Question

Imagine that the long-term care institution you work for just received a summons and compliant about alleged negligence in patient care that resulted in a bedsore. Discuss the legal and ethical steps the administrator must undertake upon receipt of the summons and complaint.

Please reference the Text: Required Text: Handbook of Home Health Care Administration, Sixth Edition, Marilyn D. Harris, MSN, RN, NEA-BC, FAA,ISBN: 9781284068023

Answer 1

legal and ethical steps the administrator must undertake upon receipt of the summons and complaint

Documentation Supplemented with Photographs, consent forms and other documents like discharge summary and discharge advice can produce may help for administration , procedure note and care given documents and patient and attenders feedback while discharge , and if patient is bedridden may develop bedsore.

some example given below for medical documents may use for legal purpose

Chart entries regarding the resident's skin condition may appear simultaneously in several locations. For example, the decubitus should be documented in the MDS, care plan, nursing summaries, nursing narrative, and physician notes. Locate additional documentation on skin care flow sheets and treatment records. Different facility personnel, including physicians, nurses from different shifts, nursing assistants, as well as nutritional and rehabilitation personnel, generally make entries. As such, record alteration or falsification is difficult and easy to detect. "Color photocopies are highly recommended, are worth the increased cost, and in many instances will assist you in finding falsification of the record.

There are no firm guidelines that govern the determination of unavoidability. Severity of the resident's preexisting illness may bolster an argument for unavoidability. However, the interplay of disease, mobility status, and skin condition is extremely complex and must be taken on a detailed case-by-case basis.

When pressure sores do occur, or when existing wounds deteriorate, documentation and use of appropriate prevention and wound-care are more likely to be in place, thereby decreasing litigation risk.

those steps may helps for summons and complain.