There were specific situations that led to the cause of Julie Thao's actions of medication error and the death of Jasmine. The situation could have completely been avoided had Julie followed the code of ethics and avoided shorts to provide proper care for the patient. The state claimed that Thao's mistake was caused by actions, omissions and unapproved shortcuts, however, there were other factors that played a role in her carelessness as well. While failure to comply with procedure has been a factor in the medication administration error, other factors contributed as well. For example, failure to properly use the information system, or to ignore alerts or warnings have also resulted in preventable errors (Nelson, Evan, & Gardener, 2005). At the time of the event, a bar coding system for all medication had been in effect for a duration of two weeks, however, Thao had been gone one of those crucial weeks. Because of her absence, she did not receive the adequate training, instead, she received a sped
Every year about 15 million babies are born prematurely (“Preterm Birth”). About one million of those babies die every year (“Preterm Birth”). Those babies are cared for by neonatal nurses. Lori Loan, a neonatal nurse, once said “For parents, having a baby is one of the best times of their life.” (“Neonatal Nurses”). The Nurses do everything they can to help out the doctors and the families of the babies. This is why neonatal nurses are important, and why I want to be one.
Most hospitals want more experienced people to be handling the infants for their health. Going to neonatal will require taking classes in pediatric care, pharmacology, and physiology. After going through all the registered nurse classes and prerequisites it will be time for the exam. Going on after that is when the RN would certify through a professional association, and state boards (Bureau of Labor Statistics). Neonatal nurses have more advanced tasks in this career. Some tasks required are taking care of newborns on three different levels. Level one care ensures that healthy newborns are warm, content and fed. Level two are infants needing special feedings, breathing difficulties, and born prematurely. Level three is neonatal intensive care critically ill babies who need surgery or high tech treatment (Learn.org.). Some newborns need to be watched more closely than others but all will need to be cared for constantly until they are released to their family. The specialized field of neonatal nursing did not really develop until the 1960s advancements in care and technology improved treatment greatly. Low birth weight and premature births were the leading factors in infant’s deaths (“Overview: Neonatal nurses.”). These nurses play a very important role in health care for infants born with these different health
Large patient loads combined with a stressful work environment affects nurses’ abilities to provide quality healthcare. Patient safety should never be compromised. It is our responsibility to learn from research and improve our current nurse staffing ratios. Nurse staffing is key and affects all other outcomes. Without nurses administering the right treatment at the right time to the right patients, all other healthcare interventions are not effective. Improvement of nurse staffing levels will improve the quality of care our patients receive.
I have worked with medical students who come from the UA COM-P culture and I believe they bring a great amount of cultural awareness to their role on the healthcare team. The focus of early clinical exposure at UA COM-P makes a significant difference in learning how to care for people. The UA COM-P emphasis on cultural diversity allows for more learning opportunities and fully encompasses what it means to take care of the patient and not just treat a disease. I entered the medical field wanting to be at the bedside helping people. I think this gives me a unique view, and ability to help contribute to UA COM-P diversity centered training and culture. Being at the bedside for 40 plus hours a week for almost 4 years I've learned that all
The anticipation of the first born is filled with a mixture of excitement, anxiety, and pain. My pregnancy had been normal and healthy. I did not have any problems or concerns during my whole pregnancy. With my due date approaching, I expected the birth of my child would be the happiest time of my life. However, a serious of avoidable and unfortunate events caused by my doctor and nurses lead me to have a horrifying experience. I went through a nightmare before I could hold my little angel.
Moreover, several studies have been conducted to examine the effects of low nurse staffing on patients hospitalization experiences, as well as its effect on nurse careers in the long run. A recent study by Frith, Anderson, Tseng, and Fong (2012) to explore the relationship between nurse staffing and medication errors, demonstrated that medication errors were higher in a cardiac care unit and non-cardiac care unit when staffing levels were lower. In addition, Frith et al. (2012) pointed out that medication errors increase by 18% for every 20% decrease in nurse staffing below the average due to failure to follow medication administration protocol As mentioned earlier, nurses perform the last and the most important step of medication administration. Thus, having adequate time to assess each patient efficiently and following the medication rights is critical to provide safe patient care and prevent errors.
Throughout the daily health care facility, microsystem is continuously at play. At my time in the hospital I observed register nurses, CNAs, physical therapist, and dietician come together effectively to help assist the patients overall safety and health concerns of the patient needs. I spent the day shadowing a nurse and observed the element of the microsystem at work. During this time, I recorded my observations of the nurse throughout the day such as patient care, tasks, medications, charting, and other duties.
A root cause analysis is mandated by The Joint Commission (TJC) to be completed for every sentinel even. By doing this it allows healthcare providers to review contributing factors, establish a baseline and how to prevent future events from occurring. Root causes are identified factors within a process that can be restructured to decrease the risk of harm being repeated. (The Joint Commission, 2013) A sentinel event is defined by The Joint Commission as “unexpected occurrences involving death, or serious physical or psychological injury”. (The Joint Commission, 2013)
Giarmo to Randolph Hospital. Dr. Giarmo was called and asked what information she could share with TACT about patient. Dr. Giarmo reports that she had completed an assessment earlier during the day and left nursing staff her contacted information for for hospital staff to ask questions. Dr. Giarmo expressed Dr. Giarmo reports that the patient has experience the loss of her mother a year ago, the patient sister is name Donna and brother is David. After this information was given, Dr. Giarmo ask for my credentials, which were given, then reports that she did not agree with TACT assessing patient at this time, she refuses to share anymore information due to the fact she sign a release to Randolph Hospital and not TACT, and that TACT should not assess the patient because her condition is due to a medical problems. After TACT conversation with Dr. Giarmo, supervisor, clinical back-up and were called in regards to Dr. Giarmo concerns. TACT attempted to call the emergency contact of the patient soon after, however no response or voicemail
Primarily, Caring Memorial Hospital will be held liable in this malpractice case under the premise of respondeat superior. “Under respondeat superior an employer is liable for the negligent act or omission of any employee acting within the course and scope of his employment” (Thornton, 2010, para. 2). The risk manager Susan Post, JD and the quality assurance director Amy Green were both aware of the potential for increased risk on the Oncology unit. They had been making observations several months prior to incident that related to deficiencies in staffing and safety standards. Per, ASCO and ONS (2012) new staff are required to demonstrate competency and receive comprehensive chemotherapy education. Jeffery Chambers, RN was
For my interview I selected a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist who works at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center (DDEAMC), a military hospital located in Augusta, Georgia. A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA) is one type of Advanced Practice Nurse. A CRNA provides anesthesia to patients for all types of procedures and surgeries. They are the main anesthesia provider in military hospitals. In the United States Nurse Anesthesia can be traced back to the late nineteenth century. In the 1800s during the Civil War they gave anesthesia to wounded soldiers on the battlefield (Hamric, Hanson, Tracy & O’Grady, 2014, p. 2). To become A CRNA you must be an advanced practice nurse with a certification in anesthesia.
The topic of my capstone project is to educate other members of the team such as respiratory therapist, pharmacist, and radiology technicians about the scope of practice and the role of the nurse practitioners in different settings including the emergency department. Many of these co-workers have a lack of information about the skills, duties, and responsibilities of the nurse practitioners and sometimes this can delay treatment for patients due to clarifications for orders.
There is a need for greater reimbursement for nurse staffing for health care organizations. Nurses make up the bulk of medical personnel and are the frontline caregivers and health care providers. I agree with many experts’ opinion that adequate nurse staffing results in favorable patient outcomes and must therefore be financially supported. Dunham-Taylor (2015), argues that “effective workforce management is a key factor contributing to organizational success” (Dunham-Taylor, 2015). Moreover, the author asserts that adequate nurse staffing leads to better patient outcomes, better reimbursement, positive patient satisfaction scores, greater workforce satisfaction, increase employee retention, financial success and organizational stability
Nurses play an essential role in the healthcare industry. The nurse workforce is made up of licensed nurses: registered nurses (RNs), licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) and licensed practical nurses (LPNs), along with nurse aides. Registered nurses are responsible for assessments of patients’ needs, development of care plans, medication administration, and treatments, while licensed vocational nurses perform specific care under the delegation of the registered nurses and supervisions. Nursing aides perform activities of daily living (unskilled attention) to the patient. Adequate nursing staffing is essential to both patient care and outcomes, also to the retention of nurses while inadequate staffing creates problems for both the patients and