The last fifty years has seen to more legislative actions been taken in the medical practice than ever before. This was to ensure standard delivery of health services to the public. The inclusion of legal parameters in the nursing practice has seen to improved client care and increased access to medical care to the public. The principal enactment that changed the historical backdrop of restorative practice and the universe of therapeutic services was the Social Security Act of 1 965 which prompt to the starting of Medicaid and Medicare in the United States. The statutes created from this enactment seek to provide a guideline on nursing practices and protect the aged, disabled and low-income individuals from prejudice. The passing of the Social Security Act made way to the enac tment of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) of 1986. This act, often called the anti-dumping law, prohibits the refusal of medical care to impoverished and uninsured patients looking for therapeutic help with an ED. It also bears to oversee the transfer of patients from an inpatient setting to a lower level of care (Austin, 2017).
Chapter 8 of Contemporary Nursing shows an example of ordinary negligence. It is a case study of a 48-year old male patient who walks into an emergency department stating that he has a ‘persistent, moderate substernal pain that is now radiating laterally toward both shoulders.’ (Cherry, 2017). Other than the chest pains, the patient was diaphoretic, hypertensive, tachycardic, tachypneic, and communicated the sentimental heartburn. A keen medical attendant would have perceived that the great indications of a subsequent myocardial infarction including pressure in the chest, shortness of breath, and indigestion. Regardless of the possibility, the nurse did not quickly speculate the patient will build up a heart attack; the patient's temperamental imperative signs ought to have signaled the nurse of the seriousness of the situation. Rather, the nurse opted first to instruct the patient to improve his payment plans with the clerk before he was permitted to see a doctor. As a result of the delay in treatment, the patient encountered a myocardial infarction and fell, injuring a fellow patient during his fall. The provisions of the EMTALA were abused when the nurse placed payment needs before the medical emergency at hand and neglected her duty as a medical attendant
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According to the EMTALA, Nurse Clarke’s legal responsibility was to provide care even when the patient was unable to cater for the finances. As a responsible nurse in practice, she should have realized that Mr. Jones results showed an above average level of blood pressure and a high oxygen saturation which were signs of a coming myocardial infarction. Even if the patient's physical state did not cause any alarm of a possible cardia c attack, she should have done more tests to ascertain the situation.
The nurse breached her legal duty by neglecting to follow proper standards of care. She failed to recognize that her patient’s unstable vital signs were a pointer to an imminent heart attack. She knew that her patient’s test results were a show of great concern, yet consciously omitted this information to him.
Despite knowing the danger Mr. Jones is in, she neglects her duty as a caregiver by referring her patient to consult the clerk on payment matters. This was an apparent violation of the EMTALA terms which were the denial of immediate medical attendance despite the inability to pay. As the patient goes to consult the clerk, he collapses. In his fall, he injures another patient who suffers a fracture and has to be hospitalized, on top of the migraines she came to be treated for.
This unfortunate turn of events would not have occurred Nurse Clarke carried out her legal duty . The nurse failed her statutory duty to uphold the standards of care. She demonstrated negligence in her failure to recognize the client's presenting symptoms as an indication of a serious medical condition and should be held accountable for her prioritization of the patient's ability to pay before permitting his access to treatment. Even though the patient verbalized that he was positive that his symptoms were due to indigestion, it was the nurse's responsibility to assess him further. Not only did she lack the competence to evaluate the situation, but her action of sending the patient to the registration clerk while he is unstable is also in opposition of the EMTALA.
Likewise, the adverse occasions of the patient's collapse because of myocardial infarction and the overall impact of making harm another customer in the crisis office could have been counteracted if the medical attendant had not delayed treatment. Not only is the attendant specifically and lawfully obligated for the delaying of the patient's assessment, but the hospital is also likewise responsib le for the carelessness. Health facilities have an obligation to prepare and teach their staffs on regulatory statutes and moral contemplations. Harris Meyer called attention to in his article, "Why Patients Still Need EMTALA", that violations in EMTALA are partly due to the "failure to follow policies and procedures, and the lack of education of medical and nursing staff" inability to take after arrangements and systems, and the absence of training of therapeutic and nursing staff." (Meyer, 2016). The term contributory carelessness is unfit to depict the circumstance for the situation think about since the medical attendant ought to have been sufficiently learned to advise the customer that the cost of the crisis room can be talked about at a later time.
References
Austin, S. (2017). What does EMTALA mean for you? . WoltersKluwer . Retrieved on 3 March 2017, from http://journals.lww.com/nursingmanagement/fulltext/2011/09000/What_does_EMTALA_mean_for_you_.5.aspx
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. (2017). Contemporary Nursing Issues, Trends, & Management . St.Louis,
MO: Elsevier.
Friedman, E. (2011, April 5). The Law That Changed Everything - and It Isn't the One You
Think. Retrieved February 22, 2017, from http://www.hhnmag.com/articles/5010-the
law-that-changed-everything-and-it-is -t-the-one-you-think
Meyer, H. (2016, March 26). Why Patients Still Need EMTALA. Retrieved February 22, 2017,
from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160326/MAGAZINE/303289881
