I agree with you that the hospital has a duty to the patient to ensure that any procedure

undertaken is warranted and safe. I think this is why this case was so important. Darling v.

Charleston Community Memorial Hospital gave legal precedence to recognize that hospitals are

a healthcare providing entity, not just a building that allows providers and nurses shelter to

provide healthcare. Hospitals, because they are accredited by organizing bodies, are therefore

held to certain standards and can be found to be negligent in regards to patient care. Great post!

After review of Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital, I can see why the hospital

was also found to be negligent in causing the patient’s injury. The hospital was found to be

negligent because it failed to have a sufficient number of trained nurses for bedside care of all

patients at all times capable of recognizing the progressive gangrenous condition of the plaintiff's

right leg, and of bringing the same to the attention of the hospital administration and to the

medical staff so that adequate consultation could have been secured and such conditions rectified

and failed to require consultation with or examination by members of the hospital surgical staff

skilled in such treatment; or to review the treatment rendered to the plaintiff and to require

consultants to be called in as needed (CaseBriefs, n.d.).

I believe this case, while faulting nurses, is primarily about the hospital being held responsible

for larger policy decisions. The hospitals defense in this case amounted to the idea that a hospital

is merely a facility that brings doctors and nurses togethers to practice medicine. The nurses are

therefore working under the doctor’s orders, not the hospital. The argument of the court is that

because hospitals are accredited through various associations such as the Standards for Hospital

Accreditation of the American Hospital Association and follow regulations adopted by the State

Department of Public Health under the Hospital Licensing Act (Ill. Rev. Stat. 1963, chap. 111
1/2, pars. 142-157.). Through this decision the court determines that the hospital is in part

responsible for the care provided by its employees and can be held liable.

I agree with you that the hospital should be and was found negligent in this patient’s care. A

patient goes to a hospital with inherent trust that they are going to be cared for within the best

possible guidelines. This case showed that the hospital has a responsibility to its patients to

provide quality care and ensure patient safety. I also think its important to show that nurses

were/are considered to be under the hospital’s jurisdiction and not the physicians. This put the

responsibility of training and maintaining compliance on the hospital to safeguard against

negligence. Great post!

American Hospital Association (AHA). (2020). AHA’s Strategic Plan. Retrieved from

https://www.aha.org/strategy

CaseBriefs (n.d.). Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital. Retrieved

from  https://biotech.law.lsu.edu/cases/medmal/darling.htm