As the OR supervisor, what is Jan’s role and responsibility in this situation?

In accordance to the hospital protocol the Nurse supervisor must act accordingly, in this case:

- Since there was no response of the previous calls made, the nurse supervisor should try to reach
the designated on-call physician by both beeper and by calling his/her home phone

If still no response since it was an emergency

- the nurse supervisor should contact the second on call physician to be the designated surgeon
for the case
- Once they reach an alternative physician, that physician is expected to assume call
responsibilities until the designated physician can be found.
- The nurse supervisor should resolve this dilemma before the patient arrived on the table

Moreover:
- the nurse supervisor also should not allow the resident to perform the surgery without an
attending physician, because it can risk the safe of the patient’s well being.
- The nurse supervisor should priority her duty of care responsibility which is a legal, professional
obligation, which is imposed on an individual manager or professional, requiring them to adhere
to a standard of reasonable care while performing their duties and avoid any acts that could
foreseeably harm others rather than being self conscious of the attending physician who is a
close acquaintance.
- The nurse supervisor must report the incident to the higher manger as soon as time possible

senior management should do an internal investigation about the said incident

Incidents can happen. A common incident becomes an action for negligence when there is a duty of
care, the related standard of care is breached, and causation is established. Negligence is context
specific, and most cases will depend on their individual circumstances. Negligence lawsuits are governed
by a four-step legal test, including:

Duty of care: Does the defendant owe the plaintiff a duty to take reasonable care to avoid causing an
unreasonable risk of harm?

Breached standard of care: Did the defendant breach their standard of care? The plaintiff must prove
that the defendant (occupier, school, municipality, teacher, etc.) did not live up to the standard of care
of a reasonable person in preventing the harm the plaintiff suffered.

Causality: Did the defendant’s actions contribute towards the plaintiff’s injury, both factually and
legally?

Loss: Did the plaintiff suffer compensable harm and to what severity?

- Promote a culture of transparency and compliance

Canadian Public Health Association (2019) Duty of Care Checklist. Retrieved from

https://www.cpha.ca/duty-care-checklist
Sample On-Call Guidelines, Harbor Health Services, Inc (2020) Retrieved from
http://www.safetynetmedicalhome.org/sites/default/files/On-Call-Guidelines.pdf
 - Conduct an internal investigation about the incident to discover relevant facts to determine if a
violation occurred so corrective action can be taken (if needed)
- • Minimize potential legal liability – Complainant feels “heard” and may be less inclined to seek
legal representation
- – Defense to wrongful termination claim
- – Demonstrate hospital is a “good” employer in response to punitive damages request
Which can be done by:
Human Resources
• Risk Management/Compliance
• Third party
– Professional investigator
– Outside counsel
• Other stakeholders
– Complainant’s manager
– Medical staff

Reference

Mishra,M. Esq. ( October 2017) Conducting EffectiveInternal Investigations. Retrieved from

https://www.calhospital.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/workplace_investigations_2_up.pdf.

Canadian Public Health Association (2019) Duty of Care Checklist. Retrieved from

https://www.cpha.ca/duty-care-checklist
Sample On-Call Guidelines, Harbor Health Services, Inc (2020) Retrieved from
http://www.safetynetmedicalhome.org/sites/default/files/On-Call-Guidelines.pdf