1. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) defines “unsatisfactory professional conduct” as a breach of the following standards: conduct below reasonable standards, contravention of national law or regulations, contravention of conditions of registration, contravention of health care complaint act, accepting benefits regarding to referrals, services, or products, supervision of assistants, and other improper ethical conducts (2013). As per Conyard (2015) the registered nurse (RN) was found guilty of engaging in conduct significantly below the standard reasonably expected of a practitioner of an equivalent level. Specifically, the RN failed to recognise a deteriorating patient, failed to provide adequate care, failed to communicate, and failed
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The RN had a responsibility to delegate care to other nurses to ensure she could focus on the deteriorating patient. The RN failed to communicate the severity of the situation even when presented with a face to face opportunity with a superior. The RN failed to document her observations or develop any plan of …show more content…
Therefore, the question becomes why wasn’t the review sought with more urgency? A literature review evaluating 26 individual studies revealed hierarchy, protocol, and fear of looking incompetent as the biggest hurdles to nurses advocating for their patients (Okuyama, Wagner & Bijnen, 2014). Critically, an investigation into the viability of safety protocols in hospitals has shown they are ineffective without the participation of nursing staff (Schmidt, 2011; Schwappach & Gehring, 2014). Additionally, with the patient’s primary care physician out of contact it is possible the RN felt intimidated in breaking normal protocol to seek help, instead deciding on inaction until the locum arrived. This inaction compromised the protocol that could have saved the patient’s life. Therefore, the professional behaviours to focus on are both adequate education, training, and ensuring nurses feel supported and protected enough to escalate potentially life-threatening situations without fear of
The RN had a responsibility to delegate care to other nurses to ensure she could focus on the deteriorating patient. The RN failed to communicate the severity of the situation even when presented with a face to face opportunity with a superior. The RN failed to document her observations or develop any plan of …show more content…
Therefore, the question becomes why wasn’t the review sought with more urgency? A literature review evaluating 26 individual studies revealed hierarchy, protocol, and fear of looking incompetent as the biggest hurdles to nurses advocating for their patients (Okuyama, Wagner & Bijnen, 2014). Critically, an investigation into the viability of safety protocols in hospitals has shown they are ineffective without the participation of nursing staff (Schmidt, 2011; Schwappach & Gehring, 2014). Additionally, with the patient’s primary care physician out of contact it is possible the RN felt intimidated in breaking normal protocol to seek help, instead deciding on inaction until the locum arrived. This inaction compromised the protocol that could have saved the patient’s life. Therefore, the professional behaviours to focus on are both adequate education, training, and ensuring nurses feel supported and protected enough to escalate potentially life-threatening situations without fear of