Unraveling the Threads of Communication, Duty, and Accountability in Healthcare - Paper Example

Introduction

Nursing is a health care profession that encompasses collaborative care of individuals or families to maintain or attain optimum health conditions. People's health is one of the most delicate states of affairs, prompting medical practitioners to be meticulous in their work detail. Nurses are required to heed to the work ethics and follow the guidelines set to control their demeanor. Mediocre professional conduct has fatal consequences, as evidenced in this case study. This article will analyze the imprecise behavior and give a solution to inhibit probable future occurrence.

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Communication

Effective communication in a health institution is an epoch-making attribute to ameliorate service delivery. For communication to be deemed effective, there must be a successful conveyance of ideas through writing or speaking (Sibiya, 2018). Two or more parties must agree to a joint decision before undertaking, failure to which undesirable results are expected. RN Pandya, in the provided context, betrays this idiosyncrasy by failing to inform the team leader of early departure. He is obligated to take care of patients and leaves before the stipulated time of handover without proper communication. His negligence proves malignant as one of the patients perish in his absence. Medical error vulnerability increases with poor communication among healthcare team members (Thompson, 2016). The Bungarribee House administration does not know about RN Pandya's regular shift in Cumberland Hospital. He assumes that the Western Sydney Local Health District informed the hospital about the ordinary shift after rostering. This, therefore, constrains him to leave without handing over as per protocol. RN Pandya makes no observation of the patients, leaving inappropriate records, contrary to the usual procedure at the Bungarribee House. RN Pandya also misinterprets Ms. Khan's communication on when to go. He claims that they agreed on leaving at 2:30 pm, whereas Ms. Khan says that she allowed him to depart at 3:00 pm. Nurses should accurately and precisely communicate important information to colleagues and higher administration and accept their judgment or decision after that. Hospitals and other health service providers should also develop strict rules that restrain their employees from mediocre communication mistakes. This will improve patient safety and augment dependability (Sibiya, 2018). With proper communication, the nurse would have made a better decision and saved a life. Proper communication creates better working interrelation and job satisfaction, which in turn improves patient safety.

Inappropriate Action

According to the law of utilitarianism, an action is only considered morally right if its consequences are optimistic. Inappropriate activity leads to fatalistic repercussions (Smart, 2020). In such a health institution, an employee should make sure their deeds do not negatively affect either the facility or the patients. RN Pandya fails to follow the handover protocol in Bungarribee House, leading to the demise of one of his patients. He also disregards the Western Sydney Local Health District General Information Policy by leaving at an unusual time without his superiors' permission. This behavior is uncalled for as registered nurses are highly warned against infringing guidelines (Thompson, 2016). Even after misinterpreting permission to leave from Ms Khan, RN Pandya was supposed to report to her at the time of departure which he contravenes. In this context, RN Pandya’s desire to leave overtook obligations which proves weakness in his practice. Though the death of the patient cannot be entirely blamed on him, his actions played a crucial role leading to the unprecedented occurrence. Since the institution was busy at the time when RN Pandya wanted to leave, he was certain that an attempt to seek consent for departure would be futile. He therefore opts to leave without informing the team leader, which is a fly in the face of any health institution. This does not also conform with the National Safety and Quality Health Service (2018) standards which clearly state that a registered nurse should apprise those in administrative positions, may there arise an inconvenience (Jones et al. 2015). On the other hand, RN Prasad inappropriately signed the behavioral observation records for patients she had not examined. She also fails to make a notation on the observation chart to explain the situation leading her to signing the records for RN Pandya. A good nurse is obligated to identify and report actual and potential risk where practice may be below standard to help improve service delivery (Gamble & Ion, 2017). RN Prasad covers up for RN Pandya thus proving the services execrable. Similarly, she leaves the unit without checking for sufficient present staff on the floor. Although both of them accept accountability of neglecting some of their duties, the outcome of the same is irreversible and should be an eye opener for people to rethink their life choices. The above reasons account the nurses’ actions as imperfect as they led to tragic reverberations (Smart, 2020). An individual's action should be good and right to maximize the chances of beneficial consequences as the contrary effectuates catastrophic aftermath.

Duty Negligence

Dereliction of duty is the incapacitation of an individual contrary to regulations, obstructing them from performing required obligations. It entails disdaining administrative duties such as serving clients in an entity to satisfy personal preferences. Studies have argued that this is the main cause of failure in different organizations and should, therefore, be keenly addressed to prevent further damage: RN Prasad and RN Pandya neglect procedural actions causing incomprehensible corollary. Due to having a different shift in another hospital and running late, RN Pandya fails to make behavioral observations on acute ward patients. This is required of him before handing over to the nurse in the next shift (Furst et al., 2019). He also does not take proper records as set out in the guidelines governing the institution. Negligence in health has proved to cause death in several cases, as evidenced in this study. Research has shown that 60% of negligence cases registered are from acute care facilities. This, therefore, increases the chances of death as the patients require frequent and collaborative attention. Continuity of care in the acute ward where RN Pandya is assigned duty is sustained by hand over. It should, therefore, be inch-perfect to prevent damage. He pretermitted this process and therefore putting the patients’ health in jeopardy. According to the NMBA standards of practice, a registered nurse should consider and respond to the wellbeing of others up to their capability (Jones et al., 2015). One should also understand the principles of public health and take action to reduce queer results. Other than improving safety and accountability, cossetting the regulations and guidelines of a company also reinforces the entity's credibility, and enhances job security. Employees should be keen to follow the parameters and requirements in their respective professions to fulfill their goals.

The Way Forward

The nursing fraternity should make a number of changes to prevent such an occurrence in the future. The government should introduce a policy to control and individualize patient care. This is a skill that can be taught to health care professionals without interfering with their abilities to work as a nurse. The facilities in which nurses can hold internal workshops to coach their care staff on ways to recognize contextual factors. This will improve the relationship between nurses and patients, thus improving health care services. A nurse will easily follow up on an individual’s health progress as compared to collective responsibility (Gamble & Ion, 2017). In this case, RN Pandya's individualized relationship with the patient could have enabled him to identify the change in his comportment over time. He would have raised the alarm to his colleagues prior to the fatal day, which would, in turn, shift more focus to on his side.

Health facilities should also set up training seminars for nurses to advance their education. This will be vital as technology has evolved, and nurses need to be up to date with the current changes and trends. In addition to that, this training should include life skills that are crucial in this career, with the main ones being empathy and compassion. Health care institutions can also engage their employees and let them air their grievances. They should also let them contribute to the most effective ways of dealing with the problems they experience. Different research projects have proven that the involvement of several minds in decision making increases the range of suggestions and objectives. Hospital staff understand the institution better and know the processes and realities of their career. In this context, if RN Pandya and RN Prasad had been involved in making the guidelines and procedural protocol in the Bungarribee House, the incidence could have been controlled. Therefore, institutions should tap their expertise and knowledge as their effectiveness in decision-making will increase the chances of organizational success.

To improve the quality of service from nurses, the government should improve their salaries to motivate them (Linnen, 2016). In some facilities, unskilled labor is minimal, thus forcing nurses to do work that is not designated for them out of goodwill. The shortage of skilled nurses prompts the available ones to work extra hard to make sure all patients' needs are met. These sacrifices should, therefore, be identified and appreciated through salary increments. Low wages force them to look for alternative ways to increase their earning, which prompts some of them, including RN Pandya, to multitask. In this case study, death could not have occurred if RN Pandya was not leaving for another shift in a different hospital. Nurses also have work overload in areas where there are few of them. In some, the nurse-patient ratios are so distinct, thus overworking the nurses, which in turn deteriorates the quality of health care service. More nurses should be employed to respectively cater for the number of patients in different regions.

Err is to man. In the nursing profession, one is bound to make mistakes, which may have brutal consequences based on the error's magnitude. These mistakes are mainly caused by dereliction of duty, inaccurate and inadequate communication, and inappropriate action. However, these can be curbed by training nurses to abide by the rules and regulations and improving their life and work standards. Health is wealth, and the people we entrust it to should be collaborative and compassionate to grant proper health care. By so doing, service delivery will be perfected and impact the health sector positively, leading to a healthy nation. Every state lays its desire to be safe on the hands of the healthcare workers who dedicate their time, career, and freedom to save people and ensure health in totality against diseases of every kind. Despite the adoration accorded to the healthcare workers, their duty and responsibility in healthcare centers is a necessary evil that they opt to perform.