Session Six Case Study Sunita is the only RPN on the night shift at a small home for the aged. She is working with Martin, a health care aide. Sunita...

Session Six Case Study Sunita is the only RPN on the night shift at a small home for the aged. She is working with Martin, a health care aide. Sunita has worked with Martin on many occasions. She respects his judgment and his caring approach to the patients. One night, Sunita asks Martin to clean Mrs. Wakulat, an 80-year-old patient with Alzheimer's, who had just been incontinent. After helping Mrs. Wakulat, Martin leaves the room to dispose of the soiled linen. Unfortunately, Martin forgets to put up the bed rail, and, during his absence, Mrs. Wakulat slips out of bed and onto the floor. Martin and Sunita check Mrs. Wakulat, who does not appear to have sustained any injury, and return her to bed. Martin is very concerned about the incident and pleads with Sunita not to report it to their manager, Mrs. Han. Mrs. Han recently chastised him over a similar incident, which he did not believe was his fault, in which a patient fell after climbing over the bed rails. Furthermore, Mrs. Wakulat's daughter worries a great deal about her mother's care. Martin is afraid he will be in serious trouble if the incident is reported. Sunita is unsure what to do. She knows how punitive Mrs. Han can be. She does not want to get Martin into trouble or worry Mrs. Wakulat's daughter unnecessarily.

1. What is negligence? Discuss how concepts of negligence might apply in a psychiatric nursing practice setting.
2. What actions would you take if you realized you had made a mistake at work? 
3. Identify the most important reasons for good documentation. Beyond meeting standards, how does good documentation ensure high-quality care?
4. Identify the ethical principles that support good documentation.