Medical Professionals Have An Ethical Duty To Prevent Assaults In Their Practice

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According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, law enforcement officers in Fulton County Georgia charged a man with crimes related to sexually assaulting women who were under anesthesia. The male nurse was booked into the Fulton County jail on allegations of two counts of sexual battery and two counts of custodial sexual assault. The man turned himself into the jail approximately one week after a warrant issued for his arrest.

The nurse was an employee of a healthcare facility that performed endoscopies. Law enforcement alleges that the nurse groped two while they were under the effects of anesthesia. To this point, only two women have come forward. There may be more victims.

The allegations came to light when a pastor at a local church gave Sandy Springs police information that the nurse molested several women at the clinic, all of whom were suffering from the effects of anesthesia. The pastors told police that they learned the nurse began looking that the women in an inappropriate manner, lifted the women’s shirts, removed their bras, and fondled their breasts.

The pastors learned of this information from conversations with the male nurse allegedly. The pastors spoke with a police officer initially then were taken to speak with a detective. The detective issued a warrant for the male nurse’s arrest after the interview with the pastors. One police officer summed up the gravity of the situation nicely by stating that the crime was particularly egregious because the patients believed they were in a place in which they were completely safe. There was no cause for concern, initially. Allowing yourself to be placed under anesthesia requires a level of trust on the patient’s behalf.

The nurse’s employer immediately fired him upon learning of the allegations. The facility’s lawyer stated that his clients were shocked by the allegations. Through its counsel, the healthcare facility said that they perform background checks for all of their employees before hiring them, including the nurse against whom the allegations were made. The facility also pledged to cooperate with police in their investigation. Law enforcement authorities are asking for anyone with additional information to come forward.

In Kansas, each physician has an obligation to practice medicine competently and honorably. Furthermore, any surgical procedures which physicians perform at their office instead a hospital must be under conditions that are sanitary and safe, according to Kansas State regulations. The regulations specify that every doctor’s office is satisfied regulatory standards including preventing foreseeable harm to patients, staff, and to the public. Additionally, physician’s offices must be constructed in a manner that prevents unauthorized individuals from entering certain areas of the office such as recovery rooms and patient record rooms. So important is the safety of patients that the regulations require a physician to report any issues they experience with patient and staff safety.

Missouri’s Healing Arts Practice Act also obligates physicians and other healthcare professionals to protect their patients’ physical and mental well-being. Included in that duty would be the obligation to protect a patient from being physically attacked in the doctor’s office. The physician has a concomitant obligation to protect patients from physical harm as they do to protect the patient from being harmed by malpractice.

Doctors offices should take all reasonable measures to determine who their employees are by performing background checks, even if they are licensed by a state board of registration. Additionally, medical offices should have a system in place to have more than one employee watch over patients recovering from anesthesia.

Call For Further Information

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Defense Lawyer Danielle Sanger has represented numerous health care professionals who are facing licensing discipline. Contact Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a consultation and learn how she will vigorously defend your livelihood.

 

Kansas And Missouri Professional Licensing Attorney Discusses Bullying In The Medical Field

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Our children’s schoolyards are not the only place bullying occurs. Bullying is a significant problem in the medical profession, especially among doctors and nurses. Bullying can lead to more significant problems in the workplace and can jeopardize the performance of healthcare professionals. Bullying can cause substantial job dissatisfaction as well as create or exacerbate the victim’s mental health issues by causing anxiety and depression.

It is the patients, however, who stand the most to lose. The sole reason doctors, nurses, and the myriad healthcare professionals have their positions is to treat patients. Healthcare professionals must realize, therefore, that creating a hostile work environment through bullying endangers patients.

Bullying in a hospital or healthcare setting starts at the top with the physician. Not every physician is a bully to their subordinates. On the contrary, most physicians treat their subordinates as part of a team with one goal in mind: to treat their patient to the best of their skill and ability. Bullying is not simply a matter of being bossy or sometimes condescending. In fact, treating the patient might require the physician to take charge and order people around to meet the challenge with which the medical team faces.

Bullying, on the other hand, is persistent and unwarranted condescending, berating, and abhorrent behavior by one person to their perceived subordinates. A physician is not the only person with a position in the healthcare field to have the opportunity to bully others. Nurses can bully other nurses or other positions that are perceived to be less prestigious. A hierarchy must exist to be sure. When life or death of the patient hangs in the balance, there is no place to have thin skin. As long as everyone is acting professionally and within the bounds of reason, problems may be avoided.

Unfortunately, statistics prove that many doctors are difficult to work with, especially nurses. Consider the results of a recent survey. Among the respondents, all of whom were nurses, 87 percent said that they work with physicians who will not answer their questions or return phone calls. That same survey revealed that 74 percent of nurses have dealt with physicians who were condescending and insulting. Additionally, doctors threw things at nurses 26 percent of the time. This is behavior which could be labeled as a criminal assault. Furthermore, 42 percent of physicians spread rumors, humiliated, or shamed nurses. That behavior, which is bordering on violating the criminal law, may be unethical.

Medical facilities tend to avoid confronting the issues of subordinate bullying. Whistleblowing comes at a risk for nurses. Although states have laws protecting whistleblowers from suffering negative treatment for their efforts, a nurse’s reputation could be tarnished. Furthermore, the hospital administration has an incentive not to reprimand the very physicians that give the medical facility its distinguished name. Those scenarios serve to protect physicians while making nurses expendable.

On the other hand, nurses have a duty to speak out against bullying. Failure to do so compromises patient safety. Bullying leads to increased health care costs and errors that ultimately harm patients. Nurses must not become too intimidated to ask questions. Doctors must learn to be receptive to nurses’ questions in the name of providing the level of health care the patient requires. Failure to do so has dire consequences. A recent study showed that 63 percent of all unanticipated deaths and permanent disability caused by malpractice could be directly linked to the failure of communication between doctor and nurse.

For Help With Professional Licensing Issues

Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger dedicated her practice to representing professional licensees like doctors and nurses who are in danger of losing their license to practice medicine. Call Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a consultation.

Doctors Who Abuse Patients Allowed To Remain Licensed

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Physicians take the Hippocratic Oath upon becoming a physician and promise to do no harm to any patient to whom they render treatment. Some doctors fail to uphold that oath. Instead of living their professional lives by the simple promise to protect the sanctity and dignity of human life, they destroy it by sexually assaulting their patients. The problem is more pervasive than initially believed.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution conducted a thorough investigation into the frequency of sexual abuse committed by physicians. Not only did the investigation reveal that the problem is far too common, but the coverups by hospitals and other organizations also shocks the conscience. Many physicians are getting away with sexual assault and given second chances to correct their behavior, only to go and re-offend.

The newspaper’s investigation yielded surprising results. After reviewing 100,000 disciplinary rulings and other documents, the journalists found that 3,100 doctors received public discipline since 1999 involve some illicit sexual conduct. More than 2,400 of those disciplinary cases referred to sexual abuse of a patient. The remaining cases involved sexual harassment, public indecency, and other forms of sexual deviance.

What these cases show is a physician taking advantage of their power and prestige to fulfill their own sexual desires. Doctors can ask a person to take their clothing off without an objection. The patient is extremely vulnerable to the physician. Unethical and deviant doctors can take advantage of the situation. According to the investigation conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, doctors would use suggestive or make inappropriate comments during intimate exams. Also, doctors would molest their patients, masturbate in front of the patient, swap drugs for sex, or commit rape. Doctors can document the exam with vague language that seemingly indicates that the patient consented to whatever occurred in the exam room. Consent is a tricky issue in this instance because of the disparity of power between the doctor and patient.

One advocate for sexual assault victims blames the deference the typical patient shows the doctor. As patients, we are sometimes helpless and at the mercy of the physician. Healthcare professionals could take advantage of the situation. After the incident, the patient could blame himself or herself for the assault. They could also be left with a sense of disbelief that a doctor could violate a patient’s trust in that manner.

State Boards of Medicine take allegations of sexual assault seriously. They can suspend the doctor’s license for the length of time the particular state’s law allows. At the end of the suspension period, the doctor’s license may be reinstated by the Board of Healing Arts. Of course, that assumes the doctor did not face a prosecution for a crime. Many times the doctor receives the benefit of the doubt if he or she admits to a problem, confronts the problem, and take the necessary steps to prevent recidivism. The investigative reporters found that in Kansas and Georgia, 2/3s of all physicians disciplined for sexual misconduct were allowed to resume the practice of medicine. In some instances, the Board of Healing Arts, the accused physician, and the victim reached private settlements. Consequently, the information does not become public.

Some sexual predators are brought to justice. For instance, a physician’s assistant who worked that the VA Hospital in Leavenworth faces criminal charges and his employer is facing a civil lawsuit based on the sexual misconduct of the individual.

You Deserve Zealous Representation No Matter What Allegations You Face

If you are facing professional discipline, Kansas Professional Licensing Attorney Danielle Sanger can help. Attorney Sanger takes great pride in representing professionals facing licensing discipline. Call Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule a consultation.

Missouri Professional Licensing Defense Attorney Talks About Complying With OSHA Standards Can Help Clinicians Avoid Professional Discipline

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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) promulgated guidelines for safety in clinical offices. OSHA operates on the simple premise that employers have an obligation to provide their employees with a safe work environment. Issues about workplace safety can arise during the course of treatment of a patient. It is important to recognize the potential occupational pitfalls a doctor, dentist, or another clinician must avoid maintaining the safety of their employees and patients as well. You could face professional licensing discipline if you fail to satisfy OSHA’s standards for clinical practice if the violation compromises patient safety. Kansas and Missouri professional licensing attorney Danielle Sanger zealously advocates for healthcare professionals and other professional licensees facing professional discipline.

While compliance with OSHA regulations appears on its face to be onerous, the regulations purport to provide a valuable service for healthcare practitioners. Following OSHA guidelines permits employers to prevent workplace injuries and illnesses. Doing so keeps overhead down while promoting quality patient care by maintaining continuity of employees. Reducing workplace injuries and illness enhances employee morale because employees know that their employer wants them to be physically safe in their work environment.  Every employee is owed the right to work in a safe environment. That means the temporary medical assistant to the longest tenured physician enjoys the right to a safe work environment.

OSHA recommends establishing an office or clinic protocols that employers and employees must follow to ensure a safe work environment. OSHA’s regulations apply to every employer, no matter the number. There are no exceptions. To maintain a safe workplace, OSHA recommends:

  • establishing office protocols, policies, and procedures that comply with OSHA regulations;
  • identifying safety hazards such as biohazards, radiation hazards, chemical, physical, ergonomic, and psychological hazards as well;
  • taking steps to protect workers from infection from various sources;
  • being certain to store medicines securely and protect workers from medical waste contamination;
  • hanging required OSHA posters and required notices, and
  • providing training to employees regarding clinical safety measures.

OSHA requires employers to make sure labels are appropriately affixed when necessary. Additionally, fire exits must be designated and map provided to the nearest exit. Furthermore, steps must be taken to protect staff members from radiation exposure from X-ray machines, MRI’s, and CT-scan machines.

One issue clinicians must not overlook is the electrical requirements OSHA promulgated. OSHA has strict guidelines for electrical safety. If the office uses gasses, for instance, “laughing gas” in a dentist’s office, then the office must contain the necessary wiring to prevent fire and explosions.

Employers should not take these requirements lightly. Following OSHA’s mandates can save money in the long run. OSHA recommends that employers communicate with their subordinates a desire to have a safe workplace. Additionally, employers should establish clear goals and objectives. The goals should be measurable, realistic, and attainable. One way to accomplish that mission is to assign tasks to particular employees and put them in charge of a particular aspect of the clinic’s safety plan. Employers should allow time for employees to familiarize themselves with the safety plans issued by the clinic. Not allowing the necessary time for employees to become familiar with the safety requirements of their office will be counterproductive and provide a disincentive for employees to follow the safety protocols of the medical office. Finally, the employer should demand compliance with the safety programs define by their employer.

Professional Licensing Attorney Available To Assist

Kansas and Missouri Professional Licensing Defense Attorney Danielle Sanger is an aggressive advocate for the professional licensee. If you are facing the prospect of losing your professional license, call Attorney Sanger today at 785-979-4353 to schedule an appointment.