Human Weakness and Narcotics Problem - Case Study Example

Case Study Chapter 10 Besides human weakness, what other problems are evident in Dr. Johnston’s narcotics problem? The nature of his job is yet another factor that has contributed to his narcotic problem. Being an anesthesiologist he has unlimited access to the drugs that are administered to patients and the fact that he is professionally knowledgeable about how they work to relieve pain he is prone to abuse them whenever he is faced with any slight form of pain. Ideally, the Community Hospital does not have an efficient mechanism to track responsibility of how the physicians administer the drugs thus presenting a loophole that has enhanced irresponsibility in the use of the narcotics thus fuelling Dr.

Johnston’s problem (Shaw et al., 2012).2. Does Community Hospital of the West bear any responsibility for Dr. Johnson’s predicament? Indeed, the hospital’s management takes the greatest responsibility for Dr. Johnston’s problems since it failed to institute relevant measures that would ensure responsible administration of the narcotics given their nature. It is prudent that drugs are prone to be abused and thus the hospital ought to have implemented more stringent measures that would curb any irregularities with regard to how they are administered by tracking who administered them and to which particular patient to enhance accountability.

In that light, Dr. Johnston would not have gotten the opportunity to make irregular administration of morphine to patients and thus making it hard to get the chance to utilize the drug at will (Shaw et al., 2012).3. What are the root causes of this situation? Build a cause and effect diagram in relation to the findings of this study.4. What is the likely response of the hospital’s governing body to this situation? The management will argue that it has placed the relevant measures in monitoring the use of narcotics by the physician in charge having to sign the sheet on the lockbox to facilitate accountability in the administration of those drugs.

The escapades of Dr. Johnston are out of unethical work practices in the sense that he had to underdose patients or at times not administer the drug so as to use it for his personal needs. That is uncouth, and the physician ought to be punished in accordance with the hospital’s professional work ethics (Shaw et al., 2012).5. Discuss a situation you have experienced as a visitor to a health facility. Sometimes back my elder sister was sick, and we had to take him to a local medical center to receive medication.

The physician who was in charge of attending her gave her an overdose of the medication and the next day my sister was worse than we had brought her there. When we tried to inquire because of the situation we were told the condition she was in was quite stubborn but would normalize with time. However, we decided to transfer her to a higher ranking Hospital to receive specialized care. It is at this hospital that we were informed the medication she was given was overdosed thus causing the reaction.

My parents hired a lawyer who pursued a legal suit against the medical facility. In the end, she was compensated, and the doctor in charge was excommunicated from medical practice citing negligence and attempted murder.