Analysis of a Healthcare Lawsuit Case

Analysis of a Healthcare Lawsuit Case

Title and Citation

The case selected for this assignment has been taken from the

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice, and is entitled as 'Ethical and Legal Analysis of a Patient Case'. The case was reported by Rolando, T. Lazaro and was filed in January in 2004.

Facts of the legal case

The legal case under discussion mainly deals with the negligence and the careless attitude of the medical practitioners and the ways in which this behavior might affect the health and well being of the patient. It is eminent to mention here that the case under discussion has resulted in severe consequences and has taken the life of the patient, who was an old lady of 75 and was admitted in the hospital for total hip replacement (Anderson, 2004). Due to the negligence of the nurse, Jill, she fell from her chair right after her operation and had to suffer as a result. It is eminent to mention here that the nurse later accepted her mistake and also accepted the fact that due to the workload on her and the burden of her personal issues, she was not able to concentrate and thus was unable to make proper arrangements for the patient. The details of the incident and thus the highlights of the facts of the case are presented in the following paragraphs:

Issues of the legal case

Jill, the nurse involved in the case is a physical therapist as well as the director of Rehabilitation Services in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). Mary was admitted in the rehabilitation centre of Jill for her medical treatment and went through total hip replacement, which implied that the patient was supposed to remain seated for the next few hours and any movement might have resulted in severe consequences. However, after the treatment had been performed and Jill had been treated, she tried t get up from her chair and fell during the attempt. According to the details of the case, Mary said that she was not able to pull the call light and had to get up in order to turn down the volume of TV set. While trying to get up, Mary lost balance and fell on the floor, thus ended up in even worst condition. The situation got even worst when the patient's health continued to deteriorate and by the next day, she was dead.

Holdings of the legal case

After the patient passed away, the hospital administration was afraid of legal charges being filed against the hospital and asked the nurse Jill to change her statement regarding the issue. The hospital administration also warned her of severe consequences and said that she might have to lose her job if she refuses to do so. This condition added more ethical concerns to the already complex issue and the made the case even more complicated (Brenner, 2010). The hospital is now involved in the violation of ethical as well as moral principles and in addition ...