Staffing Case Summary

After reading the case study scenario I was appalled by the conditions in which the residence of mentioned facility had to live in; it was a matter of time before authorities made things right for the residents of said residence.

Couple of questions popped in my head before I said to myself “this guy got what he deserves”, which is a right thing to do – to look at both sides of the story. My first question was about adequate and appropriate staffing at this facility: did they have enough staff and were they qualified for this type of work? Understaffing would not justify the situation but would rather bring on another question of why not cut back on patients if staffing is inadequate? Another question that arises is that of the authority

Nonmaleficence requires caregivers to “first, do no harm.” (Pozgar, 2013, p.13) In the case described above the harm has been done in the form of neglect, on many levels, and negligence is a tort, a civil or a personal wrong. Omission of an act, which took place in this case, includes the following: (1) Failing to administer medications, (2) administering the wrong dosage of a medication, (3) administering medication to the wrong patient (Pozgar, 2013,

In Provision Three of Code of Ethics the phrase “to protect” is deliberately chosen because its recognized place in nursing practice. (ANA, 2010, p.25) Unfortunately, patients at this facility were protected only from one thing – their right to receive quality nursing care. In Provision Four of Code of Ethics it is stated that the nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum nursing care. (ANA, 2010, p.41) Every single nurse employed at that facility failed, as they failed to individually recognize the subpar conditions or refused to input work or a word to improve the situation. To me that is the definition of incompetence and according to ANA Code of Ethics for Nurses “nurses who lack competency or fail to provide appropriate professional nursing care may be subject to legal liability as determined by courts as well as