The objective of this article review is to investigate a medical error case study focusing on legal and ethical implications and proposing strategies and policy recommendations that may help healthcare administrators to prevent this type of error from occurring. The scenario selected for the article review is based on the Smoltz case of the nurse negligence article, “Rosenthal, K. (2004). Where did this patient's I.V. therapy go awry? Nursing, 34(5), 56–57.”
Legal Aspects
In the Smoltz case, there are some of legal aspects that are paramount for identifying, which are as follows (Rosenthal, 2004):
- Failure to comply with the guidelines and standards of practice concerning the Intravenous (I.V.) Therapy skills.
- Ineffective communications regarding failure to inform someone in authority about an ‘emergency’ practice.
- Failure to keep clear and accurate records and documentations.
- Failure to comply with the hospital’s policy on the prohibition of nurses inserting the I.V. therapy treatments within the feet.
Overall, the hospital, physicians in addition to the nurses on duty that first night are the ones who are liable for the medical error of negligence.