Health malpractice or negligence case study

 

 


1. Using the GCU Library, locate and summarize an allied health malpractice or negligence case study. If possible, select a case within your chosen field of study. What went wrong? What workplace safety, risk management, and/or quality improvement steps were involved? What could have been done differently? If you were in charge of making sure this type of event never occurred again, what steps would you implement into the risk management plan? You are required to use and cite a minimum of two references from the GCU Library to support your response.

2. A formal risk management plan demonstrates a health care organization's approach as well as support for risk management and, ultimately, patient safety. Accessing information from your own employer/organization or using the internet to find an allied health care organization located in your city or region, identify the goals and objectives, scope, and functions of an existing risk management plan. How does the plan "measure up" in terms of meeting ethical and legal responsibilities to stakeholders? How might you improve it? Explain. You are required to use and cite a minimum of two references from the GCU Library to support your response.

3. The Joint Commission launched the National Patient Safety Goals in 2003 and most recently updated the goals again for 2020. Many years have now passed since the inception of these goals. How has the overall focus of the goals changed in the intervening years? What conditions in the health care marketplace have driven the need for change? You are required to use and cite a minimum of two references to support your response.

4. Looking ahead, select one area of the current National Patient Safety Goals program and make a prediction as to what might change in that area based on technological or other advancements. Consider patient identification standards, communication processes, and infection control protocols, among others. You are required to use and cite a minimum of two references to support your response.

 

What Went Wrong?

 

The core failure was the breakdown of established safety protocols and supervision.

Failure to Monitor: The staff member failed to maintain direct observation and respond appropriately to the patient’s reports of pain, violating the principle of nonmaleficence.

Inappropriate Delegation: If an aide was primarily responsible, the licensed PT violated state practice acts and risk management guidelines by delegating tasks requiring specialized clinical judgment (like responding to acute surgical pain) without adequate supervision (Guilfoyle, 2023).

Communication Breakdown: The patient's verbal complaint was not effectively processed or escalated to immediately stop the activity.

 

Workplace Safety, Risk Management, and Quality Improvement Steps

 

Workplace Safety/Risk Management: The immediate involvement would be filing an incident report to formally document the injury, initiating a Root Cause Analysis (RCA), and isolating the equipment to check for mechanical failure. The facility’s risk manager would contact the insurer and legal counsel.

Quality Improvement (QI): The QI process would involve reviewing the unit's staff-to-patient ratio, training curriculum for aides, and the policy for delegating complex post-surgical tasks to ensure protocols align with best practices and legal standards.

Sample Answer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allied Health Risk Management and Patient Safety Analysis 🏥

 

 

1. Malpractice and Negligence Case Study Analysis

 

I will summarize a common type of negligence case within the allied health field of Physical Therapy (PT), focusing on failure to monitor.

 

Case Summary: Failure to Monitor and Progressive Injury

 

In a common scenario concerning physical therapy negligence, a patient (Mr. J.) recovering from knee replacement surgery is placed under the care of a Physical Therapist (PT) at an outpatient clinic. The physician ordered progressive, weight-bearing exercises. During a routine session, the PT aide (or the PT who delegated the task) directed Mr. J. to use an exercise machine with

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