Introductions Mistakes by health-care practitioners happen every...

Question Answered step-by-step Introductions Mistakes by health-care practitioners happen every… IntroductionsMistakes by health-care practitioners happen every day, despite the best of intentions. But does a mistake always rise to the level of medical malpractice? Facts of the CaseJ, aged 40 years, was a nurse employed in the emergency department of a hospital. J had been working there for the past two years and enjoyed the fast-paced atmosphere. J’s assignment included a 58-year-old patient Mr. X, who had come in suffering from an allergic reaction to acetaminophen with codeine, which had been prescribed for pain by his dentist following a dental procedure.The ER physician examined Mr. X and ordered three medications to be administered to the patient: Adrenalin Chloride solution, EpiPen, and Twinjet. Nurse J prepared the medications, but accidentally put the epinephrine in the IV as well.Immediately following the intravenous infusion, Mr. X sat up and said that his heart was palpitating. He became pale, nausea, and anxious.Nurse J recognized that the patient was experiencing the side effects of epinephrine much faster than expected and that a medication error had occurred. Nurse J immediately notified the physician and reported the error that the epinephrine was placed in the patient’s IV rather than subcutaneously injected.The physician examined Mr. X and transferred him to the intensive care unit (ICU). Nurse J spoke candidly to hospital administrators, the risk management team, and filled out all necessary reports before the shift ended. The physician spoke to the patient about the erroneous administration of the epinephrine and explained to him that he would have to stay at the hospital for observation. Hospital administrators and the risk managers met with Mr. X and his family during his stay and acknowledged that an error had been made. Hospital administrators assured Mr. X that that everything would be taken care of, that he would be seen by the best physicians and that they were very sorry for his discomfort.Mr. X was discharged from the hospital within a week but continued to complain about ongoing symptoms and serious medical conditions allegedly caused by the IV administration of epinephrine. Mr. X returned to the hospital’s emergency department seven times post discharge. On the first visit, the attending physician conducted a a full assessment but found no physical abnormalities. On the second visit, Mr. X underwent a variety of cardiac and neurologic tests, all of which came back negative. After five additional visits to the emergency department, Mr. X’s physicians still could not uncover any physical problems other than an unrelated Kidney infection.Mr. X sued the hospital for $5.7 million, alleging anoxic brain damage, cardiac damage, thoracic outlet syndrome, headaches, depression, anxiety, cognitive defects, pain in the neck, shoulder, and back, all supposedly caused by the intravenous administration epinephrine administered by Nurse J.Investigative ProcessDiscovery included subpoena of medical records and medical experts.IssueWhether Mr. X had injuries and whether those injuries had been caused by Nurse J’s error?RuleLicensed health care providers have a legal duty of care to protect their patients from injury.To successfully win a claim of malpractice, the plaintiff must prove the following four elements:1. The existence of a legal duty of care on the part of the health-care provider2. A breach of this duty3. A causal relation between the breach of the duty and injury to the patient4. The existence of damages from the injury. What is the hospital’s role in reporting this incident to the State Board of Nursing? My answer: Being that we are all human mistakes are bound to happen. Unfortunately, in the medical profession some mistakes can be life threatening. When a mistake occurs a lot of people do not want to tell anyone in fear of getting in trouble. Reporting errors is one way to help prevent errors in the future. It is important that managers have a way of making staff feel comfortable to come to them with errors. According to the Food and Drug Administration medication errors do not need to be reported but is highly encouraged (Deepthi et al., 2020). They would appreciate the information on the error to help prevent them in the future. Based on the four elements to win a claim of malpractice it seems nurse J does not meet all four. The existence of damages from the injury cannot be proven based on his returns to the emergency department. Nurse J also recognizes his mistake right away and does everything in his power to fix the problem. However, it is mandatory to report violations of the nurse practice act (Blais & Hayes, 2016). According to the nurse practice act a nurse administers medications as prescribed (Toney-Butler, 2022). Therefore, the hospital should report this incident to the State Board of Nursing. Question for my answer:How would you respond to my answer to informative or uninformative? Health Science Science Nursing NUR 3110 Share QuestionEmailCopy link Comments (0)