Scenario: A patient had surgery and the nurse-anesthetist administered the anest

Question

Scenario: A patient had surgery and the nurse-anesthetist administered the anesthesia. The patient subsequently arrested and died while under anesthesia. An investigation concluded that the patient was not receiving the needed amount of oxygen and the nurse-anesthetist missed the changes in the vital signs until the patient was close to cardiac arrest. The surgeon initially had assisted in positioning the patient and had helped to administer some of the initial anesthetic.

1) Write an analysis of the situation and argue whether the doctrine of "respondeat superior" would cause the surgeon to have vicarious liability for the patient

Explanation / Answer

In this case the patient died due to negligence of responsibility of both nurse and the surgeon. Vicarious liability applies when there is malpractice committed by the employee. The employer is also held to be responsible if employee makes a fault. In this case. The nurse is responsible for the death of the patient, but the nurse acts under the supervision of surgeon. Also, while recruiting a nurse it is the responsibility of surgeon to ensure that nurse is well trained, as a small negligence can lead to very bad consequences as in this case.

While handling a patient the surgeon is responsible to ensure that patient does not get harmed or injured in any way. Surgeon is responsible to supervise the nurse for administration of anesthesia and look after the patient. Therefore, doctrine of "respondent superior" would cause the surgeon to have vicarious liability for the patient

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