8/6/2019 Practice or Malpractice
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PRACTICE OR MALPRACTICE?
As nursing students we were educated about the ideal way of
performing every
medical procedure and that for us to give the outmost care to
our patients we really have to
perfect the art of nursing practice. But what is really
happening in the true hospital setting? Is
the idealism that the school have taught us really matters and
is implemented in area?
Based from my experience I have learned that many things are
different when youre already
having your duty. Especially in the community setting, sometimes
even if we want to do
whats ideal, the time, resources and other factors are hindering
you to do so. What is really
then a practice and a malpractice?
Before anything else, first we should know: what is then the
difference of a nursing practiceto a malpractice? A nursing
practice is the actual provision of nursing care. In providing
care,nurses are implementing the nursing care plan which is based
on the client's initialassessment. This is based around a specific
nursing theory which will be selected asappropriate for the care
setting. In providing nursing care the nurse uses both nursing
theoryand best practice derived from nursing research. On the other
hand a malpractice is aspecific legal term related to lawsuits
alleging various different c ircumstances leading todamage to a
patient. Malpractice suits may allege various mistakes made by
doctors orother medical professionals, including misdiagnosis,
mistreatment, or various types ofnegligence. Not all errors in
medical diagnosis and treatment are necessarily malpractice,because
there are certain risks and margins for error that arise inherently
in thepractice of medicine.
The factors that can contribute to nurse malpractice are things
like fatigue because Nursesare required to work longer shifts and
thus increasing risk of committing medical errors. Alsothere are
Hospitals and healthcare facilities are more likely to hire
unlicensed/unregulatednurse aides to fill the need left by a
shortage of registered and l icensed practical nurses, so
there is a great deal in skills as compared to those who really
graduated with the degree. Another factor that contributes to nurse
malpractice is miscommunication. Even thoughmiscommunication is
unintentional, its results are no less harmful or deadly. What are
thenthe common types of nursing malpractices? The most common types
of malpractices wouldbe failing to follow doctors orders, failing
to monitor a patient or care for a patient whennecessary,
dispensing the wrong drug, the wrong dose of drug or a drug to the
wrongpatient, and carrying out medical procedures without the
necessary qualifications . Any ofthese errors can result in
potentially fatal consequences, including: organ damage,
drugtoxicity, cardiac arrest, infection and coma.
As future nurses we should be aware of this, aware of the things
that can happen to us andthe patient the we should b e taking care
of and not making things the other way around forhim/her. We should
realize this now before its too late, because being ignorant of the
law is
not an excuse. And by self discipline and hard work we could
make a difference . Malpracticeis not just a word, its not just
something that we could say sorry to, its something veryhurtful and
fatal. Because when we commit malpractice we dont commit mistake we
commit
a crime.
