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1 page/β‰ˆ275 words
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Style:
APA
Subject:
Health, Medicine, Nursing
Type:
Case Study
Language:
English (U.S.)
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Topic:

Nursing Practice Criminal Prosecution Case Study Paper

Case Study Instructions:

Criminal Prosecution for Nursing Practice
Read the following case study and submit a 1- to 2-page essay in a Microsoft Word document using APA 6th edition in response to the questions.
Case Study:
Until recently, the risk of criminal prosecution for nursing practice was nonexistent unless nursing action rose to the level of criminal intent, such as the case of euthanasia leading to murder charges. However, in April 1997, three nurses at the Centura St. Anthony Hospital, outside of Denver, were indicted by a Colorado grand jury for criminally negligent homicide in the death of a newborn. Public records show that one nurse was assigned to care for the baby. A second nurse offered to assist her colleague in caring for the baby. A third nurse was a nurse practitioner in the hospital nursery. Because the baby was at risk for congenital syphilis, the physician ordered that the nurses give 150,000 units of intramuscular penicillin, which would have required five separate injections.
In relation to other problems the same day, the baby was subjected to a lumbar puncture, which required six painful attempts. To avoid inflicting further pain, nurse two asked the nurse practitioner whether there was another route available for the administration of the penicillin. Nurse two and the nurse practitioner searched recognized pharmacology references and determined that intravenous administration would be acceptable. The nurse practitioner had the authority to change the route and directed nurse two to administer the medication intravenously rather than intramuscularly. Unrecognized by the nurses, the pharmacy erroneously delivered the medication, prepared and ready to administer, in a dose ten times greater than was ordered—1.5 million units. As nurse two was administering the medication intravenously, the baby died. The Colorado Board of Nursing initiated disciplinary proceedings against nurse two and the nurse practitioner, but not against nurse one. The grand jury indicted all three nurses on charges of criminally negligent homicide but did not indict the pharmacist (Calfee & Plum, 1997).
Respond to the following:
Identify what emotions are evoked as you consider the Colorado Board of Nursing case stated above?
Should the courts take into consideration the fact that the nurses' error occurred because they wanted to avoid causing the baby unnecessary pain? Discuss your thinking.
Can you think of other occupations in which the consequences of unintentional errors have greater legal implications? Discuss your answer.
How should the nursing profession respond to this frightening new legal threat?
Which sections of the State Nurse Practice Act did the nurses violate?

Case Study Sample Content Preview:

Nursing Practice Criminal Prosecution
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

Nursing Practice Criminal Prosecution
The emotions invoked by the case at hand are disgust and sadness. Nurse two and the nurse practitioner were irresponsible and negligent, which is the reason why they did not bother to confirm whether the medication from the pharmacist was 150,000 units as prescribed by the physician. Although they administered the medicine intravenously to reduce unnecessary pain for the baby, it was all in vain since they caused death.
From my perspective, the medical error did not occur since the nurses wanted to avoid unnecessary pain. Instead, it happened since caregivers did not confirm that the dosage was as prescribed by the physician before intravenous administration. The court needed not to consider that since the use of intravenous rather than intramuscular drug administration was not the cause of the baby’s death (Rappaport & Selbst, 2019).
Some of the other occupations where the implications of unintentional errors have significant legal consequences are surgeon, pilot, and architects. Professionals in these areas must be very careful when deciding what to do since a small mistake might lead to imprisonment. For instance, architects should scrutinize their designs to avoid buildings from collapsing, wh...
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