Professional Nursing - Visiting Medical Officer

Running Head: PROFESSIONAL NURSING
PROFESSIONAL NURSING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

PROFESSIONAL NURSING1
Case Summary
The case reveals that the patient A was suffering from breathlessness whenever he
tried to lay back and on examination it was found that the patient has fine creps at the base of
both the lungs and slightly increased jugular venous pressure. The doctors suggested her to
perform oral Lasix that did not improve her condition and she was again admitted to the
hospital the next day. The Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) reviewed Patient A and planned a
chest x-ray and blood tests. The VMO reviewed Patient A again and noted diarrhoea and
right sided tenderness of Patient A's abdomen. Patient A was refusing food and liquid at this
time, and was complaining of feeling very weak and having abdominal pain (Davey, 2013).
The VMO again assessed Patient A. He concluded that Patient A was depressed and anxious.
The Clinical Nurse Manager, Ms Catherine Jones, to arrange for medication to be obtained
from the drug safe for a patient other than Patient A. Over the course of the night, attempts
were made to transport Patient A to a rural referral hospital. The ability to transfer Patient A
was significantly complicated by Patient A's critical condition. Tragically, Patient A died
whilst she was being assessed by the air evacuation team the following morning. The primary
cause of death was stated to be septicaemia. The healthcare personnel who were involved in
the treatment of the patient were not concerned about the treatment process and also ignored
their duties. Due to their negligence the patient could not receive the correct line of treatment
and thus, this situation defines the mistakes in the professional life of the nurses
(Chattopadhyay, 2013).
Contributory Factors
The incident that gradually led to the death of the patient had a number of incorrect
practices that were done by the healthcare personnel at the time of their duty. This negligence
or careless attitude of the nurses along with the VMO and the GP were the main cause of the
death of the patient. It is known that negligence that arises from the medical act done by the

PROFESSIONAL NURSING2
healthcare personnel might cause civil action taken by the families of the patients who is
being admitted to the hospital (Chattopadhyay, 2013). A patient who approaches the doctor
expects that the medical treatment that they are going to receive from the doctor with all their
skills and knowledge will help them to get relief to all their medical problem. It is the duty of
the doctors to follow certain codes and regulations while they are performing their duties. If
the doctor breaches any of these codes and laws then it becomes a cause for the negligence of
the duty for the doctors. It is known that the doctors and the other healthcare personnel will
obtain an informed consent from the patient before carrying out any medical tests and the
management of the diagnostic process (Jones, Contro & Koch, 2014). This was lacking in the
case that is being discussed in this report. As the doctors and the healthcare staff made the
decision of shifting patient A that ultimately resulted in her death. As the medical profession
is considered to be noble because it can save life and the expectations of the patients from the
doctors are two-fold that involves the trust that the patients has on the doctors and hospitals
that they will not cause any harm in any manner due to negligence, reckless attitude, belief or
carelessness and secondly the hospital staff will provide treatment with their complete
knowledge and skill.
The Duty of care is one of the fundamental value of nursing, and a number of nurses
consider it to be an integral part of their profession along with their duties as a nurse. It is also
related to the legal issues that are related to the duty of care that are frequently overlooked, and,
that creates the place for negligence of duty by the nurses (Söderhamn, Kjøstvedt & Slettebø,
2015). All these duties were not followed by the hospital staff in which the patient was admitted.
At first the GP made the decision that the patient was suffering from problem in the lungs and
suggested that the patient should undergo oral Lasix. However this could not resolve her issues
and she was again admitted to the hospital the next day where the VMO diagnosed her and
suggested some changes in her diagnosis process. This made the patient suffer more and her