Questions 30-33 are based on the following scenario: An 80-y…
Questions 30-33 are based on the following scenario: An 80-year-old jazz singer, began experiencing difficulty breathing and an increase in his cough and sputum production during a performance last week. He was hospitalized due to an acute exacerbation of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and was receiving high-dose systemic corticosteroids and other medications for comorbidities of type II diabetes and mild cognitive impairment. After 6 days of treatment, the patient developed symptoms of steroid-induced psychosis (delusions; hallucinations; reduced mentation) and began demanding to leave the hospital because he had to get back to his band and tour. A psychiatric consult was completed, a new antipsychotic medication ordered, and the steroid dose decreased. However, even with the new medication orders, the evening nurse administered the orginal dose of steroids and did not initiate the new antipsychotic medication. The next morning, when the dayshift RN arrived to perform the patient’s assessment, the patient’s oxygen saturation level was 81%. The nurse observed that at the time the patient did not have on his nasal cannula. The dayshift nurse replaced the patient’s nasal cannula and educated him on the necessity to wear the cannula. When the dayshift nurse returned to check on him, the patient was not in his bed or in his room. Upon beginning a search, the dayshift nurse learned that another nurse had seen the patient get on the elevator, dressed in street clothes. The police were notified and a search and rescue operation began. The patient was found dead roughly one mile from the hospital, six hours after he eloped from the hospital. The daughter of the patient later filed a malpractice lawsuit. Is there a duty owed by the nurses in this situation?