Question

Answer the following questions. Your answers should address all parts of the questions and be approximately 300-400 words each. Make sure to thoroughly support all answers with accurate details and relevant evidence from the textbook and other resources.

1. Several coworkers are in the lunchroom on their lunch break. Sam and his friend George are having a rather loud conversation about the party they attended over the past weekend. George relates a joke that he heard at the party; it is a very sexually oriented joke with several words that offend Sally (who overhears the conversation). Sally is upset and complains to them about the nature of the conversation that they are having and how it is offensive to her. George and Sam tell her that she is overreacting and dismiss her complaint. Is this considered sexual harassment? Is Sally just overreacting to the situation? If Sally reports the incident to her supervisor, what (if any) actions should the supervisor take to follow up on this incident? 2. Sandra is a nurse in a physician's office and she has just assisted the physician with a suturing procedure. As she is cleaning up afterwards, she is cut by the suture needle and it penetrates her glove. What procedures should be followed? Is the employer responsible even though Sandra made the mistake? How does this incident affect the patient whose blood is on the suture needle? Can the patient be forced to have HIV testing? Be sure to reference OSHA guidelines. 3. A medical assistant is at a local store and notices a patient who had been in the office that morning. The patient is with her husband, and the medical assistant greets the patient and congratulates her on the “good news.” The patient is upset, and the medical assistant realizes not only that the patient had not yet informed her husband of the pregnancy but also that the husband had previously undergone a vasectomy and was not the father. What could happen to the medical assistant for this incident? Would this be considered a mistake rather than an actual violation of HIPAA? Would the employer be responsible for the medical assistant's violation? Consider how respondeat superior and any previous employee HIPAA training might factor in. 4. During an office visit, Mr. H, who smokes cigarettes, is diagnosed with bronchitis. His physician wants to prescribe Levaquin because this is usually the best antibiotic treatment, and it is especially most effective for smokers with bronchitis. However, the physician knows that most insurance companies will not cover this expensive antibiotic. What should the physician do? 5. Susan is diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's disease and she finds her son and daughter disagreeing on who should provide her care. She disagrees with both their ideas. Assume she lives in your state and those state laws apply. She’s asked you, her physician, for advice about how to prepare for the time when she will no longer be able to make her own healthcare decisions. What should you tell her? What resources would you provide? 6. A nurse on your unit has a confidential personal code that allows her to view the medical records of patients on her unit, because she clearly has a legitimate need to view these records. However, one day she browses the records of patients on other units in the hospital while she is on break. She explains that she is bored and wants to see if she recognizes the names of any of the other patients. Describe legal and/or ethical issues involved here.

Answer 1

1) Sexual harassment is a threat of unwanted access or sexual remarks that make other people uncomfortable. George and Sam made a sexual joke that Sally did not want, and Sally protested that it was clearly unpleasant, so it was sexual harassment. However, because Sally was not directly involved in the conversation but overheard it, George and Sam had no direct relationship with Sally, so it is debatable. However, there were other colleagues there and there was a loud conversation so people could hear what they were saying. Sally is not overreacting because these conditions are enough to make Sally feel uncomfortable even if she is not directly involved in the conversation.When Sally reports these to her boss, her boss must deal with them according to internal regulations. Most employers have policies and procedures to follow when such incidents occur. These procedures include incriminating, tracing, and stopping harassment, as well as provision to prosecute or terminate the offender.

2) A.Even though it was Sandra’s fault, she is still required to follow procedures set by the organization she is employed by. According to current OSHA procedures, any skin area or area around the site will have to be washed with soap and water as well as the authorizing organization will have to be notified. The employer will provide her with an evaluation with the exposure guidelines along with the therapy forafter the incident occurred to ensure that if something was passed between the patient and the nurse, that it is treated and taken care of. Because it was an injection to the skin, there are manyprecautions to take to make sure if anything was transmitted, that it is not spread to anyone elsebecause of this incident. The organization should have already created a plan with OSHA that includesa procedural plan and a follow up plan to these situations that is in accordance with the OSHAbloodborne pathogen standard. The employee is also to make sure she has access to anyone who shemay need to help her with this situation such as healthcare professionals. One of the biggest concernsis HIV infection, so HIV infection protocols will be followed along with the other ones in place as wellas PEP after the incident has occurred. I believe this includes a medication and several tests to be ranto ensure if the patient had HIV it is not transmitted to the employee.

B.Because Sandra had blood on the needle when she was poked, the patient should be tested for HBV,HCV and HIV. If those labs have not been ran recently, the patient will be informed and the blood-typevirus. Procedure per patient care need to be referenced in order to get prior consent under state laws.Patients who have been diagnosed with HIV, HBV or HCV should receive counseling and treatment.

C.If the patient is unable to get tested the information about the location and situation where theexposure occurred will be assessed and handled. As far as HIV testing, 36 out of 50 states make itmandatory for the patient to get tested unconsented. Because of this, it depends on the state andorganization laws in order to see if we can make the patient do a test for HIV, HBV and HCV.

3. The disclosure of the information by the provider on behalf of the patient is performed only through a signed, written release of the patient. HIPAA ensures that identifying patient's personal, health records is protected by law. Any violation could result in fines of up to $ 10,000 and imprisonment. Based on this, medical assistants may be fined and imprisoned. And, because pregnancy is also a patient's personal health information and she did not allow disclosure, it is a virtual violation of HIPPA, not a mistake. Employers ' responsibility for violations of medical assistants will depend on the circumstances. First, a local store is not a medical facility but a local store where medical assistants have exposed patients ' personal information. As a result, the employer's responsibility is debatable because this happened without a supervisor's direct supervision. However, if an employer did not provide medical assistants with sufficient training in the protection of personal information, he or she could be partially responsible.

4.The first thing a doctor should do is to give the patient all the information. The information that Levaquin is most effective in treating a smoker's bronchitis, and that most insurance companies will not handle this medicine. It would be nice to use the Levaquin, but if the patient refuses, help him to quit smoking as a secondbest option.