Tort Law and Medical Malpractice

In this paper, we look at the ethical considerations, the legal perspectives, and the applicable laws. Healthcare malpractice is a costly occurrence which affects more than one person and results in severe legal and ethical dilemmas and thus should be minimized as much as possible. Describe what occurred, who was affected, and why What occurred was a case of medication dispensing error. The error occurred when the pharmacist administered the wrong drug to a patient. The pharmacist was feeling unwell and so had requested leave and was released from her duties for the day. Also, the progesterone suppository had not been carried out in a very long time by the hospital, and this might have caused the differing results obtained from the pharmacy computer.

The program might have suggested Prostin instead of progesterone because of its higher frequency of use compared to progesterone suppository. Assess the case from ethical perspectives Patient perspective The ethical principle from the patient perspective is Nonmaleficence. This is an ethical principle in nursing that means a duty not to harm the patient. This principle is promoted by avoiding deliberate harm or risk of harm which is likely to occur during the practice and performance of nursing actions. This requires that the organization upholds the equity or fairness of the patient in every situation that the medical practitioners encounter in their line of duty. It is promoted by ensuring there is a fair resource allocation for the patients such that, there is an equal number of nurses attending to a particular patient without failure.

It also dictates that the organization upholds the order in which clients should be attended to. Issues of lateness can only be attributed to as injustice for the patient because if the nurse on duty had arrived on time, the fatal error would not have happened. Legal perspectives The first legal implication of this action is healthcare malpractice. The third legal implication is on the use of technology in the hospitals. HIPAA regulations require that healthcare technology systems should be operationally sound especially in providing quality healthcare to patients (Phalen, 2017). The system should be designed to auto update the user on the use of the drug being administered and the precautionary measures that should be taken before it is administered. Applicable laws Patient safety and quality improvement Act.

This law establishes the privilege and patient confidentiality protection. Management protocols Create frameworks that guide nurses and all other medical practitioners on the required pharmacy protocols to deter any operations that are not allowed to be carried out by unqualified persons. The framework should include in it the systematic steps that a practitioner should follow when administering certain drugs that are considered to have adverse effects on the patient if not properly administered (Ferrara, Boscolo-Berto & Viel, 2013). Staff training Provide training for its staff on the good practices. Lack of training and forums on work ethics creates a poor working environment in the organization. The organization should organize training on specific topics including work ethics and client handling (Grembi, 2014). There is need to get all the members of the organization to participate because it enhances the unity of purpose (Ferrara, Boscolo-Berto & Viel, 2013).