Author Question: During an Intensive Care Unit hospitalization, a client undergoes an emergency surgery to repair an ... (Read 57 times)

kwoodring · **on:** Jul 8, 2018

During an Intensive Care Unit hospitalization, a client undergoes an emergency surgery to repair an aneurysm.

The nurses caring for the client postoperatively repeatedly report changes in vital signs, indicating deterioration, but the care provider does not evaluate the client for 3 hours. The client's brain herniates, and the client dies. The family files a lawsuit against the nurses, the care provider, and the hospital. Given that the physician and the nurses are employees of the hospital, who is at risk of being found guilty of negligence? Select all that apply.

1. The care provider on call at the time the nurses reported vital sign changes
2. The hospital, because of the employee/employer relationship
3. The nurses assigned to the client during the hospitalization
4. The administrators employed by the hospital
5. Only the nurse on duty at the time the client herniated

Question 2

A client is receiving home health care to complete intravenous antibiotics. The nurse is scheduled to visit every other day to check the site and make sure the client's wife is administering the medications safely and correctly.

Both the client and his wife verbalize understanding of the symptoms of an infiltration, and the importance of reporting it immediately. With a scheduled visit 2 days later, the nurse finds the site red and swollen and the client's arm tender. There is no indication that the client or his wife notified the nurse or home health agency. The lack of which condition will make it difficult to prove negligence on the nurse's part?

1. The nurse owed a duty to the client.
2. The standard of care was not met.
3. The action or inaction of the nurse directly caused the injury.
4. Failure to act would cause harm to the client.

ky860224 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 8, 2018

Answer to Question 1

Answer: 1; 2; 3

Rationale:
The care provider on call at the time the nurses reported vital sign changes: The care provider is most certainly at risk of being found guilty of negligence because she did not respond appropriately when apprised of a client's deteriorating status.
The hospital because of the employee-employer relationship: As both the nurses and the care provider are employees of the hospital, if there is negligence, the hospital takes responsibility under the risk management regulations.
The nurses assigned to the client during the hospitalization: Any nurse who cared for the client while hospitalized may be found guilty of negligence if no other care provider was contacted to attend to the client when the on-call provider was not present. If a nurse did not attempt to find a care provider to evaluate the client, a finding of negligence may be justified.
The administrators employed by the hospital: The administrators of the hospital may be named in a lawsuit as a party, but as they had no direct care relationship with the client, there is little risk they would be found guilty of negligence.
Only the nurse on duty at the time the client herniated: It is not only the nurse on duty when the client herniated but any nurse who cared for the client during the period of deterioration who may be found guilty of negligence.

Answer to Question 2

Answer: 3

Rationale: The action or inaction of the nurse did not directly cause injury to the client. The client and his wife are responsible for reporting signs of infiltration to the home health nurse, so there was no indication the client's injury resulted directly from the nurse's action or inaction. The home health nurse owed a duty to the client, as he was assigned to this nurse. The standard of care in this situation is to ensure that the client and his wife understands the symptoms of infiltration and that they report it immediately. Therefore, the standard was met. If the nurse knew of the infiltration and failed to act, then this condition would have been met. However, the client and his wife did not notify the nurse.