In this case presentation, we meet Felix, a 68-year old man who is admitted to the hospital for monitoring, following a commonly performed surgery. His stay should have been uncomplicated and short term, but instead it turned into a complex extended hospitalization that left his wife angry, and threatening. Felix’s wife wanted Renee, Felix’s daytime nurse fired. The initial investigation by the nurse manager, and the first meeting with Felix’s wife by the nurse manager and grievance counselor was not atypical. The focus was Renee, the front line staff. It has long been the history, to find simple, surface solutions to complex problems. Blame the individual caregiver, rather than dig deep to determine the root cause. This case study uses an …show more content…
According to the Institute of Healthcare Improvement [IHI] (2016a), unsafe acts may be grouped as violations or errors. Violations are actions that intentionally depart from established standards or operating procedures. On the other hand, errors can be related to slips, lapses, or mistakes. Slips and lapses are errors of execution. An observable error, or slip, is when you push the wrong button on a medication-dispensing machine. A lapse occurs when you forget to do something, such as not remembering to administer a medication; they are not observable. Mistakes are related to wrong actions that are failures in decision making or planning; they stem from rules or knowledge. They are not intentional. Mistakes can occur when you have the knowledge but apply it incorrectly. You think your action should be x and it is y - you make a mistake. Mistakes also occur when you do not have the knowledge, such as a new nurse or doctor, and need to make a decision. A systems approach. James Reason, a psychologist who strongly influenced the study of human error asks us to consider a systems approach, rather than a person approach, when dealing with human fallibility (IHI, 2016a). His conceptual model of accident causation in large organization is called the Swiss cheese model. The slices of cheese are like layers of defense against harm. With an individual hole, seldom causing harm. However, when the holes line up, harm
This case serve as a influential example that remind nurses that they are not doing the right thing by working overtime but putting a patient’s life at a risk. Ms. Thao's case has helped stimulate efforts to ensure that caregivers are treated fairly without forgiving them of responsibility for risky behavior.
Nearing the end of my shift in the Emergency Department, I was requested to accompany a patient while the nurse readied the discharge papers. Upon entering the bay, I met a very small and fragile patient who was anxious to go home. Conflicted between my primary duties and responsibilities to complete training for two inexperienced volunteers, I decided to put forth my interests in teaching by demonstrating compassionate care to my trainees. Although the patient repeatedly refused my assistance, I gave my best effort to calm her as I cloaked a warm blanket around her. As I listened to her confide in me of all of her hospital anxieties, I was shocked from the lack of quality care she had received which made her feel more sick after the first
Maria Niceforo, a 75-year-old woman receiving in-home nursing care, had died of infection due to numerous pressure wounds (Le May, 2016). She was admitted to the hospital presenting with a bleeding pressure wound across her back and legs that had penetrated through the bone (Le May, 2016). It was also observed that the wounds were soiled with urine and dried faeces (Le May, 2016). She was receiving in-home support from registered nurses, who according to her son, were not consistent nor reliable in their care of Mrs. Niceforo (Le May, 2016). Another contributing factor to her death was inadequate communication and documentation of her treatment (Menagh, 2016). For example, one of the nurses had reported not providing treatment to Mrs. Niceforo's bottom as she was not aware of it (Menagh, 2016). I was quite
One of the most critical factors which contribute to the number of preventable cases of healthcare harm is the culture of silence surrounding these cases. The fear of medical providers to report incidences is related to the possibility of punishment and liability due to a medical error (Discovery, 2010). The criminalization of some acts of medical error has resulted in job dismissal, criminal charges and jail time for some healthcare workers. This is despite the fact that the system they are working in helped to create the situation which led to the error in the first place. Human error, due to fatigue and system errors can result in deadly consequences, but by criminalizing the error it effectively shuts down the ability to correct the root problem. Healthcare workers, working at all levels within the medical system, can provide valuable input on how to improve the processes and prevent harm from occurring (Discovery, 2010).
Working in the field as health care professionals, we are faced with ethical dilemmas almost always. Although each individual posses different values, there are specific codes of conduct to abide by, despite personal beliefs. Without the use of a structural code, individuals in the health care field would make decisions based on their own personal beliefs in accordance to their culture and religion. In the case of Marion and the pacemaker, we witness the desires of the patient at hand, Marion, and her family, be interrogated by the floor nurses. Although the intent behind the actions of the floor nurses can be described as morally just, thinking they are helping preserve the life of Marion, based on medical ethics, their behavior is of some degree to be questioned. This paper will focus on the boundaries we witness crossed by floor nurses and how they go against the medical ethics approved, and what effects they have on patients and their care givers.
Barbara Huttman’s “A Crime of Compassion” has many warrants yet the thesis is not qualified. This is a story that explains the struggles of being a nurse and having to make split-second decisions, whether they are right or wrong. Barbara was a nurse who was taking care of a cancer patient named Mac. Mac had wasted away to a 60-pound skeleton (95). When he walked into the hospital, he was a macho police officer who believed he could single-handedly protect the whole city (95). His condition worsened every day until it got so bad that he had to be resuscitated two or three times a day. Barbara eventually gave into his wishes to be let go. Do you believe we should have the right to
In the 25th week of her pregnancy, the mother was advised by the nurse to remain on bed rest to avoid further complications and potentially hurting her unborn baby. The mother continued to work from the hospital placing additional stress on the baby despite the nurse’s appeal that such stress can cause the baby harm. Attempts to stop premature delivery were made but failed, the mother asked the medical team not to take any extraordinary measure to save the baby. The premature baby lived but the mother showed little interest in his health and wellness. The nurse tried to the best of her ability to spark
The facts of this case are that Dr. Guiles who is self-conscious of his prostate cancer diagnosis is treated horrendously when he finally decides to have surgery ( Buchbinder, Shanks & Buchbinder, 2014). Considering that Dr. Guiles is already sensitive about his condition, his unbearable symptoms are not helping matters (Buchbinder et al, 2014). Upon arrival at the hospital, he is treated subpar. The admitting clerk is rude and unbecoming to a patient who isn’t feeling well and who is embarrassed about his sickness (Buchbinder et al., 2014). To make matters worse, he has to find his own way up to the floor by walking, which causes him to be even later in checking in because of the need to stop frequently to urinate as well as having difficulty in walking (Buchbinder et al., 2014). Once he arrives on the floor, the charge nurse is not welcoming and unprofessional (Buchbinder et al., 2014). After figuring out what to do with the paperwork; and the nurse aide delivers Dr. Guiles to his room, the nurse aide does not offer to help settle him in (Buchbinder et al., 2014). Therefore, Dr. Guiles is faced with battling obnoxious family members who are on his bed and to make matters worse someone is in the bathroom which doesn’t help his need of having to frequently urinate (Buchbinder et al., 2014). When the issues are brought up to the charge nurse, the charge nurse accuses Dr. Guiles of wanting preferential treatment
His actions were unexplainable to the relatives of the patient and unacceptable in care industry as this controversy raised issues and concerns about the care/nursing homes on how they treat the residents and this only put doubts and worries on the patient’s relatives about the work being done in a care/nursing home.
Reason (2000) opines that the safeguards in the system are likened to slices of Swiss cheese and that the presence of holes in one piece does not invariably lead to a bad outcome but only when the holes in the other slices align to allow a trajectory which results in an unsatisfactory outcome. He further alluded that the breach in the barrier may result from both active and latent failures.
There are many ethical dilemmas that occur daily in our hospitals across the world. Not everyone agrees with standards and policies that are required in hospitals or even with the law. If not everyone obeys the law, ethical cases form. In Springfield, Missouri, a holistic nurse got fired for fighting against Cox South hospital policies. Carla Brock has been a nurse at Cox South hospital and not only refused the flu shot, but also refused to wear a mask. She refused due to religious beliefs, she gets short of breath while wearing the mask, and she feels the mask is meant to intimidate and humiliate those who refuse the shot. The ethical question in this case study is to decide if Carla should have been fired for not wearing a mask after refusing the flu shot and what are other potential proposals. The four-way method will separate out what are the truths, consequences, fairness, and character, of this ethical case study.
The television screen showed the image of a nurse, murdering the people he was supposed to be saving, by injecting them with his own concoctions of drugs. The disgust was beyond imaginable, as he was expected to be the one that saves people, yet he broke that expectation as the unprotected patients’ lives faded away. Charles Cullen was a New Jersey nurse who broke the bond of trust between nurses and patients. I knew that I had to do this project on him because he changed United States history by creating more laws for hospitals and nurses, so that they patients’ rights were not violated.
Court cases like Martha Bull’s who reads “Greenbrier Nursing and Rehabilitation Center had been negligent in treatment of Martha Bull, 76, who died at the nursing home April 7, 2008 after staff failed to act on a doctor 's orders to get her transferred to a hospital emergency room for treatment of severe abdominal pain,” are one of the many that support this disturbing stigma. Something as simple as a competent health provider, that was willing to see a task out into its completion could have been the saving grace for this women. For almost an entire twenty-four hours’ staff heard her cries of agony yet never made sure the proper paperwork was completed once it was filed. (Brantley, 1) In the case of Holder Vs. Beverly Enterprises Texas, Inc. an 83-year-old, bedridden woman by the name of Ruth Waites was hospitalized for dehydration as a result of an understaffed nursing home. Once admitted back to the nursing home she had developed pressures sores from being left unattended. The pressure sores soon became so severe that they caused a serious infection and led to Ms. Waites’ death. This entire case is a story of neglect, what the nursing home states as understaffing, and fraud. The fact that the nursing home was understaffed should have never been hidden from the families of the patients. These are facts that should have been announced to the community so that the appropriate qualified personnel could have attempted to solve the issue. (Nursing, 1) Another case follows with
Ethical principals are the seed of which nursing flourishes from. Many ethical principals were involved and dishonored in this case such as, justice, autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, confidentiality and fidelity (Burkhardt et al., 2014). I believe justice was the main principal involved as the entire ethical predicament was revolved around unjust behavior and treatment of the residents. The residents were treated poorly and given unequal rights as a causation of their illnesses. Autonomy, an essential piece of human rights was also being violated in this ethical dilemma. The residents did not have any choice or independence in their care or how they were being treated. Beneficence and non-maleficence are significant dynamics of this ethical situation, as the health care providers needed to reflect on how they can have the maximum benefit while diminishing possible damage to the residents (Burkhardt et al., 2014). Our actions as nurses should always be beneficent and non maleficent, continuously being kind, compassionate and doing what is in their best interest as well a removing and preventing harm. Confidentiality is a key component of nursing and it was blatantly being violated as the health care
My topic is “In surgical patients (inpatients and outpatients), performing timeouts with using checklists reduced wrong site/side procedures comparing to without timeouts and checklists.” Patient safety and good outcomes are two of major goals of health care. However the health care system is one of the complex systems, and it is not so simple to keep the goals all times. James Reason, who is a British psychologist, created the model, which is called “The Swiss Cheese Model.” This theory and model discuss about the complexity of the system, multiple errors vs. individual or single error in the health care system, and how The Swiss Cheese Model occurring in the health care system (Reason, 2000). He discussed that defensive guards in health care