Responsive Quality of Nursing Report 2022

Running head: NURSING
NURSING
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

NURSING
1
Introduction
Medical error and malpractice crisis can be considered as one of the main emerging
challenges in the health care facilities. Medical error directly indicates towards poor clinical
governance. The case here is related to a terminally ill elderly patient, who died right after the
application of the three medicines at a go on an IV drip. The NSQHS standard 4 will be the
base of this essay as the nurse had directly breached the NSQHS standard (Medication safety
standard)
Thesis statement: Nursing incompetence and lack of accountability leads to medical
malpractices that not only brings about economic and psychological distress to the families,
but also undermines the profession of nursing on the whole.
Nursing incident and nurse’s role on this incident
The incident is about a 97 years elderly woman who has died in a hospital at Sydney,
after a nurse had administered three different oral tablets and put her under an intravenous
drip. As per the statement of the defensive lawyers, the patient was already on her death bed.
She was reported to be died of heart attack. Reportedly, the patient was admitted in to the
emergency department with extensive medical issues like nausea, vomiting, angina,
dehydration and urinary tract infection. As per the report a lawsuit has been filed against the
nurse and she had been standing the trial in charge for manslaughter by gross criminal
negligence.

NURSING
2
Consequences of the incidents on the nurses and health care consumers
Medical malpractices are generally considered if there is a failure to the provide a
proper standard of care and the health care professionals remains adhered to certain
professional standards like NMBA standards and NSQHS standards Sweeney, LeMahieu &
Fryer, 2017). The adverse effect of medical malpractice might differ from person to person.
Some of the gross consequences involve disabilities, birth defects, disfigurement, repeated
hospital admission, infertility, and loss of consortium, loss of opportunity and even death and
moreover economic and psychological distress to the family of the patient (Rodziewicz &
Hipskind, 2019).
Medical malpractices and fowl play greatly affects the reputation of a hospital and
such incidents undermine the essence of the profession (Kim & Bates, 2013). The NMBA
nursing codes of conduct gets breached, which states that nurses are legally and ethically
obliged to provide an appropriate, safe and responsive quality of nursing (standard 6).
Breaching of this professional standards not only questions the personal and the professional
values of nursing, but can bring about tort of negligence (Butts & Rich, 2019). The health
care consumers loses trust from the doctors and other health care providers. If a criminal
offence is proved right by the plaintiff, it can bring the profession of the defendant under
stake. The licensure of the nurse might get cancelled permanently.
Identification and development of the nursing standards
In order to avoid medical malpractice and law suits against the nurses, a lot of
strategies can be taken up by the organisations. The first strategy is to be patient and maintain
resilience during heavy crowding of the hospital department (Nursing and Midwifery Board
of Australia, 2017).. Crowding in the triage area, less staffing and heavy workload might lead
to medical errors, hence proper delegation of tasks should be done by the registered nurses.