Criminal Aspects of Healthcare

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Criminal Aspects of Healthcare
Based on the review of part 1 and 2 of the case, Nurse Charles Cullen admitted having killed at least forty patients in his career. In the interview, he agreed to have purposefully injected lethal substances on the patients to cause their death (Jagger n.p.). Some of the patients were elderly while others were young people who were critically ill-meaning they could have been released after treatment. His execution of the patients amounted to murder which was a felony (Allen n.p.). What I have learned from this case is that the nurses who commit a crime are no different from other criminals except for the fact that they target patients. This is because the case brought out other similar instances nurses had been charged with the killing of the patients elsewhere in the US.
The case affected preconceptions covered in class especially because some of the murder victims were not expected to die and others were ready to be released from the hospital. I found it quite ironical from my preconceptions that the person entrusted with the lives of the patients had turned against them which is medical negligence (Sackman 34). It affected on my view of the criminal aspects of healthcare in that developed the notion that nurses must always strive to save the life. Any decision taken with the aim of ending the life of the patient must be in consultation with the family members. This is critical to avoid scenarios like where Nurse Charles Cullen said in the interview that he had been helping them.

He argued that he did not like to see people in pain, and therefore, he felt ending their lives was the best option. He even claims that his murders were not intentional and that he also had difficulties accepting the word “murder”.
What I have learned from the crimes associated with Charles Cullen will change my professional behavior by ensuring such actions of professional negligence and criminal activities are reported his actions. This because I have developed the attitude that failure to report the errors and legitimate crimes make creates a room for continued killing of more patients. It is likely that the murders are just criminal acts only that the target is the patients who are more vulnerable.
Works cited
Allen, Gabrielle. “Part 2 of the 60 Minutes segment on serial killer Charles Cullen and the new book, The Good Nurse,” 2013. Retrieved at: https://youtu.be/VqSEv2SIokkJagger, Benjamin. “Interview with the Angel of Death Serial Killer Charles Cullen Part1,” 2018. Retrieved at: https://youtu.be/4yudXVb_HlESackman, Bruce. “When the ICU Becomes a Crime Scene.” Critical care nursing quarterly 38.1 (2015): 30-35.