6-5-2011
Assignment 1
Health Rights and Responsibilities SPRB11 Sec B

I am currently not employed in the healthcare field. I worked as a nursing assistant and unit clerk in ICU and PCU in the past. So, I can’t really base this paper on my own personal experience. I can however base it on different case studies that I have found in our text and online. I know that when I was working in the healthcare field, there were several times when I found myself holding my tongue or being extremely careful how I answered questions from patient’s families and patients. You can never be too careful. I know that we were constantly receiving training, workshops and memos in order to keep us from making mistakes. Ever type of job in the healthcare field is open to a situation that could lead to be being held liable for negligence. Of course there are ways to prevent it and ways to avoid those situations. Employers that are in the healthcare field that employ people to perform these jobs. They constantly learning and updating from situations and training their employees on how to handle these situations. Employers spend a lot of time and money trying to avoid cases where they could be liable. Let’s face it, we are human and to err is human. So in every job, at every turn there could be a situation where the employee or the employer is held liable. Training, refresher courses are necessary in order to keep employees up to date on how to handle each and every situation that may occur. I have chosen a career as a healthcare administrator for a small clinic that offers mental health counseling.

Situation
As the healthcare administrator of Happy Places Treatment Center, I am responsible for the facility as a whole. Each department has different department heads that report to me. However, ultimately I am responsible for care given and things done in the facility that I manage. A child who was nine years old, by the name of Sally was brought to our facility for testing and counseling. Sally was brought into our facility by her mother. Due the patient’s age, her mother was to be present at all testing. Sally began the testing by undergoing several test administered by our Head Psychologist. She was doing well in responding to the testing and seemed to enjoy the testing experience. We do our best at our facility to make the children feel at ease during the testing procedures. After the test procedure, Sally and her mother went to the break room where they were given a snack of cookies and juice. During this time our psychologist that was testing Sally was able to brief the counseling on the results and instruct her on what she would like Sally to work on in therapy that day. The therapist is relatively new to the treatment facility and was use to working with older patients. This was Sally’s first day at the center. The therapist had never worked with a child like Sally. Sally had several behavior issues. A treatment plan would be done after her first visit and decided on based on protocol of the clinic and recommendations from the psychologist and therapist. They would also speak with Sally’s mother about her wishes and desires to determine a treatment plan that would be easy to follow at home and to address all of Sally’s issues. After the brief conversation with the psychologist, the therapist went and got Sally from the break room and asked the mother to have a seat in the waiting room. Sally and the therapist begin talking and the therapist was explaining what they were going to talk about. Sally started to become agitated. The therapist noted this in her notes and continued on. Several minutes passed before Sally began to get increasing louder and more talkative. This session then turned violent. Sally began to scream and yell and throw the blocks and toys across the room. The therapist was shocked but remembered that sometimes these things can happen when addressing behavioral issues. She was trying to explain to Sally to calm down, but Sally was completely out of control. Without the consent of Sally’s mother or without consulting the psychologist, this patient was restrained. The therapist called the attendant on duty and the two of them restrained Sally in the chair. Restraints were commonly used on patients who were unable to control themselves. The therapist however, was not familiar with the restraints that were used or the patient. Sally continued to fight the restraints and they continued to hold her down and tighten the restraints. After a few moments, Sally stopped moving. The therapist and the attendant were shocked to see that the child was blue and had stopped breathing. They immediately removed the restraints, placed the patient on the floor and began administering CPR. The therapist called 911. The mother was not notified of the problem until she watched her lifeless daughter being wheeled through the waiting room.
Negligence
The negligence in this situation is simple. There was insufficient supervision of new therapist. She was not trained in emergency restraints. Protocol was not followed by the therapist or the attendant. The mother was not notified nor was she informed of the problem, she should have been present at the session. Inconsistent training, supervision, and total disregard to the clinics restraint policy, minor policy caused this situation to spiral out of control. Ultimately the therapist, attendant and administrator could be held liable for neglect in this situation.
This whole situation could have been avoided by a few simple procedures. 1. Making the Minor’s parents aware at the time of the check in of the policies of the clinic, that they must supervisor all treatments. 2. More training and supervision of new employees for a minimum of 90 days from the date of hire. 3. More training for attendants about what they are allowed to assist with and when to call someone more qualified to assist. 4. Case plans for all new patients that enter the facility.