Administration of Chemotherapy Infusion Resulting in Patient Injury, Essay Example

There are many important examples of nursing case law that help health care workers and hospital administrators gain an understanding of liability in a variety of situations. One such hallmark case occurred as a consequence of an alleged improper administration of chemotherapy infusion resulting in patient injury. In this case, a man was receiving routine chemotherapy infusion to treat his prostate cancer. It was found that the nurse correctly prepared the infusion and regularly checked in on the patient to ensure that the patient was comfortable. However, after the patient had received about half of the prescribed treatment, he had reached over to grab an item from a nearby table and began to experience sharp pain. The nurse examined the site and found no issue, so she continued with the treatment. The next nurse on shift had examined the painful site and found that an extravasation with a severe burn had occurred. The purpose of this case was to determine whether the nurse would be held liable for this injury.

While it was found that the nurse had acted according to her medical knowledge and was therefore not liable on this basis, the hospital had a policy in place stating that chemotherapy treatment should be stopped if it results in an injury. It was found that the nurse had signed a document stating that she agreed to comply with these terms. However, it is likely that she did not understand the document that she signed because she did not exhibit proficient English skills. Therefore, the nurse was held liable for damages because she was not able to comply with hospital policies due to a general lack of understanding.

This is an important case for health care administrators because it demonstrates the importance of compliance with hospital policies. If a medical professional agrees to a policy but is unable to carry out the terms of the policy, the liability falls to the individual rather than the institution. It is therefore important for the hospital to detail their health care policies to their employees before they begin working in order to ensure that the hospital will not be liable for their mistakes. However, it is also important to consider that it would be beneficial for the administration to ensure that their employees are able to understand these terms and have time to admit their lack of understanding if applicable. While it is the responsibility of the employees to clarify these hospital policies, the administration should play a supportive role in this process to ensure that their patients are able to receive the best possible care.

Ultimately, this case demonstrated that it is important to consider the balance of liability between the health care institution and the individual practitioner. Effective administrations ensure that the hospital itself will not be liable for these errors and put in effort to make sure that quality procedures will be enforced. These practices can be enhanced by implementing more rigorous hiring practices to determine whether potential employees will be able to understand these rules before they are invited to work at the institution. Furthermore, it is important to consider what barriers to care a lack of understanding of English could cause in the health care setting.

References

CNA. (n.d.). Alleged improper administration of chemotherapy infusion resulting in patient injury. Retrieved from https://www.nso.com/pdfs/db/x-10704-514.pdf?fileName=x-10704-514.pdf&folder=pdfs/db&isLiveStr=Y

Pozgar, G. (2012). Legal aspects of health care administration (11th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.