Harm to Infant

Medical negligence is defined as an act of omission by a health care practitioner that is a deviation from the standards of patient care. Medical negligence is present when there is harm done to the client. The worst of which can be death. One case of medical negligence was the case of a 1 year old infant who was admitted to the hospital due to diarrhoea with signs of dehydration. That particular hospital is a teaching hospital where there are student nurses as well as interns who are being supervised by the senior nurses and doctors. Most of the errors in hospital settings are due to medication errors. In this case, it was not any different. One student nurse was tasked to give the medication to this one year old baby. It was a potassium chloride that was to be infused in the intravenous fluid.

A little background: potassium is a major intracellular ion that is important in muscle contraction and this includes the heart. This cannot be given directly since this can cause too much contraction of the heart which will lead to death. When giving medications, it is standard that a senior must oversee that what the student nurse or a junior nurse is doing is correct. The student nurse in this case directly administered the potassium to the child.

Seconds later, the child died. The nurse in charge and the student nurse were both held in prison while their case is being heard.

Hospital negligence can be avoided by careful scrutiny when giving drugs. When in doubt, always ask. We are dealing with life here and there is no room for any mistake. One error can cost the life of an individual.