Summary:
- Hospital jumping is a term to describe the movement of incompetent and potentially negligent employees From hospital to hospital.
- Ridgeview Hospital was sued for negligence .
- The case involved the alleged incorrect medication that nearly caused the child’s death.
- The party bringing suit contended that the nurse who administered the drug was negligent
- It was learned that the nurse had been hired by Ridgeview before it had received a letter of reference from her previous employer verifying her employment history.
- John Reeves,director of hospital, took the position that reference checks were a waste of time.
- Reeves’s lawyer concluded to choose between two alternatives in adopting a personnel screening policy.
- It could continue not to verify references, thereby risking malpractice suits such as the one discussed.
- Alternatively, it could implement a policy of giving out all information on past employees and risk defamation suits.
A Malpractice Suit against a Hospital Questions & Answers:
- Which of the two alternatives would you recommend to the hospital?
Answer:
- The hospital needs to re-evaluate its recruiting process.
- The problem is that this approach,can be very costly.
- Upgrade its recruiting process.
- Aptitude test might be appropriate in this situation.
- Attention should also be given on establishing or revising the current reference checking system.
2. What question could be asked in a recruitment interview to help eliminate the problem?
Answer:
- In this case, the hospital has a right, if not an ethical obligation to probe into the background of applicants. Human life is at stake.
- Employee with a history of hospital jumping would have to be regarded as a risk and hired only as a last alternative after a thorough investigation of his or her work history.