Serrano, Sofia Andrei O.

Ethical-Moral-Legal

CASE ANALYSIS

Case Scenario #12

Nurse Grace encountered a vehicular accident when heading to her work in a private

hospital the night before the Expanded Community Quarantine. A man suddenly collapsed in the

street with no other companion. The nurse noticed that the victim has no breathing, nor any pulse.

Nurse Grace just had training at Philippine Red Cross regarding Basic Life Support and Basic First

Aid a month ago. She immediately helped the man by administering CPR. After one cycle of

continuous chest compression, the victim finally recovered however suffered from rib fracture.

Analyze the scenario by giving your views in relation to the legal implication of the situation.

In accordance to Dr. Mary Williams, a Doctor of Chiropractic and a Registered Nurse,

chest compressions should be performed at a depth of roughly 2 inches. Approximately 30% of

patients have fractures or breaks as a result of CPR. CPR is, in fact, a strenuous and occasionally

violent procedure. The patient is at a considerable risk of damage during this surgery. But, if forced

to pick, I believe that almost everyone would prefer injury than death.

“As independent practitioners, nurses are principally responsible for the promotion of

health and prevention of illness,” according to Article VI Section 28 of Republic Act No. 9173,
often known as the Philippine Nursing Act of 2002. Nurse Grace, as an independent practitioner,

followed the law and did not reject the patient's entitlement to medical care.

The Good Samaritan Law protects the nurse if a lawsuit is made because of the broken ribs

sustained during CPR. The complainant must show that severe negligence occurred while the nurse

was doing CPR on him. Given that the patient had no pulse and showed no evidence of respiration

during the occurrence, it would be difficult to demonstrate that gross negligence occurred.

Furthermore, the patient had no other companion, which meant there was no witness to testify.

Good Samaritan Laws are laws enacted to shield health care providers who voluntarily

assist in emergency situations from malpractice claims unless it can be demonstrated that there

was a deviation from the standard of care or purposeful wrongdoing on their side.

To summarize, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) improves survival rates significantly,

but many people are still afraid of damaging or shattering the patient's ribs and refuse to perform

it. This dread, however, should not deter someone from performing CPR. Broken ribs may prolong

the patient's recuperation time, yet they are preferable than death.

Total word count of analysis: 300

REFERENCE:

Deliliga, A., Chatzinikolaou, F., Koutsoukis, D., Chrysovergis, I., & Voultsos, P. (2019, February

28). Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) complications encountered in forensic autopsy cases.

Retrieved from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6396442/

Christopher Coble, E. (2019, March 21). If CPR Causes Broken Ribs, Can You Sue? Retrieved

from: https://blogs.findlaw.com/injured/2015/07/if-cpr-causes-broken-ribs-can- you-sue.html

Williams, M., RN, DC. (2018, March 17). What Happens if Ribs Break During CPR. Retrieved

from: https://www.cprcertified.com/blog/what-happens-if-ribs-break-during-cpr