Understanding standard of care and its role it can play in medical malpractice can be complicated. Health care providers and professionals are constantly at risk of their reputations by providing the care that needs to be upheld in the health care profession. Standard of care is considered a legal term in which medical or health care professionals must up hold to patients. The law has set certain medical standards that are recognized and considered to be acceptable for medical treatment. These standards are known as the standard of care. The standard of care in health care is the nature of care from health care providers and professionals provided to patients that meet a level of care (ABPLA, 2017). Health care providers and professionals are
Standards are important aspects of nursing that a nurse must learn and implement every day for the rest of their nursing career. These standards provide for a nurse’s competence in the quality of care they deliver to the public. Standards offer a necessary guidance to nurses everywhere in an effort to ensure that people are treated correctly and ethically. Patients expect nurses to have a general knowledge of the medical realm and to know exactly what it is they –as nurses- are responsible for. Nurses need to have a sense of professionalism that enable the patient to feel safe and secure, knowing that a competent person is caring for him. A lack of professionalism does the opposite, making it impossible for a patient to trust or respect the nurse caring for him. Standards of nursing, if utilized correctly, give the nurse that sense of professionalism the patient is expecting. It insures for the safety of the patient and allows the nurse to provide quality health care that is expected of a medical professional.
Explain the issue or dilemma using information from the readings in the book and other sources.
Using standardized terminologies in nursing practice has a wide array of advantages to the patients, the organization involved, the nursing profession and even the country using the standards. These terminologies aid the healthcare organization (both the care team and administrators) in deciding which nursing terminology or a combination of several that suits their needs. With these terminologies:
Not only do health care providers have an ethical implication to care for patients, they also have a legal obligation and responsibility to care for the patient. According to the Collins English dictionary, a duty of care is ‘the legal obligation to safeguard others from harm while they are in your care, using your services or exposed to your activities’. The legal definition takes it further by making it a requirement that a person act towards others and the public with watchfulness, attention, caution and prudence which a reasonable person in the circumstances would use. If a person’s actions fail to meet the required standard, then the acts are considered negligent (Hill and Hill, 2002). If a professional fails to abide to the standard of practice for their practice in regards to their peers, they leave themselves open to criticisms or claims of breach of duty of care, and possibly negligence. Negligence is comprised of five elements: (1) duty, (2) breach, (3) cause in fact, (4) proximate cause, and (5) harm. Duty is defined as the implied duty to care/provide service, breach is the lack thereof, cause in fact must be proven by plaintiff, proximate cause means that only the harm caused directly causative to the breach itself and not additional causation, and harm is the specific injury resultant from the breach.
Negligence cases necessitate that the standard of care required of an individual is the same conduct of a reasonably prudent person under the same or similar circumstances. However, a specialist within a profession may be held to a standard of care greater than that of a general practitioner. This also needs to be an objective standard.
4.1 Demonstrates use of professional standards and the Code of Ethics to inform safe nursing care as applicable.
practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances". Their purpose is "to make explicit recommendations with a definite intent to influence what clinicians do". Additionally, guidelines have an important role in standardization care and health policy formation such as health promotion, screening etc.
The standards of the Joint Commission are a foundation for an objective evaluation process the may help healthcare organizations measure, assess and improve performance. These standards are focused on organizational functions that are key for providing safe high quality care services. The Joint Commission’s standards set goal expectations of reasonable, achievable and surveyable performance of an organization. Only new standards that are relative to patient safety or care quality, have positive impact on healthcare outcomes, and can be accurately measured are added. Input from healthcare professionals, providers, experts, consumers and government agencies develop these standards.
The textbooks definition of standard of care is as follows refers to the ordinary skill and care that all medical practitioners such as physicians, nurses, physician assistants, medical assistants, and phlebotomists must use, as determined by their by their state license or certification and that a "reasonable" person would use in a similar circumstance. This level of expertise is that which is commonly used by other practitioners in the same medical specialty when caring for patients.
Young, W. B., Minnick, A. F., & Marcantonio, R. (1996). How wide is the gap in defining quality care?: Comparison of patient and nurse perceptions of important aspects of patient care. The Journal of Nursing Administration, 26(5), 15-20.
The World Health Organization outlines 6 areas of quality that help shape our definition of what makes quality care. Those areas are; (1) Effective: using evidence bases practice to improve health outcomes based on needs of individuals and communities. (2) Efficient: healthcare that maximizes resources and minimizes waste. (3) Accessible: timely care that is provided in a setting where the skills and resources are appropriate for the medical need and is geographically reasonable. (4) Acceptable/Patient-Centered: healthcare that considers individual needs, preferences, and culture. (5) Equitable: healthcare quality that does not vary because of race, gender, ethnicity, geographical location, or socioeconomically status. (6) Safe: healthcare that minimizes harm and risks to patients. (Bengoa, 2006)
It is a subjective concept aimed to relate the grade at which health care responds to the expectations of the patient or community. Also it is a multidimensional affected by thoughts or even previous experiences which make its measurements and comprehension
In the healthcare field, it is important to understand the patient’s perspective. When we understand the patient, only then can we give the patient the best quality care possible. Quality care incorporates both patient care and patient safety practices that ensure that the patient will have a comfortable, non-stressful visit under your care.
A tort is generally defined as a civil wrong which causes an injury. “Medical malpractice refers to professional negligence by a health care professional or provider in which treatment provided was substandard, and caused harm, injury or death to a patient” (Nordqvist). Meaning medical malpractice is a tort. The lack of media coverage on medical malpractice has made the public unaware of how stern this problem is becoming. It’s a serious issue that needs to be brought to light. Many lose loved ones because of a mistake caused by certain healthcare professionals. A wide variety of situations can lead to a medical malpractice claim. From failing to tell the patients the side effects of a prescribed medication to leaving
To Maintain High Standard for nursing: As professionals were need to be updated always so as to maintain a high standard in our profession. Through this training, record practices are communicated and corrections are also made on wrong practices so that we will be able to maintain high standard in our care.