Week 4 Replies
From your definition, malpractice is more concerned with professionals and how they fail to follow professional standards while negligence is more concerned with deviation from standard care and carelessness. I agree that mistakes are common in nursing practice, but as nurses, we should ensure that we practice under the required professionalism and standards of care to avoid poor patient outcomes. Effective communication can serve as a vital aspect of reducing malpractices and negligence in the healthcare setting, and all nurses should strive to promote effective communication (Karno, 2011).
References
Karno, S. (2011). Nursing malpractice/negligence and liability. Law for Nurse Leaders: A Comprehensive Reference. New York: Springer, 249-80.
Reply to Crisee Day
Crisee,
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree with your point that the differential aspect between negligence and malpractice is intent. Indeed, negligent actions are concerned with the carelessness of nurses to undertake their duties, thus resulting in patient injury properly. Communication can be key to reducing negligence among nurses, especially during the change of shifts, where nurses have to leave accurate information concerning the patient’s status (Huang, Sun & Lien, 2015). On the other hand, malpractice is a form of negligence in which a healthcare professional understands the guidelines that govern healthcare yet fails to act appropriately to promote the patient’s health.
References
Huang, H. M., Sun, F. K., & Lien, Y. F. (2015). Nurse Practitioners, medical negligence and crime: A case study. source: Clinical Nursing Studies, 3(4), 21-28.Week 4 Replies
Reply to Matthew Inman
Matthew,
Negligence indeed indicates the failure of a healthcare professional to live up to the general standards that pertain to patient care. Negligent actions can include failing to administer medication in time, using defective equipment, infusing the wrong blood type, and administering drugs to the wrong patient. Malpractice actions involve negligence with knowledge about its consequences and the rules that govern healthcare (Cooper, 2016). Promoting the right culture that promotes competence and efficiency among healthcare professionals can help reduce malpractice cases in the healthcare setting.
References
Cooper, P. J. (2016). Nursing Leadership and Liability: An Analysis of a Nursing Malpractice Case. Nurse Leader, 14(1), 47-51.
Reply to Maria Rossana Javier
Maria,
Thank you for your post. I agree that incompetence and lack of ethics are among the significant drivers of malpractice in healthcare since the respective healthcare professionals are usually well conversant with the guidelines and regulations that govern patient safety. Examples of malpractice include failure of nurses to properly monitor the patient, thus missing a change in vital signs, thus failing to act quickly. According to Sweeney, LeMahieu & Fryer (2017), malpractices in nursing can be reduced through proper documentation; hence nurses are encouraged to use proper abbreviations and adequate updates on the patient’s status change.
References
Sweeney, C. F., LeMahieu, A., & Fryer, G. E. (2017). Nurse practitioner malpractice data: informing nursing education. Journal of Professional Nursing, 33(4), 271-275.