Nurse sued after responding to a patient call while heading home after work in a COVID isolation room.
Original:
“If I hadn't gone to that room that day”... A nurse who became a suspect after responding to a patient call on the way home. There is a nurse who heard a patient's call bell on her way home from work, entered the room, and three years later, is being investigated on charges of professional negligence resulting in death. In a civil lawsuit against the hospital, the court pointed out that the initial response of the first medical staff to arrive at the patient was inadequate, which led to a separate criminal complaint and civil lawsuit against the individual medical staff member. Nurse A, who was the first to find the patient, was not the nurse in charge of this patient at the time and had already finished her shift...
Summary
The nurse's working hours had already ended, and she was about to leave for her day off.
A patient called from a COVID isolation room.
She heard the call before other nurses and entered the room first instead of leaving for her day off.
She checked the patient's condition and provided treatment. Other medical staff joined later.
The patient's condition had been poor since the call, and due to low oxygen levels, the patient suffered hypoxic brain damage.
The patient passed away a few days later.
The hospital lost the civil lawsuit and was ordered to pay damages.
Subsequently, the nurse faced criminal charges based on the civil ruling.
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Regardless of whether you were on your way off or it was outside working hours, if there is negligence, you must accept criminal punishment.
Legal punishment against an individual medical professional for an act started out of goodwill, even when it was not during working hours, is excessive.
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While the patient's death is undeniably tragic,
critical patients can arise anywhere,
and this situation could lead to a ruling that says "if you aren't confident, don't step in."
Nurses are writing petitions and are in an uproar.
A few years ago, there was also a case where a family medicine doctor next door was sued after being called by a traditional Korean medicine clinic director to perform CPR on a cardiac arrest patient.
The strange practice of instructing not to remove clothing when performing CPR on a woman is also to prevent future legal issues.
It is becoming a world where people are increasingly reluctant to help when someone falls into sudden difficulty.
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