Prison Death Case and the Eighth Amendment
On August 1, 2004, Micah Burrell died of asthma attack due to deliberate negligence of prison authorities to have him rescued from death. This case of prison death took place in
Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s McConnell Unit. Burrel was alone inside his segregated cell without inhaler. Burrell tried several times calling out for help to his fellow inmates but it took several minutes when a guard showed up. The guard, however, did not pay attention to the serious case of Burrell. Instead of rushing Burrell to the hospital, the guard left him there in his cell struggling for breath for forty minutes. Six more guards and a prison nurse went in his cell but they did not rescue him from death.
Furthermore, according to Scott Medlock, prisoner-rights lawyer, the guards just stood and mocked Burrell accusing him of “faking” the attack while the nurse told the guards that “no one dies of an asthma attack.” After more than an hour suffering on the floor, however, Burrell was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead by doctors. What is so disappointing in the Burrell’s case is the fact that he was just months away to being eligible for parole.
Burrell’s death is a case of prison death. It resulted in the State of Texas paying $140,000 settlement to the bereaved family of the victim. His case is an eye-opener in that it prompted regulation on Correctional Managed Health Care.
While it is true that convicted criminals should rightfully pay for the crime they made, it is not lawful if they are forced to serve time at a prison facility that is poorly administered. There are cases in our criminal justice system when a short sentence is turned into death sentence due to poor administration in our prison facilities. The case presented above is an example of poor administration. If Burrell were taken immediately to the hospital he would have survived the asthma attack. Prison deaths in our country usually result from intentional murder by fellow inmates, induced suicide and gross insufficient medical care.
American citizens are protected from cruel and unusual punishment. This is enshrined in our Constitution under the Eighth Amendment. This amendment shields Americans from heinous punishments like torture and grossly disproportionate punishment like death sentence imposed for a minor crime. It is true that when one is convicted criminal, he or she might have given some of his or her basic rights as a citizen. Then again, the Eighth Amendment still protects him or her from heinous punishment like prison death.
As shown by the example above, a prisoner’s bereaved family members may be able to sue the prison or guards that caused the victim’s demise. In order for a prisoner death lawsuit to succeed, a strong case of negligence on the part of the prison officials must be proven. This calls for reputable civil rights lawyer who can help in building a strong case against prison officials. Often, successful prisoner death lawsuit leads to reformation and improvement in a broken prison facility.
About the author:
Charlie Prenicolas is a legal researcher who writes informative articles on Illinois civil rights, medical malpractice, and personal injury cases. For more information on reputable Chicago civil rights lawyers, kindly visit Dolan Law Offices today.
Prior Authorization For Advanced Imaging – A Nurse Reviewer’s Perspective
Prior Authorization For Advanced Imaging – A Nurse Reviewer’s Perspective
Many insurance companies now require prior authorization for advanced imaging (MRI, CT, PET scan and Nuclear Medicine) and providers are being tasked with conforming to this process. What this means in most cases, is that the physician’s office must now delegate a staff member or even create a department to handle prior authorizations. As a former senior clinical reviewer for one of the largest advanced imaging management companies, I saw firsthand many of the difficulties faced by staff and how they struggled with this process.
The prior authorization process starts with either a phone call, fax or accessing a web site to provide patient information. They must also provide the imaging study requested with a CPT code and clinical information. For most health plans, a clinical reviewer, usually a nurse, will initially review the clinical provided. It is matched to specific criteria or guidelines set forth by the American College of Radiology and/or physician specialists. If after reviewing the clinical and the case is approved, a prior authorization number is given. If it cannot be approved, it is sent to a physician for further review. The physician may request additional clinical or deny the study. If the study is denied, there is usually a first and second level of appeals depending on the health plan.
From the time the case is started to the final outcome, there can be obstacles along the way that could cause a delay in the prior authorization. A few of the most common will be discussed. Delays increase the amount of time a staff member or even the doctor has to spend working on the prior authorization. It means that the patient must wait before the test can be performed.
Providing an incorrect diagnosis or rule out may cause delay. If the clinical provided does not correlate to the study being requested, it is then forwarded to a physician for further review. Therefore, it is extremely important that this information is correct. And if a staff member is unfamiliar with disease processes, this could easily occur. For example, using a diagnosis of liver mass when the physician is ordering an MRA abdomen to rule out renal artery stenosis. Along the same line, if an incorrect CPT code (billing code which correlates to the test being requested) or imaging study is given, it may also cause delay. Most often it is corrected right away by the nurse reviewer, but not always.
Providing clinical is the biggest challenge for most staff. This can include symptoms, physical exam findings, medications and/or treatment with duration, prior test results and medical history. Most often, it is non-medical staff that provide clinical, as these are the most common staff members tasked with obtaining prior authorization. The medical questions asked by the nurse reviewer can sometimes be confusing, even foreign to a non-medical person. Couple that with the inability to decipher the physician’s note, laboratory and special testing and you can see how the prior authorization can be delayed, even denied.
There are changes that must take place in order to avoid these delays and denials. Non-medical office staff must have training and education. Unfortunately, there is little information and no formal training provided by the insurance companies or advanced imaging management companies to prepare staff on how to maneuver through this process. This is the solution that will save time, money and frustration, as well as improve patient care.
Principles of therapeutic communication every nurse should master
If you ever visit to a hospital in connection with some health related problems, the first person you meet there and probably the last person you will meet while returning from the hospital would be none other than the nurse. Thus, it becomes imperative for the nurse to communicate with the person or prospective patient, extend care and assistance during his or her stay in the hospital environment and help that patient leave the hospital back as a person.
The interaction between the nurse and the patient, which results in a beneficial outcome for the patient, is what, in nursing parlance, is referred to as Therapeutic Communication. The primary goal of therapeutic communication is to make the patient feel and realize that he or she is being taken care of and the pain, agony or feelings of the patient are well understood and adequately addressed through treatment, care and assistance.
Therapeutic communication is not the same as social interaction or other forms of verbal communication exchanged between any two or more persons. The communication between the nurse and the patient has the purpose and vision – care and assistance for the patient – and hence it is essential that the principles of therapeutic communication be mastered by the nurses. Another notable aspect of therapeutic communication is that it is non-judgmental.
Care and assistance to the patient is the primary goal of therapeutic communication and gaining skill and expertise over this important aspect requires a nurse to follow some basic principles of therapeutic communication.
1.The nurse should ensure that he or she interacts with the patient at a suitable time where the patient is comfortable discussing with the nurse. If the patient had just undergone some treatment and feeling a bit tired, probably due to the impact of medication, then the nurse should not disturb the patient with discussion related to his or her health.
2.The nurse should also bear in mind the physical environment in which the patient is placed and ensure that there is adequate privacy around so that the communication can be effective between the patient and the nurse. If there were visitors to the patient around the bedside, then he or she might show some uneasiness discussing with the nurse. The atmosphere or environment should be better so that it encourages the patient to speak with openness with the nurse.
3.Before beginning the conversation, the nurse should make it clear to the patient the purpose of the interaction. This will make it clear for the patient and, having realized that it is related to his or her health care and assistance, he or she will more likely cooperate and provide the required information.
4.One of the most important aspects of therapeutic communication on behalf of the nurse is to be non-judgmental. In other words, the nurse should accept what the patient says, “As it is” without passing on any personal judgments. The nurse should be aware of his or her own biases and should not allow his or her biased vision to intervene with what the patient has to say. The nurse can extend best possible care and assistance only and only when he or she accepts the patient’s remarks and understands what the patient says, keeping his or her judgment or bias under control.
5.The nurse should be an active listener in therapeutic communication. In other words, he or she should correctly interpret and understand what the patient conveys during the conversation. The nurse should ensure this by repeating what the patient has said and providing an opportunity to the patient to confirm what he or she had said about the problems. This is a hallmark of active listening and every nurse should be active listeners.
These are some of the basic principles of therapeutic communication every nurse should master and gain expertise.
breadjam writes about Remote Medical Coding
for more details visit
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Preparing For The NCLEX
Preparing for the national boards begins as soon as a nursing
student begins nursing school. Licensure as a Registered Nurse is
granted upon a student passing the national boards or NCLEX. Passing
scores are based on the amount of questions that the nurse gets correct
in relation to the national average. Therefore there is no discrete
passing grade.
The fact that nursing students are started on
licensure testing preparation so early into their curriculum is a
testimony to those nursing schools with the highest and most numerous
passing scores. Choosing a nursing school should be based on
credentialing and the schools success rate of passing the national
boards. Certain schools that are not accredited will be able to
graduate nurses with an Associate Degree in Applied Science. However,
graduates from these unaccredited schools will not be able to continue
to their bachelors in nursing at an accredited university. The same is
to be said of diploma nurses. Passing the national boards is
the final culmination of all of the work a student nurse has put into
nursing school. The methods of teaching and the type of questions
students have to answer throughout nursing school are structured to
help them pass the boards. Board exam preparation classes are also
mandatory toward the end of the nursing curriculum.
These NCLEX
preparation classes are offered for a period of four consecutive eight
hour days. There is no extra charge to the students for this
preparation. These classes are usually administrated a few days after
graduation from the program. This intensive preparation is not only
helpful to the students to successfully pass the boards, but boosts the
schools standing and credentialing as well. As to whether or
not students should seek out extra tutoring for the national board exam
is entirely up to the student, and depends on how much extra
remediation they feel that they need to increase their comfort level.
Many nursing students complain about the way that questions are worded
in their nursing school exams. Instructors will always explain that the
reasoning for this is to help the students develop the analytical
thought process necessary to pass the boards.
The most helpful
study tools for nursing school exams as well as the national boards are
the NCLEX study guides. As students use these guides continuously they
develop the mind set to answer similar questions posed to them in class
and on boards. There are numerous NCLEX guides on the market. It is up
to the student to find the one that helps them the most. Using more
than one guide can also help a student learn to critically think about
questions.
The student should consult with their nursing
department and nursing instructors as to which of the guides out there
will give them the best test preparation. Some teachers will offer
students a private tutoring session for NCLEX review. The student would
be encouraged to take advantage of any nursing instructor willing to
help students out on their own time, even for a fee. These types of
instructors care about their students and want them to be successful.
There are also computerized tests that nursing students must take in
order to graduate. These tests are online and they are timed. The
nursing student’s grade on these tests is not added in to their class
grade. These tests are a separate entity altogether. The purpose of
these tests is to measure the student’s competency in each of the
fields of nursing curriculum and compare their scores with other
nursing students from their school as well as with the rest of the
nation.
The student gets a print out of their results upon
completion of each competency test. The school also gets the score and
keeps a record of those students who did not pass as well as those who
did. Those students that did not pass the exams are instructed to
repeat the test again until they receive a passing score. The scores
are listed by a number and if the student scores at a level that is
termed, /”unsafe”, /then the student must retake the exam. Those
students who do not take these online exams seriously are surprised
that when it comes close to graduation they are prevented from
graduating because they did not finish or repeat the tests with a
passing score. Nursing school is stressful right at the
starting gate and keeps up the pace up until graduation. All of this
constant bombardment with nursing tests and computerized competency
tests are designed to assist the student pass the national boards.
Learn more about nursing education at www.nurseslearningcenter.com
Practice Opportunities For Nurse Practitioners
Are you a Nurse Practitioner looking for a new practice opportunity? There are strategies you can use to help you locate the perfect job for you.
Nurse Practitioner employment opportunities can be found almost anywhere. However, private practices constitute the fastest growing segment in terms of new nursing jobs. This type of position will find you working hand in hand with a local doctor, providing primary care or even specialized care. Nurse Practitioners can specialize in a number of fields and lend their expertise and assistance to doctors practicing in those areas.
Some areas in which NPs can specialize include preoperative nursing, diabetes management, dermatology, geriatric nursing and an amazing number of other specialized disciplines.
You will find that in addition to the area of private practice, you can also find jobs in a wide range of other settings. For instance, you might be employed in home healthcare, providing vital treatment and advice to homebound patients. You might find yourself working in an outpatient facility, helping to treat patients. Other venues include working within hospitals and clinics, within nursing care homes and long-term residential facilities, as well as within the education sector.
Quite a few Nurse Practitioners go on to become educators, as well as organizing and operating blood drives and other community service oriented initiatives
You’ll find that the requirements for employment include several years within an accredited college or university. Nurse Practitioners must have at least a master’s degree, though some do go on to attain their doctorate, as well. In addition, NPs must have a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing to enter the course of study, which requires additional study at another school.
Find Nurse Practitioner Jobs, Nurse Practitioners, NP Jobs, NP Jobs Nationwide and Clinical Nurse Specialists With Our Nationwide Clients. Litton Resource Group work with leading medical institutions and physician groups across the country and are able to leverage our relationships to get our candidates the advanced practice job that best matches their career goals.
Physician And Nurse Settle Legal Action After Allowing Fetal Distress
Physician And Nurse Settle Legal Action After Allowing Fetal Distress Deteriorate And Baby Dies
Many difficulties can arise during a pregnancy. A complication that is particularly dangerous and requires prompt action is fetal distress. Fetal distress often occurs when the unborn child’s oxygen supply is somehow significantly reduced. Fetal distress is observed by monitoring the unborn child’s heart rate. Under particular circumstances, such as when the heart rate drops under a particular range, rapid measures for example an emergency C-section is needed. This article examines a published malpractice case where the delay lasted about two hours.
In this case an expectant mother who had fallen was being taken to a hospital to check that there was no injury to her unborn child. The patient had gone through an ultrasound at the hospital so as to check for any injury to her baby and the ultrasound was interpreted as demonstrating no injuries. Given that the hospital was not equipped with a fetal heart rate monitor she was going to be transported to a second hospital, her doctor was advised that she was being transferred and the physician agreed to go to the second hospital. When at the second hospital a fetal heart rate monitor was attached to the expectant mother. The labor and delivery nurse at this hospital interpreted the strip as non-reassuring and revealing that the unborn child was experiencing fetal distress. Knowing that the woman’s physician had agreed to meet his patient there, the nurse considered that the proper course of action would be to wait for the obstetrician to appear, even while she observed that the fetal distress was worsening.
For the next two hours the nurse kept postponing notifying a different doctor that the unborn child was in fetal distress. She kept waiting until the monitor indicated that the baby’s heart rate had had dropped to a critically low level. It was only then that the labor and delivery nurse finally informed another physician at the hospital of the situation. When apprised of the situation this doctor did not hesitate to do an emergency C-section. While doing the C-section the obstetrician learned that the baby had been deprived of oxygen (which accounted for the fall in the heart rate) because of a placental abruption.
The doctor had information that the patient was being sent to the second hospital and expected her doctor to meet her there. However, rather than head to the hospital as he said he would do, the doctor went home. This would not have been a problem if the obstetrician had notified someone at the second hospital of this choice. Believing the doctor was heading toward the hospital the nurse at the second hospital, who may normally have instantly notified a different doctor of the fetal distress, did nothing but continue to wait for a doctor who would never show up.
The baby was not breathing when he was born. The Apgar scores were 0 and 0. The child could not be revived by the medical staff. The law firm that handled the lawsuit was able to report that they accomplished a settlement in the amount of $750,000 on behalf of the baby’s parents. As this case displays, a physician who agrees to follow up on the care of the patient and fails to may be liable for malpractice and a nurse who does not alert a physician or take other suitable action immediately on noting symptoms of a critical problem in the pregnancy may also be liable.
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Schools
Pediatric Nurses needed to care for children up to the small to adulthood, the most important role of pediatric nurse is to manage and provide care for children. Role of Pediatric Nurses is to ensure children recover from all types of diseases and injuries. All pediatric nurses need to get specific training to be able to work alongside doctors and doctors also need training to help them learn a variety of diseases that affect our children every day. If you are interested in attending a school that teaches children in care, you can always do some research online and find a nurse for children, medical schools that offer programs for free care or nursing schools that offer their help to people who are in financial difficulties are too many schools that can help you learn. When you decide that the children’s nurse, medical schools offer the best price and schedule that works for you, you can finally choose a school and get started.
There are many wonderful reasons to attend a school of nursing pediatric practitioner in America because of the great career that offered a pediatric nurse. When a person decides to go to school pediatric nurse practitioner to develop knowledge about child care, it can certainly be an exciting career. pediatric nurse practitioner schools offer training that will help pediatric nurses get an associate degree or a bachelor. Gives an Associates degree in nursing can be exciting and challenging, you get a chance to learn about making physical assessments made on children of all ages, which means that when you walk children to school nurse practitioner, you learn how to gain weight altitude, temperature, and many other important factors that are taught in schools of nursing.
When you attend a school nurse practitioner in pediatrics, you also learn to take vital signs that you create a report to the doctor. When attending schools pediatric nurse practitioner, you will also learn very important things about the human body such as muscles, bones and cartilage located in the body. After classes to become a pediatric nurse is finished so that the next important step is passing CPN exam and there are still several classes to attend extra help of your pediatric nursing certification and certification courses are offered by hospitals and nursing societies.
Want to know more about Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Schools. Visit Michael Harrah’s page http://nursepractitionerschools.net/ now!
Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Jobs In The Us
Professionals can acquire the best pediatric nurse practitioner jobs in the US by striking a relationship with a healthcare staffing concern. The role of the nurse practitioner, particularly in pediatrics, is one of great importance and positively affects kids, parents and the family. Pediatric nurse practitioners should have at least a masters degree in nursing, and have to be specifically trained in offering personalized care for infants, toddlers, children and teens.
Responsibilities of a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
The responsibilities of a pediatric nurse practitioner include physically examining the child, performing tests, treating illnesses, prescribing medication, consulting the childs doctor for discussing treatment procedures or even suggesting changes, educating kids and parents about the illness and healthy practices to be adopted, giving further insight on the growth and development of the child.
Healthcare staffing concerns can locate the most appropriate pediatric nurse practitioner jobs in the US for those seeking it. The well qualified and experienced staffing consultants at the firm can help individuals identify the right job opportunities, taking into consideration their requirements for salary, geographical location, opportunities for career growth, and other factors. Pediatric nurse practitioners, being a positive influence for children, families and the society in general, can come across varied job opportunities that would suit their interests.
The profession of the nurse practitioner is also one that demands a great deal of commitment and dedication, particularly in pediatrics. Dedication can come with only the right job, and the healthcare staffing concern can ensure nurse practitioners get whats right for them.
Tasks of a Healthcare Staffing Concern
Through innovative online recruiting tools and other procedures healthcare staffing firms process the applications of hundreds of healthcare professionals and meet the demand for staff for healthcare institutions around the nation including hospitals, rehabilitation centers, nursing homes and research facilities. Apart from being a great channel towards pediatric nurse practitioner jobs in the US, the healthcare staffing concern is also a wonderful resource center for healthcare professionals, providing invaluable service quite like the healthcare professionals themselves.
Pediatric Nurse Caring For The Young
Choosing to become a pediatric nurse requires high levels of caring, compassion, and knowledge in that particular field. These are universal qualities in all areas of nursing, but it takes a special kind of person to have the patience to care for the youngest among us.
Usually a pediatric nurse is responsible for a patient population that ranges from birth to 18 years of age. The pediatric nurse can work in such varied areas as hospitals, clinics, and even pediatric home health. Additionally, pediatric nurses are the front line educators to parents, in addition to their medical responsibilities.
In addition to the basic characteristics that are beneficial to all nurses, pediatric nurses often possess additional skills and characteristics that help them with working with this specific age group. Pediatric nurses must be very patient. Infants and children are unpredictable and often frightened when have certain procedures done such as immunizations, and blood draws.
The pediatric nurse must also be able to be compassionate to the parents needs, especially during an ill visit. The caregiver of the child can be just as upset, or more so, than the child during these times.
The personal benefits of being a nurse is the feeling you get when you help other people. This feeling can be more enhanced for a pediatric nurse, as this patient population usually cant take care of themselves. Easing the concerns of new parents and providing care for their young patients is all in a days work for the pediatric nurse.
There are several misconceptions about pediatric nursing. Among those misconceptions is the belief that the job is not as stressful as other nursing specialties. Many believe that pediatric nurses, in clinic settings and hospital nurseries especially perform tasks that are not as demanding. Any profession in which you are responsible for the care and health of another will hold a certain level of stress.
As a pediatric nurse there are several certifications you can attain through training such as the Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) and the certified pediatric nurse designation from the Pediatric Nurses Association.
Looking to find the best information on pediatric nursing? Then visit RNregisterednurse.org to find the best advice and information on registered nursing and other nursing topics.
Overseas Nurse Job Get Ready To See The World!
Overseas Nurse Job Get Ready To See The World!
Health business is a lucrative sector, and it is indeed one of the most promising and rewarding career for those who are professional in their area. The world is now becoming more health conscious and therefore many places in this world are in need of professional people who are ready to work in health sectors. Since the number of local capable professional is short in most of the countries, therefore they seek the possibilities of outsourcing, search for health professionals from other countries. Professional Nurses are one of the most wanted, anywhere in the world!
Location in the sphere of Need of Nurses
Overseas near is an incredible need on behalf of travel nurses from the United States. Travel nurses are in the sphere of splendid demand in the sphere of many countries, plus the following: England, Ireland, Scotland,Australia, new to the job Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Africa, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Papua new to the job Guinea, Bahrain, Marocco, Egypt, and many other…
The Need is splendid
The need on behalf of travel nurses qualified in the sphere of the United States is splendid due to the quality of U.S. Training and the breakthrough equipment and facilities. Travel nurses are able to bring with the aim of experience and experience with the aim of they possess to areas in the sphere of which akin conditions are found, but with the aim of lack the equipment or else facilities. Travel nurses are able to tell patients to other options in the sphere of shape mind, linking the long-suffering to an organization with the aim of strength of character provide surgery or else other procedures found in the sphere of the United States.
Travel nurse positions can subsist voluntary or else paid positions. It is up to all nurse to achieve assured she is signing up on behalf of a paid set if with the aim of is her long for.
Questions or else nomadic
Travel nurses who are with a travel nurse agency can inaugurate their search on behalf of overseas positions in the sphere of their current agency. If overseas assignments are not vacant, a unadorned search on the Internet on behalf of international travel nurse agencies strength of character provide you with a preliminary purpose in the sphere of your search.
At this time are approximately eminent factors to consider as allowing for a travel nurse set overseas:
How lingering are the assignments?
Is air fare integrated in the sphere of my package?
strength of character I receive assistance with my passport, documents and other papers crucial to travel overseas?
what did you say? Is my hourly wage?
what did you say? Remuneration strength of character I receive overseas? (medical, ability to see, dental, life, AD&D, to the point idiom or else lingering idiom disability)
How strength of character I receive my wages?
How strength of character my wages convert into resident currency?
Can my lineage arrive with me overseas?
Is the voltage on behalf of appliances several overseas? Strength of character I receive approximately reimbursement on behalf of several new to the job items I assert to acquisition?
what did you say? Type of housing strength of character I receive? Strength of character I assert to share with one more person I don’t know?
what did you say? Kind of support strength of character I receive if I assert a therapeutic emergency while overseas?
what did you say? If I can’t polish my assignment overseas? Strength of character I cope with a fiscal penalty?
Are You set to Travel
The questions higher than could assert triggered approximately concerns in relation to whether or else not you are suited on behalf of overseas travel. Ask by hand the following questions to catch sight of if you are suited on behalf of overseas travel.
execute I like to travel to new to the job and odd locations?
execute I assert to labor in the sphere of state of the knack facilities?
Can I adapt to a new to the job culture?
Can I adapt to new to the job foods and beverages?
Can I understand several languages or else variations of my own language?
How well execute I adapt to trying situations?
How worried execute I suit around unfamiliar smells, sounds, and locations?
Can I subsist in the sphere of a new to the job location with the aim of is challenging on behalf of by smallest amount a time or else two years?
Are You set on behalf of an Adventure?
Overseas travel tending can subsist an exciting, adventurous and rewarding experience if you get in touch with it the same as such. You can develop new to the job skills, and assemble new to the job and fascinating individuals from cultures several from your own. You can assert experiences very hardly any nurses interminably strength of character. Overseas travel tending could subsist the preeminent scale on behalf of your tending career and on behalf of your gist of adventure.
Visit >> Nursing Job Overseas for more complete info about The Nursing World.