Demonstrating Institutional Responsibility in Healthcare Organizations

Who is Responsible?
Author Name
Institution
1. Who is responsible for this situation? Identify all the persons/parties who have somehow allowed this situation to happen.
It looks like diabetes has more than its fair share of risks when compared to high blood pressure and other similar disorders. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 300 pharmaceutical drugs are available to cure diabetes, but our current healthcare system is ineffective and unreliable. In case of emergencies, patients are not properly treated and often ignored both by doctors and nurses. Joanne Nathan had Type I diabetes, but she learned how to manage the disease and had been eating proper food, doing exercises and giving herself insulin shots. When she was admitted to the hospital, James was asked to serve as her nurse. Joanne’s condition took a severe form; James was continuously serving Nathan but unluckily gave her a wrong dose leading to coma. While checking her blood pressure, James observed that Joanne was unresponsive, damp and cold. He had been giving doses of heparin to his patient to help her recover. At a point, he chose a dose of insulin instead of IV heparin. His stomach sunk as he opened the drawer and the two vials looked similar. He soon realized that he had given her insulin instead of heparin and that the heavy dose lowered her blood glucose level. The hospital policy dictated that a senior doctor or nurse had to double-check the dose prior to its use. This policy was made to ensure health and safety of the patients, but James neglected it and gave Joanne a wrong dose. Both the hospital management and James were responsible for her critical condition.
2. Can this be a valid case for a lawsuit against the hospital and/or any clinicians involved? Explain why or why not using the legal standard that determines the validity of a lawsuit.
Yes, it can be a valid case for a lawsuit against the hospital itself or James who left Joanne Nathan on her own mercy and did not provide her with correct medicine and proper assistance. Should there be any room for negligence? Doctors and nurses are primarily responsible for providing timely treatment to their patients and should choose doses after keen observation. James was doing night duty, so the chances are that he was feeling tired and wanted to take some rest. Nathan’s family members can drag James to the court by filing a case. In the United States, rules and regulati...