I feel like my job as a nurse would be to make sure that no errors occur, and that the patient is safe at all times. When researching my topic, I learned that a lot of patients in the hospital die due to medical errors. I also learned that a lot of injuries occur among hospitalized older adults due to safety related issues. I think it’s sad that many people are being harmed and losing their life all because of something that could have been prevented. Patient safety is a huge issue that should never be overlooked.
Autonomy is defined by healthcare as “you shall not treat a patient without the informed consent of the patient or his or lawful surrogate, except in narrowly defined emergencies”(Baillie, McGeehan, Garrett & Garrett, 2010, p. 32). The question posed by this week’s discussion is what constitutes an emergency. There are three conditions that must be met in order for a situation to be considered emergent. First, the patient must be in danger of losing his/her to life or severe impairment. The Army has a phrase for determining precedence in medevacs which has served me well in determining what is an emergency: “life, limb, or eyesight.” Second, immediate intervention is indicated to minimize or alleviate the dangers.
Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing, risks of all kinds (whatisriskmangement.net, 2011). So what role does risk management play in healthcare? Any event that may cause an adverse effect on the healthcare facilities ability to perform is considered to be a risk. Risk management in healthcare may be the key for many organizations to reduce costs, improve surveys, reduce negative events, and have a lower professional liability cost. The Joint Commission (2012) defines risk management in healthcare as “the clinical and administrative acts undertaken to identify and evaluate the risk of injury to staff, patients and visitors and the risk to loss of the organization itself”.
Security and Privacy Case Scenario HCS/533 January 9, 2012 Michael Solomon Security and Privacy Case Scenario Disaster and security incidents threaten the ability of organizations to carry out its mission and operational functions planning and preparation allows organizations to continue to service its community. The security and privacy of patient health information is a fundamental responsibility of health care organizations. Patients trust their personal and confidential health information to health care organizations with the expectation of protection and privacy. Health care organizations have legal and ethical responsibility to protect health information and should define a plan for the protection of the confidential information. Privacy concerns are raised if access to data is not secure and controlled during a natural disaster.
St. John’s Hospital took immediate action towards the cleaning staff as well as the information systems administration team to ensure this type of breach, or others do not happen again in the future. To begin the process, first a plan needs to be created by the management team to determine the best course of action to mitigate future breaches. The issues that need to be addressed include the actions of the cleaning staff, role of employees and action needed by the Information Systems team. After a breach has been identified, the entire health records process is scrutinized to eliminate any future errors. A management team from the hospital is assembled to determine consensus based standards for the organization as well as the specific department.
Crisis Management Communication Plan Nursing Undergraduate Studies HCS/350 Professor Michael Veal University of Phoenix Avisha Labban Crisis Management Communication Plan Crisis management communication plans are very important for hospitals to have. They should be ready and well equipped for any type of disaster that may come their way. Hospitals should practice drills from time to time so that employees are aware of what to do during a crisis. All over the world there are hospitals that are not prepared for disasters which can lead to confusion if one does occur. There are many steps to follow during a drill.
Life and Death Issues in Healthcare A Review of the Case Study HS101 Abstract There are many issues raised by life and death choices in healthcare. Advance directives are a set of directions you give about the healthcare you want if you ever lose the ability to make decisions for yourself. If you have a disease you can choose curative care which is directed at healing or curing the disease or palliative care which involves care that helps relieve the symptoms, but does not cure or treat then disease. When it becomes apparent that a patient is approaching the end of life, or that the patient no longer wants to prolong their life, a decision can be be made to withhold or withdraw treatment. Advance directive laws merely give doctors and others immunity if they follow it, the only reliable strategy is to discuss your values and wishes with your healthcare providers ahead of time to make sure they are clear about what you want.
Notions of apprehension and fear of a paperless system is brought to the fore front by those who are deemed to commission the latest and greatest EMR technology. Medical Record Security State laws are specific on the access to patient’s records to only those authorized to do so. A major goal of the Privacy Rule is to assure that individuals’ health information is properly protected while allowing the flow of health information needed to provide and promote high quality health care and to protect the public's health and well being. The Rule strikes a balance that permits important uses of information, while protecting the privacy of people who seek care and healing. What information should be protected, How to deter security as well as how to keep this organization patient’s records safe.
Amputation Mishap; Negligence Medical professionals face many challenges when dealing with the current flux in healthcare and direct patient care. Circumstances can occur even to the best providers; incidents occur and cause patients undue harm. To differentiate between negligence, gross negligence, and malpractice will be addressed in detail. The article “Amputation Mishap; Negligence” from the Neighborhood newspaper will be examined. The importance of documentation and the ethical principles that will guide any nurse’s practice will be reviewed.
There are three reasons proper chart documentations are important: to avoid lawsuits, keep accurate medical information for patient, and to maintain proper communication from one professional to another. Avoiding Malpractice Suits People sue for a lot of reasons today, and one of them just happens to be improper charting that causes errors. Attorneys on the plaintiff side gather every chart and record that was made during the time in question. The proper chart documentation can either be the nail in the coffin for a case, or the factor that decides wrong doing and monetary compensation. It is imperative that documentation is done thoroughly and properly every time data is recorded.