Virginia that was responsible for his wife’s death in Jan 2004. He alleged that she died from sepsis due to multiple urinary tract infections she had developed due to poor infection control methods, during assisted toileting.
Adrian Bowe, 31, from Maryland won $3 million in damages – the reason – He suffered a massive stroke in April 2000 completely paralyzing him because his GP failed to refer him to a specialist for medical treatment. He needs professional medical care for the rest of his life and will not be able to work again. Mr.Bowe first went to the doctor complaining dizziness and blurred vision. The doctor incorrectly diagnosed a migraine and his diagnosis remained unchanged despite Mr.Bowe making further visits. A year after the consultation Mr.Bowe’s mother Patricia found him collapsed at his home. Subsequent tests revealed a massive stroke. In court, it was judged that the doctor should have referred Mr.Bowe to a neurologist based on his symptoms, which were clear warnings of a stroke and was a strong case of wrong diagnosis (Patricia, 2005). These episodes of medical compensations apart from helping the victims, highlights the errors and negligence occurring in treatment situations and need to raise the medical care standards. The death of Nardia, 32, in Feb 2002 after a hysterectomy at Mater hospital has brought the hospital under scrutiny (Patricia, 2005).
Edward Wilson filed a lawsuit against the Beverly Health Care center, West Virginia that was responsible for his wife Carol’s death in Jan 2004. He alleged that she died from acute pneumonia due to multiple bacterial infections she had developed due to poor infection control methods during assisted breathing and the ICU nurse had ignored the routine safety checks to be done during assisted breathing. The patient in this case was admitted for an acute exacerbation of COPD with a complication of Atelectasis, Anxiety and Cor pulmonale.
Thus, any error in patient safety checks and poor infection control methods, during assisted breathing in an ICU often results in patient’s death due to multiple bacterial infections and such medical errors lead a nurse into serious medical litigations under the ” Medical Malpractice Law “. Medical malpractice law in USA is part of tort, or personal injury law. Patient’s perceptions of health care, particularly disagreements and researches of various kinds with medical professionals have caught the attention of every one since 1980s. These disagreements have turned often into legal complaints (Ellen Annandale 1998). These disagreements turned legal complaints lead to long medical litigations, which have redefined nursing practices to fit into the changing health delivery system. The nursing practice is liable for six kinds of legal authority, viz, ‘The federal or central law’, ‘The law of the state’, The international code of physicians’, ‘Institutional rules and regulations’, ‘Standing orders of the chief’ and ‘Precedent court decisions’ (Zwemer, 1995).
The American Nurses Association (ANA) Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . standards of professional performanceEnd Match prescribes Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . a competent level of behaviorEnd Match including Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . quality of care, performance appraisal, education, collegiality, ethics, collaboration, research and resource utilization.End Match Such Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . standardsEnd Match assure Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . theEnd Match patients, a high quality nursing care. The standards of care are Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . demonstrated by the nursing processEnd Match of Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . assessment, diagnosis, outcome identification, implementation and evaluation.End Match Such Begin Match to source 7 in source list: Yoos, H. Lorrie Malone, Karen McMullen, . standards ofEnd Match care are important in a society where there is maximum consumer awareness and legal hazards subsequently. Today, nursing is a profession rather than a vocation (Suzanne et.al, 2004). Thus, nursing, as a profession is ‘accountable’ to the society and obliged to the laws regulating the professional activity (Suzanne et.al, 2004).
The standard used to evaluate whether the breach in question rises to the level of negligence is called ‘medical custom’. Medical custom is the quality of care expected of a healthcare professional. This custom is primarily based on the testimony of experts in the profession and practice guidelines (Brennan.T, 2004). Nurses are under increasing pressure to keep up to date and to base their decisions more firmly on evidences as opposed to anecdotal information of the past. Patients are much more informed than they were 10 years ago. No one can tell a patient what to do without being questioned today. There seems today, a departure from traditional approach to management of disputes between the healthcare professionals and the patient .The practice includes Documentation based Practice; Evidence based Practice and New Medical Guidelines and laws. Documentation based Medical Practice includes documentation of the Informed consent, Health Record, Advance Directives, Living will and Treatment Report.
The Medical Guidelines and laws in USA help manage medical errors better. Begin Match to source 10 in source list: (1-3-06) The expert witness plays an essential role in determining medical negligence under the US system of jurisprudence andEnd Match hence applies to Florida as well. As per USA jurisprudence system, the standard of nurse care is different Begin Match to source 5 in source list: (6-23-06) from the quality of careEnd Match (Simon, 2004). Begin Match to source 5 in source list: (6-23-06) The standard of care is a legal concept, normatively defined, that is applied to the specific fact pattern of a case in litigationEnd Match (Simon, 2004). Begin Match to source 5 in source list: (6-23-06) The definition of standard of care differsEnd Match between Begin Match to source 5 in source list: (6-23-06) statesEnd Match in USA. Begin Match to source 5 in source list: (6-23-06) Quality of care is defined as the adequacy of total care the patient receives from health care professionals, including third- party payersEnd Match (Simon, 2004).