Jessa Marie P.

Sabio
4th year

The Lorenza Somera Case

SUMMARY:

She was found guilty of Negligent homicide, As the head Nurse was ordered by
the Operating Surgeon to prepare 10% cocaine with adrenaline for administrating to a
Tonsillectomy patient, which she did and even confimed it back to the surgeon, The
order should have been 10% procaine (not Cocaine), anyway the patient went into
shock and died, the case was that with her training she should have known the
mistake and so she was negligent.

REACTION:

In my ruling, both Nurse Somera and Dr. Favis are responsible Anastacia
Clemente’s death. Dr. Favis flaw in this case was that he ordered the wrong
medication and as testified by student nurse Montinola, he worsened his error by
confirming his wrong order after being asked by Ms.Somera. Though Ms. Somera
followed her nursing responsibilities by the book, she still lacked something.
Obviously the order was questionable, and she did her role by confirming the order
but as someone who took up years to gain the title nurse, she had a lot of OR
experiences, and surely in the past none of them involved cocaine used as a local
anesthetic. She should have at least commented to Dr. Favis something like “I’ve
never seen cocaine used as an anesthetic in the OR before. Is this a new addition
doc?” or “This is a commonly abused drug right doc? I should be careful. To gain the
physician’s attention. She should not have carried the orders unless they are written in
the chart. That way she could have her proof and defense.

But the thing is, when health professionals, talk, order, confirm information in
the field, we must listen and listen well. When we do something, we should focus on
the job at hand and leave all worries and preoccupations behind.

In terms of the court ruling, I don’t think, I know that it was very unfair. In the
first place, it was Dr. Favis who gave the order. If you were to stick to the rules and
leave out the fact that the order was only verbal, the nurse had done her job of
receiving the order and confirming it. Thus the main culprit is the surgeon. The court
should have sentenced both persons, with more weight to the surgeon. What’s
frustrating about this case is the fact that it was not mainly Ms. Somera’s fault, she
had much lesser salary, she had just started her career, but she gets all the blame
while the surgeon goes free unscathed.
 NURSING JURISPRUDENCE
Philippine Nursing Act of 2002 (RA 9173)

Summary:

The Board is now composed of a Chairman and six members instead.

Qualifications of Board Members is not limited to registered nurses with Master’s degree
in nursing but also to registered nurses with master’s degrees in education, or other allied
medical profession provided that the Chairperson and majority of the members are
holders of a Master’s degree in nursing o Of the ten years of continuous practice of the
profession prior to appointment, the last five (5) years must be in the Philippines.

Licensure Examination and Registration shall be taken within two (2) years after
the last failed examination. Revocation and Suspension of Certificate of Registration:
Implementing Rules and Regulations, Code of Ethics, Code of Technical Standards, for
Nursing Practice and policies of the Board and of the Commission o Added: Sec. 28g for
practicing the profession during the period of suspension o Period of Suspension of the
certificate of registration/professional license not to exceed four (4) years.

Nursing Practice o Scope of Nursing – Duties and responsibilities of the Nurse

Deleted: Special training for intravenous injections but Nursing Service Administrators
still require formal training for the safety of the patient and the protection of the nurse
and of the institution.
Special training for suturing the Lacerated perineum. Observe the Code of Ethics
and the Code of Technical Standards to maintain competence through continual
professional education. Health human resource production and Utilization additions o
Comprehensive Nursing Specialty Program. The Board is mandated to formulate and
develop a comprehensive nursing specialty program that would upgrade the level of skills
and competency of specialty nurse clinicians in the country.

Reaction:

Our profession as a nurse is guided by a strong set of laws and rules approved by the
national government for us to base our policies in. Nurses should be familiar with what
these laws hold and what they can do to help us function fully and legally and as an
effective nurse in the hospital, in the community or in any setting which our profession
requires practice. Here in the Philippines, nurses are not affected by the medical
malpractice however such acts are still accountable against the Philippine Nursing Act of
2002 R.A. 9173.
Many of us heard about medical practice acts and the people who are being affected.
First, the physician, and next the nurses, the main focus of this article are the nurses.

The scope of nursing defines the nursing responsibilities and duties of a Registered
Nurse within the Philippine territory. This includes responsibilities of nurses for clients in
different life spans and in any health care setting, may it be in the hospital or in the
community.