The situation related to nurse negligence is described in detail in Lean’s (2019) article. A Broward hospital patient, Michael Slusher, experienced a fall due to his nurse answering her phone and trying to help him and the same time. The case was elevated to the Fourth District Court of Appeal to decide whether the dispute could be settled as a negligence claim or escalated to the level of medical malpractice (Lean, 2019). As a result of the fall, Slusher suffered torn joints in his knee and several fractures.
The patient initially insisted on being treated as a nurse negligence claim. The legal action applied to the case was medical malpractice because the nurse’s supervision was insufficient to prevent Slusher from falling and sustaining multiple injures (Lean, 2019). Hence, the nurse had to mitigate a vital fall risk, but it was not, given that they were answering their phone while helping the patient. The Florida Appellate Court held that the trial court had had to grant the medical malpractice motion. The case resulted in the Florida medical malpractice statute being applied.
According to Donaldson et al. (2000), most medical mistakes arise from anecdotes and word of mouth. Therefore, the biggest problem with nurse malpractice cases and various medical errors revolves around the idea that patients see it as an individual provider issue. Conversely, the nurse should have never used their phone while helping the patient. The superior issue associated with health staff arises when healthcare organizations insist on removing similar failures improving the care delivery process without having access to adequate support and resources. In Slusher’s case, the nurse should have engaged in a patient-focused interaction and provided the patient with enough assistance to prevent any negative health outcomes.
References
Donaldson, M. S., Corrigan, J. M., & Kohn, L. T. (2000). To err is human: Building a safer health system. National Academies Press.
Lean, R. (2019). Nurse drops patient: Court weighs med-mal over ordinary negligence. Daily Business Review. Web.