Ethical and Legal Concepts for Ensuring Patient Safety in Healthcare

Ethical And Legal Concepts, Including Specific
Federal Regulations To Ensure The Delivery Of High
Quality Health Care That Protects Patient Safety

Introduction:
• Patient safety can be defined simply as the prevention of adverse effects
and errors to patients associated with healthcare
• As result of the complexities, unexpected as well as unwanted events can
take place in any of the settings within the healthcare organization
• it is the duty of the healthcare organization and its staff to undertake
effective measures and maintain all ethical an legal concepts that reduce
the chance of any errors subsequently.

overview: compromised patient safety
• Unsafe practices might result in medication errors, errors in treatments,
missed interventions, omissions, and many others
• Poor documentation can also lead to errors in services along with longer
stays of patients in hospitals; (Hunter et al., 2016)
• readmission of patients, greater suffering of the patients, increased
financial costs as well as mental and emotional turmoil for patients and
family members

Informed consent:
• Patients should be disclosed about the details of the disorder they have
developed.
• by complete explanation of the treatment interventions and their
advantages and disadvantages
• Asking for informed consent is seen to be intricately associated with
patient safety
• consent have shown a significant decrease in the incident of medical
errors, leading to safer healthcare for patients and providers