Healthcare Professional Regulation and Criminal Liability Essays

Healthcare Professional Regulation and Criminal Liability Essays Healthcare Professional Regulation and Criminal Liability Paper Healthcare Professional Regulation and Criminal Liability Paper Research has shown that the provision of health care services often fail because the general public is not completely aware of the kind of the services that are offered by the health care professionals. At the same time, they are not aware of the statutes that regulate the conduct of the health care providers. Due to this, the paper will seek to provide an overview of the complaint process, explore the role of healthcare regulatory agencies and will identify potential criminal liability in healthcare. Finally, the paper will provide the procedure to be followed when one is a victim of professional misconduct in the healthcare system. To be specific, the essay will focus on the criminal liability that pertains to the nurses in the United States specifically the State of Iowa. Accreditation, registration, licensing and certification Each jurisdiction has its own statutes in regards to licensing, certification and registration of nurses. For one to be registered as a nurse in the United States one must have undergone through a credible education system. For instance, it is a requirement that one should undergo a hospital based diploma program which often lasts for a period of there years. In this particular program, the students are supposed to undertake classes in areas like microbiology and nutrition before proceeding to some intensive nursing classes. However, the diploma program is considered to be an outdated method to gain access to the nursing practice. An alternative to the diploma program is to obtain an associate degree in nursing. This is normally a two year course but it has now been overtaken by the four year degree program in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN). BSN is mostly preferred due to the fact that it has a more hands on approach which creates room for more research into the nursing practice (Walsh. et al, 2006). After completion of any of the above educational programs one will have to go through some licensing examination which is referenced as NCLEX-RN. This is the minimum competency that is globally acceptable. However, critics of this system feel that there is need to ensure that the BSN is the minimum competency to be a registered nurse. However, even after acquiring the minimum competency as a practicing nurse your scope of practice is normally governed by the Nurse Practice Act of the State which differ form one state to another. It is normally the obligation of the state board of nursing to come up with laws .Normally, the scope of one in the nursing practice is governed the level of education (Joseph, 2002). For instance, a registered nurse has a wider scope than that of a vocational nurse. Areas of potential criminal liability On numerous occasions registered nurses often find themselves with no option other than to walk the tight rope. This is normally the case because they are frequent victims of criminal liability. For instance, a HIV victim may claim that his or her source of infection was through a blood transfusion which was administered by a nurse. The IOWA CODE OF 2002 clearly states if the nurse does the transmission knowing that the blood is infected the she will bear the civil liability. However, the IOWA CODE provides that the complainant must provide prove of transmission and show that the nurse knew that the blood was infected (Lockwood, 2009). Another area that exposes the registered nurses to criminal liability arises when the nurses are administering the vaccines. Worth noting is the fact that, most of the vaccines have no prior prescription form the doctors. In such cases, the nurses do act against Article 28 of the Physicians act. However, this is no longer a big issue to the nurses because of the recent amendment of the Article 4 of the Communicable Disease Control Act. The act provides that registered nurses shall not be prosecuted for violation of Article 28 whenever they are administering vaccines. However, but this dose not guarantee immunity to the nurses whenever they are involved in some malicious malpractice as provided by the law. In addition, nurses can also be liable for criminal liability whenever they collaborate with a pharmacist in the substitution of generic drugs with the recommended brand name drugs. This is normally the case when the pharmacist prepares a reimbursement claim which will in turn be shared between the two. Nurses can also be liable for criminal liability whenever they deliver their duties negligently. In such cases the complainant must prove that he or she suffered loss and the nurses owed him or her duty of care.