Malpractice

However, what some don’t know is that assaults on first responders are happening across the nation and many go unreported. Violence against EMS experts takes many forms. Most acts of brutality are not less than deadly. Statistics shows that the risk of non-fatal assault resulting in lost work time among EMS workers is 0.6 cases per 100 workers a year; the national average is about 1.8 per 10,000 workers. The National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) found 4/5 medics have experienced some form of injury as a result of the job. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that about 52 percent of EMTs operating in the field have been assaulted.

As health care workers we are under a legal obligation to protect an individual from any kind of abuse, whether it is physical, financial, emotional, sexual or psychological .Legislation, policies and procedures exist to promote a safer working environment and reduce the potential for risks occurring. They are tailored for the needs of each setting, known and understood by employers and employees and reviewed on a regular basis.

While the seriousness of a patient’s death should be investigated, the hospital failed to act promptly and investigate the supervisor’s or human resource (HR) department’s denial of reasonable accommodations or the previous errors made by the nurse. Therefore, the wrongful termination seems more likely to have been the case in this situation. The defense will show that rather than terminating her employment earlier the hospital waited until something catastrophic happened. The nurse took appropriate action discussing her health condition diagnosed by her physician that precludes her from working in the ER at full capacity with her supervisor. The nurse should have been given alternative assignments as appropriate or disability leave if no other alternative was available and should not have been terminated wrongfully after the incident (Pozgar,

“The decision to join Drexel EMS in my freshman year was one of the best decisions I have ever made,” she told USA Today College. “The best part about being involved in collegiate EMS is being able to make a difference in our community and being there to help our peers whenever they made need us. Although being involved in collegiate emergency medical services is very demanding as a student sometimes, knowing that all of our hard work is going towards making our campus safer is what keeps us going and I don’t think any of us would ever trade that despite it being difficult at times,” added Rios, who also said that volunteering introduced her to "some of the most compassionate and dedicated people I have ever met.”

The chief ethical implication is the violation of the patient’s desire to not be intubated and go on the ventilator. The patient has an advanced directive, a legal document, which clearly states that he does not want to be on a ventilator. The patient does not appear to have changed his mind since the document was drawn up, as evidenced by the patient shaking his head and stating “no” when confronted with the physician’s desire to place the patient on the respirator.

This level requires the Basic training plus another 250 hours of training. They do everything the EMT-Basic is required to perform in addition to administering intravenous (IV) fluids and medicine.

A variety of data will be required to test the theory of effectiveness being employed. Firstly, data will be required regarding incidences where in EMNC could be faced with lawsuits ranging from: patient negligence to a, failure to protect nursing staff and other health care workers from injury. Other data will come from the literature on health care giver standards that have been shown to help avoid lawsuits, (e.g. failure to use equipment in a responsible manner, failure to communicate, failure to document patient care and failure to act as a patient advocate).

As with all emergency situations we attend our number one priority is safety and being aware of any potential danger on scene. Responsibility for safety is everybody’s individual duty and covers myself, my colleagues, the patient, relatives and any other agencies attending the scene. The Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) states I should take reasonable care for my own health and safety and also for others who may be affected by my actions or omissions. At this particular incident everything was safe.

Prior to the 1970’s, ambulances were staffed as basic life support (BLS) type units. They would transfer people on a basic level of transport performing “non invasive” interventions. The people who staffed this units were not called EMT’s at this time however were called Ambulance Attendants. They were severed with little medical training and only performed routine interventions. In 1966 there was an article called “The Accidental Death and Disability Report” also called “White Paper”. In this report The National Academy of Sciences Did studies on trauma and shock. This project was a federally funded report of their research which came to the conclusion that both the public and government were "insensitive to the magnitude

As a result of the failure to adhere to the safety precautions before utilizing the automated external defibrillator the patient was severely burned on his neck and shoulders. “The patient can show a legally sufficient relationship between the breach of duty and the injury; this concept is referred to as proximate causation” (). If standards of care had been meet the injury that the patient now suffers could have been prevented.

Many people do not ponder on the possibility of some form of malpractice or misdiagnosis occurring during their time as patient. They put their trust solely in the healthcare provider. More importantly nurses hardly ever consider being the one that causes harm or the one whom neglects a patient, let alone misdiagnose a patient. When entering the nursing field one needs to look at all options that will help protect them from sustaining any loss. Many nurses in today’s time are purchasing profession liability insurance or more commonly known as professional indemnity. Professional indemnity helps pay for expenses that occur during malpractice, negligence, and misdiagnosis lawsuits.

Who is affected? Triage is the first patients to find. The responsibilities for these nurses are high. Nurses who care for patients in trauma or medical emergency, midwives who bring babies in the world, working with the mentally ill, or who enter a customer's house pose liability problems.

It takes many dedicated people to effectively run an EMS program. Although one position may or may not be more important than the other, it takes a well-organized team working together to have successful program.

Nurses should be aware that their negligence causes very bad effects on patients and should be anxious about medical malpractice because nurses are held answerable for their own negligence and could find themselves being charged for malpractice. (Elis, 2012).

Part I - Potential hazards that may affect me as an employee in the healthcare profession