Patient Safety Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Patient Safety - Research Paper Example The Incident Bishop (Baltimore Sun, 2011) reports that a Maryland woman suffered serious health difficulties as navy doctors left surgical instruments inside her abdomen. The portion of a Gyrus Forceps, a disposable surgical instrument, broke off in the belly of the victim while doctors at the Portsmouth Naval Medical Center in Virginia removing her uterus in February 2008. The woman, Mrs. Williams faced severe health difficulties following the surgery. Mrs. Williams said that she had frequently consulted doctors at the general surgery clinic in Portsmouth and complained of pain and pressure. However, surgeons could not find the actual cause of her abdominal issues. As per the reports at last, she went to National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda in July 2008 and described of â€Å"unbelievable abdominal pain, nausea, and near-fainting† (Baltimore Sun). From a CT scan, it was discovered that there had been a foreign object in Mrs. Williams’ pelvis. The detected foreign object in her pelvis measured 3.5 ?0.4?03 cm and it was later removed by another surgery (Baltimore Sun). The woman filed a $2 million negligence lawsuit against the United States and another negligence suit against the makers of the disposable Gyrus Forceps. In her suit, she said that she had been hospitalized several times and â€Å"had undergone painful procedures to investigate and treat her symptoms† (Baltimore Sun). Analysis of the Incident Evidently this dangerous incident is the result of the careless act of some navy doctors. Although US government argued that the quality of the forceps was poor, the surgeons cannot dispose their responsibilities easily. Doctors have undeniable responsibility on their patients’ health until the patients recover perfectly. According to Rogers (2002), the quality of doctor-patient interaction becomes the foundation for medical relationships which also greatly contributes to patient’s autonomy and interests. Although Mrs. Williams had repeatedly visited general surgery clinic in Portsmouth in order to get rid of her health issues, the doctors did not try to examine her problems in detail. The US medical sector could detect the broken part of forceps in her abdomen only seventeen months after it had been left inside her body. This incident obviously raises some ethical questions. The Modeling and Role Modeling nursing concept, which is one of the major grand theories, states that nursing is a â€Å"self-care model based on the client’s perception of the world and adaptations to stressors† (Nursing theories). Although it is a nursing concept, it broadly addresses the whole health care practitioners’ responsibility of giving great emphasis on clients’ perceptions. As stated, ‘facilitation, nurturance, and unconditional acceptance’ are the major elements that determine the quality of the care giving (Frisch, 2006, p.117). However, in this case, the medical practit ioners did nothing either to reduce the patient’s stress or to nurture her. The seriousness of this incident increases as it comes to a group of navy doctors who are appointed only after a series of recruitment procedures that verify all qualitative as well as professional potentials of the candidates. This poor performance of the navy doctors raises some further questions regarding the quality of the public health care sector. Here, the Gyrus Forceps Company has also not taken a favorable stance towards the woman. It is obvious