Case Study Negligence In Nursing

When a Nurse fails to provide a reasonable level of care to a patient, which results in the patient suffering harm that would have been avoidable, this is said to be acting Negligent. Negligence is defined as a “civil wrong made against a person or property”(Potter & Perry, 2005). It is assumed that a Nurse would provide a reasonable standard of care and would implement this in their judgement. In order for a health professionals acts or omissions to be considered negligent, their must be a certainty and proof that the nurse owed the patient a duty of care, the duty of care was breeched, and the breech resulted in harm which in other circumstances that harm would be seen as avoidable(Indest III, 2008). In the case study being discussed Nadia …show more content…
This requires a person working within the healthcare profession from refraining from providing ineffective treatments or acting with malice. This means a Nurse needs to consider the ethical dilemma whether the benefits of active treatment or medication outweighs the burden that may be caused. It suggests that a person within the healthcare profession should not provide treatment that may be ineffective to a patient where there is no possibility or benefit. Generally speaking this principle is helpful when balanced against beneficence, which refers to “actions that promote the well-being of others” (University of California School of Medicine, 2008). It outlines that it is a Nurses duty to ensure that actions should be of benefit to the patient and if not, to ensure steps are taken to prevent and remove the harm (Sher, 2011). Ultimately it is assumed that either the Nurse or Patient must decide whether the potential benefits outweighs the potential …show more content…
Due to Nadia’s error, the information was not passed on to the Doctor or Nurse on Duty leaving all parties misinformed of the true wishes of the patient. Fatima’s decision to refuse treatment for her mother as she honestly believes that her mother would much prefer to die then to suffer, and believes if given the choice, this is what her mother would do. Fatima also insists that all health professionals refrain from informing her mother of her cancer diagnosis as she believes that this is what her mother would want. This raises an ethical dilemma as Nadia must weigh up whether coming forward would be beneficial to Yasmine, and whether it would avoid her being harmed as it is her professional duty as a nurse to ensure that no harm is done to a patient, as well as ensuring that if she does come forward with her mistake, that the treatment that Yasmine does receive will be of more benefit to her then not receiving any at all. As the Doctor has outlined that treatment should be started immediately in order for the patient to live past the next 24 hours, this indicates that by coming forward Nadia would not only be acting morally correct she