (2009). An introduction to medical malpractice in the United States. Clinical Orthopedics and Related Research, 467(2), 339-347.
Ha, J., & Longnecker, N. (2010). Doctor-Patient Communication Review. The Ochsner Journal, 10(1), 38-43.
Piper, L. (2011). The ethical leadership challenge: creating a culture of patient- and family-centered care in the hospital setting. Health Care Management, 30(2), 125-132.