Essay on Duty Breach Of Duty

Submitted By LATriggs
Words: 814
Pages: 4
Open Document
Duty and Breach of Duty in the Drug addicted Patient
Nurses have certain moral and ethical duties to their patients. Duty is established when the nurse accepts responsibility for direct care and treatment for an individual. (Constantino 2005, P.21) Most nurses that work in a clinical setting, are not able to choose their patients. However, when they accept the patient that is assigned to them, they are then responsible for that patient. They become their advocate. Nurses have strict standards of care, and ethical codes that must be adhered to. According to Iyer 2003, “The concept of breach of duty, occurs when nurses fail to provide an expected standard of care within their specialty, while providing care or treatment to a patient under their care. One of the duties of a nurse is to manage a patient’s pain. Managing pain can become further complicated when the patient is addicted to drugs. Pain can be one of the most subjective symptoms that a human being can have. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) provides a technical definition of pain "An unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” (Merskey, 1994) Margo McCaffery may have said it best. She said that pain is defined as ”Whatever the person experiencing the pain says it is, existing whenever the person says it does.” (Potter, Perry, Stockert and Hall, 2013) It is important to remember that perception of pain is unique to every individual. According to the nursing standards of care, it is the nurses duty to provide patients with adequate pain relief. This standard still applies to a patient with a drug addiction problem, although it can be more difficult to treat their pain. It is a fact that some people come to a clinical setting in search of drugs. However, this is not always the case . The nurse must address any misconceptions that they, and any other healthcare providers in contact with the patient might have. Any preconceived ideas can have great impact on the care that these patients receive. You must stay objective and make treating the pain a top priority. Depending on the drug addiction, patients can have higher tolerances to pain medications and therefore require more of the drug. it is important to build a relationship with the patient. Asking the right questions is a crucial step in treatment. Knowing what type of drug they are addicted to, and how often it is used, can help to determine the baseline for the patient. It will also help in determining which medication is appropriate, and how much they will need. Voicing concerns about their addiction and how the medication will affect them is perfectly acceptable. Also, the patient may be treated concurrently for any addiction or psychological issues. Many healthcare workers are afraid of treating patients with addiction problems. They are afraid of overdoses, litigation or making a patients addiction worse. However, actual rates of addiction are much lower than many people would expect. Take opiate addiction for example; according to a study of 800 primary care
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Duty Breach Of Duty

Breach Of Duty Of Care

Breach of duty: A defendant is responsible for negligence, when the defendant breaches the duty that the defendant owes to the plaintiff. A defendant can breach these duties by not taking proper care in carrying out the duty at hand. If and when a defendant breaches a duty of care, it is decided upon by a jury as a question of fact put before them. So, like the example we are given, a jury would decide whether the defendant gave reasonable care in making sure the floors were clean and dry for customers…

Words 256 - Pages 2

Baron Alderson Breach Of Duty

Breach of Duty It is essential now to take into account Baron Alderson’s objective test formed from Blyth v Birmingham Waterworks Co if one is to establish a breach of duty for Brian against the hospital and police. He states that the actions taken by the defendant must be of the same standard of care that the reasonable man would have used in the same situation. With regards to Brian’s claim against the hospital, Bolitho v City and Hackney Health Authority , where a child suffered brain damage…

Words 971 - Pages 4

Negligent Misstatement

occurred, we have to prove the existence of a duty of care between the defendant and the plaintiff,a breach of that duty by the defendant and injury of loss suffered by the plaintiff as a direct result of the defendant’s breach. The British Court did not recognise the existence of a general duty of care imposing liability for careless behaviour across a range of situations and relationships until the…

Words 1265 - Pages 6

Basic Principles Of The Tort Of Negligence

contact: offer acceptance and consideration between the parties to form a legally binding agreement. (whereas in tort, there is no agreement between the parties) The parties are known to each other, and they are consensus parties. The compensation for breach of contract is to put the eviction in a position as if the obligations were fulfilled. 2) Tort is a wrongful act or omission for which damages can be obtained in a civil court by the person wronged. Wrongful act or omission which caused personal…

Words 580 - Pages 3

Kelly V. Movie Theatre: Negligence

against unreasonable risk of harm and is proven by the following elements: a duty of care was owed by a defendant, that duty was breached, and that breach was the actual and proximate cause of the damages to the plaintiff. Special Duty-Land occupier, Business Invitee The movie theater is the land occupier, one in possession of the property. Kelly is a customer of the movie theatre, a business invitee. The land occupier owes a duty of reasonable care to the business invitee to inspect and discover dangerous…

Words 1505 - Pages 7

Four Elements Of Negligence

If a person is injured because of the negligent action or inaction of the ‘relationship’, that is a breach of the owed duty. For example, a physician examination room has an uneven floor tile due to water damage months before. An elderly patient, while waiting for the physician to come into the room, stands from the chair to get a tissue, trips over the uneven…

Words 1605 - Pages 7

Assignment: Law and Duty Holders Essay

The ultimate purpose of the Council’s Regulatory Services is to ensure that duty holders manage and control matters effectively. The term 'enforcement' has a wide meaning and applies to all dealings between enforcing authorities and those on whom the law places duties (employers, the self-employed, employees and the citizens of Northampton). The purpose of enforcement is to: • ensure that duty holders take action to deal immediately with serious matters; •…

Words 2015 - Pages 9

Company Law Essay

minority shareholders. First directors’ duties are discussed and through analysing this case to show what the duties that director breached. Second analysis the consequences for breaching duties. Finally provide some step to could be taken to protect the benefit of minority shareholder. Through the above analysis, in some cases, the directors may abuse their power, as members, they should protect their rights and interests through legal means. Directors’ Duties Director a person who is nominated…

Words 2457 - Pages 10

CO5121 assignment Essay

developed governance, there are duties and obligations imposed on company directors for the legal regulation of corporate governance. In addition, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission has been established to monitor and manage the corporate market. This essay will demonstrates how directors imposed by the general law duties as common law and statutory duties for company directors , duty of care and diligence contains general law and statutory duties with details and cases to prove…

Words 2028 - Pages 9

Assignment: The Transfer Of Contractual Right To A Third Party

Chapter 16 outline ASSIGNMENT AND DELEGATIONS Assignment Assignments----The transfer of contractual “right” to a third party. Delegations----The transfer of contractual “duties” to a third party. * Both assignments and Delegations occur after the original contract was made. Terminology and the effect of an assignment Assignor--------The party “assigning the rights” to a third party. Assignee--------The third party “receiving the right”. * The assignee (third party has the right…

Words 2528 - Pages 11