Healthcare Compliance Perspective:
Licensed employees must not only refrain from acting outside the scope of their licenses but also must be sure to act within the scope of their licenses.
A recent Veterans Administration’s Office of the Inspector General (VA OIG) report has issued some directives to a New York VA Medical Center regarding an incident that happened in 2016. The Veterans Health Administration’s and the medical center’s policies were violated when a registered nurse (RN) and a respiratory therapist both failed to try and resuscitate a patient who was suffering from cardiac arrest. Instead of attempting CPR, medical personnel are reported to have “acted outside their scopes of practice” by pronouncing the patient deceased. This action, according to the report, would have influenced others to standby and not act appropriately to try and resuscitate the patient.
One RN reportedly did not want to try CPR because of her supposed concern that the action would crush the chest of the already frail patient. Another RN, who was supposed to be monitoring the patient’s heart rhythms, left the desk unattended where she was supposed to be monitoring all of the patients’ vital signs. This put not only the patient that died at risk, but the other monitored patients too.
The report indicated that the hospital staff also failed to notify the patient’s family about the “potential lapses in quality care” in a timely way. Additionally, the staff involved in the incident were not immediately suspended from their duties while the investigation was underway.
Consequently, the assistant VA inspector general for healthcare inspections has issued several suggestions for the facility to undertake. These recommendations involve: having the hospital staff participate in “mock drills to prepare for health emergencies,” conduct a review to determine possible factors that undermine the facility’s teamwork and “reviewing staff communications with the late veteran’s family.”
