Standard of Care Essay Example for Free

Standard of Care Essay Case Study: Sandra, a 45-year old female, was brought into the emergency room by her friends with a severe head wound. According to her friends, Sandra tripped and fell after consuming several alcoholic drinks. When she arrived at the hospital she was incoherent and the hospital staff was not able to contact her next of kin. Due to the severity of her wounds, the physician chose to begin medical procedures. 1. Define â€Å"standard of care.† How would appropriate â€Å"standard of care† be determined in this case? Standard of care is a diagnostic and treatment process that a clinician should follow for a certain type of patient, illness, or clinical circumstances. The appropriate standard of care to this patient would be to treat Sandra as in any other patient would be treated for a head injury. Medical staff should not treat her any different because she had been consuming alcohol. 2. What is the difference between informed and implied consent? Was the consent in this case implied, informed, or neither? Explain your response. With informed consent, this means that the individual is aware of exactly what they are getting into. This usually comes up in medical settings, where before a person agrees to a procedure they must know the benefits and dangers. Another element of informed consent is that the person must be mentally capable of consenting. For example, giving a severely intoxicated individual a list of benefits and dangers doesnt really inform him of anything. Implied consent is when you dont affirmatively express consent verbally or in writing, but your behavior indicates your consent. For example, if a nurse comes in the room and asks if it is okay to take your blood pressure, and you raise your arm to her, you are consenting to the procedure. In this case, Sandra was under implied consent. The patient was incoherent and could not verbally consent to treatment and be informed of any proceedings. 3. Using the internet, research the Patient Care Partnership. Identify and explain three rights that the patient has according to the Patient Care Partnership. The Patient Care Partnership replaced the AHAs Patients Bill of Rights. This plain language brochure informs patients about what they should expect during their hospital stay with regard to their rights and responsibilities. a. High Quality Hospital Care. It is a responsibility of a healthcare location  to provider care you need with skill, compassion, and respect. The patient has the right to tell the care givers if you have any concerns about your care or if you have any pain. You have the right to know the identity of doctors, nurses, and others involved in your care. You also share the right to know whether they are students, residents, or trainees. b. Clean and safe environment. A health care facility uses special policies and procedures to avoid mistakes in patient care and keep the patient free from abuse and neglect. c. Patient confidentiality.There are state and federal laws that protect the patient’s information from being released to anybody outside of the patient’s direct care. 4. Using the internet, research the Good Samaritan Laws in your state. Summarize it and explain if it would apply to this case. Under the State of Nebraska, the Good Samaritan Law states, no person who renders emergency care at the scene of an accident or other emergency gratuitously, shall be held liable for any civil damages as a result of any act or omission by such person in rendering the emergency care or as a result of any act or failure to act to provide or arrange for medical treatment or care for the injured person. The Good Samaritan law does not apply to this case because the patient was not at the scene of an accident, but at the hospital. When the patient is on hospital or clinic property, there are other liabilities that come into play (http://www.cprinstructor.com/NE-GS.htm). 5. Define the terms below and give an example of how each of these principles should be used in this case: Respect: respect is to show that person attention and to regard the person’s feelings. Empathy: the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. Dignity: the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect. In the case presented, empathy is shown to the patient by how you are reacting around the patient. You do not want to make fast movements, unless emergency is required, because the patient could awaken at any moment and be frightened. You show the patient respect and dignity by treating her as a patient. The medical staff should not treat her bad and judge her as an alcoholic. The medical staff is there to treat the patient and not to judge or make the patient uncomfortable for any reason.