The Importance Of Nonmaleficence In Nursing

A recent nursing error issue that is tragic and unfortunately avoidable is regarding a case where a 7-month-old boy, August Elliot, was a patient at Luke’s Magic Valley Medical Center on October 2, 2015. During his stay at the hospital a nurse mistakenly administered a medication that was not meant for 7-month-old August, but actually meant for a full grown adult. August Elliot was given a dose of saline solution infused with potassium and unfortunately went into cardiac arrest only 10 minutes after receiving the medication. Medical staff attempted to resuscitate the infant but was unable to revive him. It was shortly after cardiac arrest began that another nurse noticed the dose of medication administered was incorrect and intended for an adult. Of the 5 key Ethical Principals, nonmaleficence was clearly the misconduct at hand. Nonmaleficence is “to do no harm” and the error in this case is lack of patient confirmation when administering a medication. This could have been entirely preventable if the nurse administering the medication at the time would have taken the precautions set in place in computer systems to
In this incident both the health and safety aspect was missed and in result cost the life of a young innocent infant whose parents trusted the hospital facility and nursing staff with their child’s delicate care. The hospital did mention in this article that the “tightening” of further safety precautions were currently under way to prevent such incidents in the future. With that said, it is ultimately the responsibility of the nurse to ensure health and safety of every patient regardless of policies and procedures set in