A patient with an elevated blood glucose level was given 100 units of regular insulin when the order was written for the patient to receive 10.0 units of regular insulin

Question

The patient's blood glucose level dropped to 40 mg/dl, requiring additional medical intervention to stabilize. The inappropriate amount of insulin this patient received would be considered as which element of malpractice? 1. Causation
2. Breach of duty
3. Foreseeability of harm
4. Duty

Answer 1

Causation

Rationale: Causation means that a direct relationship exists between the failure to meet the standard of care and an injury. The patient is harmed because proper care is not given. In this situation, the patient received 10 times the prescribed amount of insulin, which dropped the blood glucose level down to 40 mg/dl, a dangerously low level. The patient then needed additional medical intervention to stabilize. Duty owed the patient is care that any prudent nurse would have done. The nature of the duty represents the minimum requirements that define acceptable or standard care. Breach of duty would be not giving the care that should be given under the circumstances. Foreseeability of harm means the nurse needed to have access to information about whether the possibility of harm exists.