Assignment 4.3 - Who Committed Malpractice? Health, Medicine, Nursing

WHO COMMITTED MALPRACTICE?
FACTS: Plaintiff was seriously injured in a single-vehicle accident in which he sustained a mild to moderate concussion and multiple facial fractures. Upon arriving at the trauma center at the hospital nearly four hours after the accident, plaintiff had a blood alcohol level of .13%, which extrapolated to approximately .20% at the time of the accident. Plaintiff was connected to a ventilator to assist his breathing and remained on a ventilator while at the hospital. Over the next two days, plaintiff remained in stable condition but suffered from “severe agitation.” Plaintiff was given unusually large doses of Valium, Fentanyl, and other drugs to keep him sedated from his presumed alcohol withdrawal. CT scans were ordered in preparation for reconstructive surgery to treat plaintiff’s facial fractures. A registered nurse, a respiratory therapist, and a nurse’s aide prepared to transport plaintiff to radiology and connected plaintiff to a portable cardiac monitor and to a portable ventilator. The ventilator was attached to one of three portable oxygen tanks that accompanied plaintiff to the CT suite. One of the tanks was full, and the remaining tanks were half full. The respiratory therapist did not record the portable ventilator’s settings and alarm parameters before leaving the neurological intensive care unit. The nurse did not verify the alarms or the parameters on plaintiff’s portable cardiac monitor or make any entry in his medical record of either the alarm parameters or patient’s vital signs. Upon arriving at the CT suite, the nurse administered a paralytic drug to plaintiff in preparation for the CT scans. As a result, plaintiff was unable to move or breathe on his own and became completely dependent on the portable ventilator. The nurse never informed the other health-care providers that she had administered the drug. From the control room, the nurse and respiratory therapist could see the CT table through a glass window and could observe plaintiff’s face on a television monitor. Neither looked at the cardiac monitor or the ventilator while plaintiff was in the CT scanner. The nurse testified that she was watching plaintiff’s face and was listening for alarms. Both she and the respiratory therapist testified that no alarms ever sounded. They both testified that plaintiff’s complexion was “pink” and that he was breathing when he came out of the scanner. Shortly after plaintiff was returned to bed, someone noticed that he had turned gray and was not breathing. Although successfully resuscitated, he sustained severe and permanent brain damage.
QUESTIONS
1. What were the breaches of the standard of care?
2. Was the nurse responsible for the actions/inactions of the respiratory therapist?
3. Was the nurse’s failure to communicate the administration of a paralytic drug a legal cause of the brain damage; if so, did it change the respiratory therapist’s duties to the patient? 4. Did the radiology technician breach a duty to the plaintiff?
After reading this case study answer the questions in a written 1 page paper using APA format, including title page and references. Include at least 2 scholarly sources. Save your assignment as first initial last name and date submitted, for example KSMITH1.20.2014. Then attach the paper to this assignment for grading.