Standards of Care

STANDARDS OF CARE IN HEALTHCARE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Standards of care are essentially the norms of practice that have been outlined by the state for each medical profession such as nursing. Adherence to standards of practice minimizes the risk of liability. Standard of care is the minimum standards of practice that must be adhered to during the provision of healthcare (American Nurses Association 2010). There is a need to adhere to standards of care in the provision of health care to patients. Recognizing the role of adhering to standards of care is vital due to the risk of malpractice. It is important to adhere to standards of practice to ensure optimized care to patients. The risk of liability can be minimized by following evidence-based guidelines.
Recognizing the role of adherence to standards of care is crucial (Cherry & Jacob, 2016). Adherence to the standard of care is not an option! There exist legal implications for failure to adhere to standards of practice. Adherence to standards of care has beneficial effects on the patient. Need to give patients optimal care because it is their right. No healthcare provider is exempted from adhering to the standards of care. Maryland state law requires all providers to undertake their duties according to their job description (Shandell, Schulman & Smith, 2018). Failure to adhere to standards of practice leads to medical negligence. The definition of medical misconduct is the action that involves deviation from the norms of practice ending up in injury to the patient.

In the United States, there is a risk of malpractice if the provider violates the norms of practice. Medical malpractice is pervasive in that the providers like nurses can encounter it in their career (Stimson, 2016). Health care providers who are in contact with patients such as APRNs have to minimize the risk of liability. One way is to ensure that they provide optimal care to patients. Optimal care is the provision of the best possible care to the patient. Secondly, nurses should be guided by EBPs. Medical malpractice emanates from the idea that any professional ought to undertake a reasonable level of care according to that which pertains to the profession — failure to adhere to standards of care results in malpractice (Gadbois et al., 2015).
References
American Nurses Association. (2010). Nursing: Scope and standards of practice (2nd ed.). Silver Spring, MD: Author
Cherry, B., & Jacob, S. R. (2016). Contemporary nursing: Issues, trends, & management. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Gadbois, E. A., Miller, E. A., Tyler, D., & Intrator, O. (2015). Trends in state regulation of nurse practitioners and physician assistants, 2001 to 2010. Medical Care Research and Review, 72(2), 200-219.
Shandell, R. E., Schulman, F. A., & Smith, P. (2018). The preparation and trial of medical malpractice cases. Law Journal Press.
Stimson, C. J. (2016). Hospital Risk Management and the US Legal System: An Introduction to US Medical Malpractice Tort Law. In Risk Management in Medicine (pp. 69-76). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.