Case Study 1: Prelude To A Medical Error

1. Background Statement
My case study is over chapters 4 and 7. The title is Prelude to a Medical Error. In this case study, Mrs. Bee is an elderly woman who was hospitalized after a bad fall. After her morning physical therapy, Mrs. Bee felt she could not breathe. Mrs. Bee had experienced terrible spasms in her left calf the previous evening and notified Nurse Karing. Nurse Karing proceeded to order a STAT venous Doppler X-ray to rule out thrombosis. She paged Dr. Cural to notify him that Mrs. Bee was having symptoms of thrombosis. Dr. Cural was upset that he was being bothered after a long day of work and shouted at the nurse, telling her he had evaluated Mrs. Bee that morning and to cancel …show more content…

Bee’s status change.
Another secondary issue involves the lack of communication between the health care professionals in the overall care of Mrs. Bee. The exclusion of the social worker, Mr. Friendly, in the updating of Mrs. Bee’s condition resulted in the unnecessary insurance approval and placement of Mrs. Bee in a rehabilitation facility.
The difference between the major problem and secondary issues is that Mrs. Bee’s health condition is now life threatening and there could be possible liability litigation against the hospital. The secondary issues are primarily administrative and can be addressed with a willingness to work together as a team and communicate more effectively with one another in a professional and respectful manor. I think these secondary issues can become major problems. A lack of respect and communication between staff can lead to disregard for open dialogue, allowing personal bias to effect medical decisions.
My analysis of the case is that a judgmental and arrogant Dr. Cural mistakenly ignored Nurse Karing’s accurate assessment of Mrs. Bee’s condition, allowing her to progress to a potentially life threatening situation, due to his superiority complex and open dislike for women. Dr. Krisis erroneously assumed the nursing staff did not contact Dr. Cural, further widening the stereotypical gap between nurses and physicians. Lines of communication between the health care team, including nursing staff, physicians and social workers, were