StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
An essay "Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence?" outlines that in most cases, nurses, medical technicians, and paramedics are hospital employees but the same does not necessarily apply to doctors who at times use hospital premises to offer their services…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.7% of users find it useful
Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence"

Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence?IntroductionFirst of all, before we embark on tackling the issue at hand, it is imperative to mention that, in the event that a hospital employee acts in any way that hurts a patient, the hospital in such a case may be held liable. This is under the principle of vicarious liability which provides that, employers will be deemed to be vicariously liable for the torts of their employees but only those committed during the course of employment.

Having said that, it is important to determine first and foremost who an employee is. In most cases, nurses, medical technicians, and paramedics are hospital employees but the same does not necessarily apply to doctors who at times use hospital premises to offer their services and cannot therefore be regarded to be employees. For example, a paramedic who is employed by a certain hospital, gives a patient the wrong injection. In such a case, the hospital will be held liable.What is gross negligence?

It occurs when one acts in a manner likely to cause injury to another without regard for the potential victim. There are three elements required to prove gross negligence; the plaintiff needs to prove that the defendant owes him/her a duty of care. Secondly, the plaintiff needs to show that the duty of care owed as breached. Lastly, the claimant must prove that the loss suffered was caused by the defendant. This is the element of causation which is the question under discussion and therefore we shall delve deeper into it.

How do you determine causation? You simply carry out the 'but for' test- ask 'but for' the defendant's actions, would the claimant have suffered the loss? If the answer is in the affirmitive, then the defendant is not liable. If no, then the defendant is liable. HospitalThe hospital’s liability will be solely dependant on its employee’s liability simply based on the principle of vicarious liability. Therefore, if any of the three employees namely the physician, nurse or ER tech are found liable, then by default the hospital will also be liable.

PhysicianThe physician has not been mentioned in the scenario given and therefore cannot be held liable.ER TechThe ER Tech carried out his duties diligently when he went to the patient’s room to check up on him and even though the nurse casually told him that the patient was probably drunk, he went ahead and made sure that the stretcher was up and then went to help the other nurses. No acts of negligence can be claimed to have been committed.NurseThe nurse was negligent because upon realising that the patient has become restless, anxious and unco-operative, he made an assumption that the patient was drunk nd even discouraged the ER tech from giving him too much of his time.

Before this also, the nurse will checking on the patient did not finish carrying out the assessment and quickly shifted his attention to other patients brought in. Would the patient have died ‘but for’ the nurse’s negligent ommission? No. This is because further assessment would have revealed that patient was suffering from internal bleeding due to a ruptured spleen. ReferencesCoulter B. (2008). Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence?Russell G. & Thornton. (2006).

JD Malice/gross negligence

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence Essay”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/nursing/1616628-legal-aspects-of-nursing-homework-assignment-1
(Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence Essay)
https://studentshare.org/nursing/1616628-legal-aspects-of-nursing-homework-assignment-1.
“Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence Essay”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1616628-legal-aspects-of-nursing-homework-assignment-1.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Medical Malpractice: When Can Patients Sue a Hospital for Negligence

Amputation Mishap Negligence

A malpractice on the other hand occurs when a doctor, a hospital, or any other medical professional, causes an injury through omission or negligence to a patient.... AMPUTATION MISHAP; negligence Name Institution Amputation Mishap; negligence negligence as evident in the article is a component in cases of injury, proving that a company, person, or any other entity failed to act in a competent way and thus caused harm by lack of expected or reasonable action to obtain damages for the victim....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Amputation Mishap, Negligence Cited

AMPUATATION MISHAP, negligence CITED BY A.... OWELL In health care sector even slightest negligence can become a cause of big tragic incident and can cause terminal damages.... negligence is tolerated to some extent, but gross negligence and malpractice raises legal queries and requires authentic actions to ascertain the rights of all.... negligence is an act of failure to provide the required care or attention towards a medical patient, which is his fundamental right....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Medical Negligence Case

hospital the moment he was admitted in the hospital for treatment.... Sur Lecturer Date Medical negligence Rameez Raja entered into a contract with the Lister N.... Kildare as directed is a medical negligence because Rameez ended up dead.... Therefore there is a medical negligence on the part of Nurse Rachett.... Rameez died out of the negligence of Nurse Rachett because she failed to summon Dr.... If executors of Rameez decide to file a suit, then according to Tom (2005), a court of law will have to get more evidence from other medical specialists on the usual safeguards and correct procedures observed in specific medical treatments before making any decision on the damage caused as a result of negligence....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Malpractice/negligence and liability

Secondly, the emergency room physician may bear liability for doctor malpractice and failure to communicate, and thirdly, the anesthetist may be liable for negligence of duty.... In the physician's case, if he is fully trained, he is well aware that situations in a hospital's emergency room are always urgent and change rapidly (Leonhardt, 2009).... medical malpractice is a demonstration of disregard in a medical practitioner's professional and licensed faculty, illustrated by not adhering to standards of practice and causing harm or death (Leonhardt, 2009)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Negligence in Healthcare

negligence [Name of Student] [Name of Institution] Introduction Records and reports indicate that more nurses are being sued for malpractice by the day.... Quite apparent in these campaigns, education, training is the distinction among malpractice, negligence, and gross negligence.... This paper explores the differences among negligence, gross negligence, and malpractice.... In addition, the paper discusses the importance of documentation and its connection with a negligence case in which a patient's wrong leg was amputated....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Legal & Ethical Issues in Nursing

Usually, medical malpractice is a serious offense in law, and lawyers use it to refer to negligence resulting in injury or death by the healthcare provider upon failure to adhere to the accepted standards of practice for relevant procedure.... Also, medical malpractice may occur through the outpatient with hospital negligence involved.... The cases involving medical malpractice are handled by the law firm where the attorneys prove the liability of the hospital in offering resources to insurance companies....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

What Is Considered Malpractice and What Are the Consequences

Nonetheless, these medical malpractices are usually punishable by medical malpractice laws.... Finally, the essay will analyze the challenges that hinder effective application of the medical malpractice laws.... The main intent of the application of the medical malpractice laws is to ensure that the patient in question is compensated following the ordeals of the medical practices.... Medical malpractices are professional negligence within the healthcare profession....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Elements of Medical Malpractice

The essay will determine if there were any elements… medical malpractice is the professional negligence by a care provider or healthcare profession, which results in provision of substandard treatment or care, which may lead to harm, death or further injury on a patient.... The malpractice may Elements of medical malpractice or Negligence This essay focus on Jose's case, an 8-year-old boy who developed a permanent disability on his arm after a physician failed to perform a surgery in good time....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us