Gonzaga University
The Lewis Blackman Case: Ethics, Law, and Implications for the Future
Medical errors in decision making that result in harm or death are tragic and costly to the families affected. There are also negative impacts to the medical providers and the associated institutions (Wu, 2000). Patient safety is a cornerstone of higher-quality health care and nurses serve as a communication link in all settings which is critical in surveillance and coordination to reduce adverse outcomes (Mitchell, 2008).
The Lewis Blackman Case 1 of 1 point accrued
On Thursday November 2, 2000, 15 year old Lewis Blackman checked into Medical University of South Carolina Children 's Hospital (MUSC) in Charleston for elective surgery on his pectus excavatum, a congenital deformity of the anterior chest (Monk, 2002). Due to issues with insurance coverage, a year had elapsed since Lewis and his parents’ last appointment with the surgeons; however, the office had not required another evaluation prior to his surgical date (Kumar, 2008). During the pre-operative intake process a nurse asked Lewis how much he weighed instead of performing an actual measurement (Kumar, 2008). After insisting on a current value Helen discovered that his weight was 120 pounds, less than he had admitted to (Kumar, 2008; Monk, 2002). While Lewis was in surgery, his family became increasingly worried when the estimated surgical time elapsed without word (Kumar, 2008). Dr. Tagge, the lead surgeon, finally updated the family over two and a half hours later stating that Lewis did well even though he had to reposition the metal bar four times for correct placement (Kumar, 2008; Monk, 2002). Helen reported wondering if Dr. Tagge had realized how much Lewis’ chest depression had deepened since he last saw him a year ago in the office, especially considering he did not lay eyes on Lewis until he was under anesthesia
References: – 1point APA, punctuation, spelling, no more than 15 pages – 2 points