According to Sheridan ( 2024 ), medical malpractice is defined as
“ professional negligence by act or omission by a healthcare provider where the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes harm to the patient .”
to set that aside as being definitional and we ’ re going to report it to the appropriate agencies , because we are accountable for following those definitions . But we ’ re not going to build an entire program around those . What we ’ re going to do is build the infection prevention program around preventing clinical patient harm .”
There is an inherent desire on the part of healthcare facilities to safeguard against adverse events , infections and medical errors , the latter whether committed by commission or omission .
In some cases , it can be difficult to determine exactly how an infection was transmitted , only that it occurred while in treatment , while in other cases , the causation is clear . Regardless , Goguen ( 2015 ) observes , “… the hospital itself is the most likely to be held responsible … Determining liability for injuries or death resulting from HAI and sepsis can be very challenging from a legal perspective and requires an investigation into the specific circumstances of how the infection was acquired , why it was not promptly treated , and whether it could or should have been prevented . Where hospitals are involved , it isn ’ t always clear who is liable for the patient ’ s infection , and if a doctor seems to be the one responsible , the hospital may not be on the legal hook if the doctor was an independent contractor as opposed to an employee . To bring a successful lawsuit for damages resulting from HAI and sepsis , the defendant ’ s liability will need to be established , usually by a qualified expert medical witness ( a neutral third-party medical doctor ) who examines the treatment situation and determines if there was compliance with the appropriate medical standard of care at every turn . If it is found that the infection was preventable , and that it occurred due to the negligence of a medical professional , then a lawsuit has a good chance of success . The patient can bring a medical malpractice lawsuit within a short time frame , or , in the worst-case scenario , family members can sue the hospital for wrongful death .”
According to Sheridan ( 2024 ), medical malpractice is defined as “ professional negligence by act or omission by a healthcare provider where the treatment provided falls below the accepted standard of practice in the medical community and causes harm to the patient .”
Sheridan ( 2024 ) adds that , “ A person acts negligently if they depart from the conduct expected of a reasonably prudent person acting under similar circumstances . Departure from reasonable conduct may take the form of an omission or commission of an act .
Examples of omission of an act include failing to administer medications , failing to order diagnostic tests , and failing to follow
september 2024 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com •
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