The Underage Patient

When Daniel was eight months old he was taken to A&E with a laceration above his left eye. His mother explained this by claiming she had been changing his nappy on her lap when he had rolled off and hit his head. No concerns were raised about the incident although the health visitor had been advised.

Every one of us has relied on a medical professional at least a few times in our lives. When we get seriously ill, or suffer a serious injury, we put our health in the hands of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists, fully expecting to be treated with a certain degree of professionalism and safety. Unfortunately, sometimes the expected care is not given, or not given to the extent which the ailment requires. In these situations, we can feel blindsided, confused, even taken advantage of.

This application paper provides a summary of Professional Liability for a Paramedic and EMS personnel in general. We forget (omissions) to perform a needed task or skill and we make mistakes or professional errors for whatever reason when performing our duty in the name of doing no harm. The incident (the liable act) may be minor and reversible; on the other hand it might just be hell’s payday with lawsuits and court dates. A professional liability can cause severe injury to a patient, both patient and care provider and might also include a civilian or two in the mix. Professional Liability can lead to

We know that he had sustained an at home fall. We learn that he has a history of pain and a prescription for oxycodone for back pain. We know that his vital signs on admission appear stable; he was not showing any signs of respiratory distress. As we look at the staff that was listed that day we do get the sense the hospital may have been short staffed. Staffing report shows there was one MD, one RN and one LPN managing at least 4 patients including- one patient was a child. Evidence based research has proven that the nurse to patient ratio is directly related to the patient outcomes (Stanton, 2004). It is important that we consider the staffing level that this rural ED as we know short staffing can be blamed for not being able to take the full amount of time needed to do a proper health history. A detailed health history is an imperative part of the care process; it is used by the staff to accurately assess any acute changes that may take place in the patient throughout their stay.

45-year-old Mark has been in an accident as he is a victim in an alleged assault. He has fractured his skull after he had been hit with a bat; this then made him turn unconscious for a limited period. Mark had then been cognisant once again, this allowed me to put him through to a full scan and he required a crucial brain scan. Mark is required a huge amount of assistance from a Nurse, Doctor and Radiologist (Neuroradiology brain imaging).

University Hospital is a well known hospital with a level 1 trauma treatment center for the tri-county area of a northwestern state, the hospital enjoys the fact they are known for their promising reputation among healthcare professionals and the public they serve. Jan Adams is an OR supervisor that has been working there for ten years, as a professional she makes surgeons follow protocol as required and enjoys working with trauma patients. One Friday night, which is the busiest day of the week for the trauma department; the unit was notified that a helicopter was on its way with a 42 year old man who had been in a car accident. Shortly after the patient arrived to the trauma center, the resident and other medical staff noted that he was in very bad physical conditions, needed immediate surgery or otherwise he was going to die. The issue was that the on call surgeon had to be present during the surgery and had not yet arrived, but regardless of the matter and protocol they proceeded with medically treating the patient immediately. The concern is that in doing so they violated medical procedures and put the patients safety at risk, this lead to a long list of ethical issues for example, patient well-being, impaired healthcare professional, adherence to professional codes of ethical conduct, adherence to the organization’s mission statement, ethical standards, and values statements, management’s role and responsibility, failure

The issue in the case, Niles v. City of San Rafael, was negligence. Kelly Niles did not receive prompt and proper care from a team of health professionals when he was taken to the emergency department to get examined. The nurse “obtained a history of the injury and took Kelly’s pulse and blood pressure. The nurse was correct in taking Kelly’s vital signs, but it is also her duty to examine him thoroughly and monitor his vital signs during his complete stay. There was also an issue in his skull x-rays. They were analyzed, but soft tissue swelling was not noted until later on. That should

20. A patient was in an automobile accident and is complaining of a minor headache and no other apparent injuries. History gathered from bystanders states that the patient was not wearing a seat belt and hit his head on the windshield. A 15-minute loss of consciousness was noted. The patient was then admitted for 24-hour observation to rule out head injury. A comprehensive history and exam are performed by the physician. The MDM is of moderate complexity.

My colleague and I received an emergency call to reports of a female on the ground. Once on scene an intoxicated male stated that his wife is under investigation for “passing out episodes”. She was lying supine on the kitchen floor and did not respond to A.V.P.U. I measured and inserted a nasopharyngeal airway which was initially accepted by my patient. She then regained consciousness and stated, “Oh it’s happened again has it?” I removed the airway and asked my colleague to complete base line observations and ECG which were all within the normal range. During history taking my patient stated that she did not wish to travel to hospital. However each time my patient stood up she collapsed and we would have to intervene to

On Tuesday, September 29th my partner and I had the opportunity to interview a 55-year-old patient named Tom at LA County Hospital, admitted nine days prior for injuries he sustained after being struck by a city vehicle. His injuries were quite apparent the moment we sat down with him: his right foot bandaged up, having been crushed by the vehicle’s tires, abrasions and bruising all over his lower limbs and worst of all, a broken pelvis. Yet despite the bad shape he was in, Tom was kind enough share his life story with us and provide the limited knowledge he had about his insurance history.

MICU 15A was dispatched to 30 West Ave, @ Genesis Healthcare, Wayne Center in the Wayne Business District in Radnor Township, for an ALS Emergency, Assault Victim. The weather conditions were cloudy, cool and dry. MICU 15A responded with care per protocol to the stated location with EMT Straub driving. On arrival, the EMS Crew proceeded to the nurse's station, and the individuals there did not know anything about an incident, there was a female standing in one of the hallways who advised that there was a person sitting over where she was. The EMS crew proceeded to that area and found a 43-year old female who was a registered nurse and was conscious and alert x4 and was sitting on a chair, the EMS crew asked her what was happening, "she replied that she was in a patient room and stated that the patient had an IV in her arm and became disturbed and picked up a pocketbook and then assaulted her by the swing it and striking her in the right frontal region of the head", the nurse then exited the room and went and sat down in the hallway, where the EMS crew found her.

During my clinical placement in october 2017 at the Townsville hospital emergency department(ED), I cared for a 56-year-old male with Huntington’s disease who was palliative care at home, he was brought in by ambulance after he had sustained a head injury from a fall in his kitchen at home. After I had received a hand over form the paramedics I needed to firstly asses the gentle man, the situation and the skills required to perform the assessments. I needed to consider how I would go about the process of

If this scenario happened in an outpatient clinic or urgent care center and there were physicians who were more dedicated to patient safety a report to child protective services may have been made regarding the child’s injuries. This child deserves to have her rights observed and

If I was a new administrator at Jamestown Medical Center and I received a phone call from the nurse manager stating that she suspects Dr. Smith being intoxicated, the first thing I would do is ask the nurse to elaborate for me on what she saw. After speaking with the nurse, I will then go to the emergency room department and make my own observations. If I notice any changes in Smith’s speech, behavior, appearance or even smell alcohol, I would quickly pull the physician outside in a private location to address the situation. After speaking with the physician, I would then send him home and see which physician is on-call to take over his shift. At the moment I will document what had occurred and put it aside until his next shift. Once the doctor

A 32 year old woman was admitted to the Trauma Intensive Care Unit following a motor vehicle accident; she had multiple injuries and fractures, with several complications which continued to develop over the first couple of weeks. The patient rapidly developed Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome, was on a ventilator, and was continuously sedated. Shortly after the patient's admission, her parents were contacted and remained vigilant at her bedside. The parents reported that the patient was one month away from having her divorce finalized. The patient's husband was reportedly physically and emotionally abusive to her