Medicine and Health

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Order type: AssignmentSubject: Medicine and HealthAcademic level: UndergraduateStyle: APA
Risks
Unprofessional behaviour within paramedic practice poses many risks to patients, staff and the organisation the individual works for. This type of behaviour can heavily impact the patients’ health, wellbeing and safety in several ways. Inadequate treatment may cause unnecessary harm and have long term health consequences. Other types of unprofessional behaviour which may affect patients include breaches in confidentiality and discriminatory actions (Brennan, 2014). In the case presented in suggests that analgesia may have been withheld, causing unnecessary pain and suffering to the patient.There are risks to both crew members in this type of situation including a loss of well-being and job satisfaction of the other crew member as this type of behaviour is unlikely to sit well with their morals and beliefs. Retribution may also occur to the other crew member as both paramedics are equally responsible for the patient. If this type of behaviour was made known to the public, there are also risks to the organisation such as a loss of reputation, trust and confidence (Brennan, 2014).ObligationsUnregistered health professionals including paramedics are governed by the unregistered health professionals code of conduct and the ambulance services code of conduct for the specific state they are practicing in. Paramedics are also bound by parts of the common law, the Council of Ambulance Authorities Professional Competency Standards for Paramedics (2013) and the Paramedics Australasia Australasian Competency Standards for Paramedics (2011).These standards state that as paramedics we must first and foremost act in the best interest of the patient. This means that as a crew, both paramedics are equally responsible for patient safety, well-being and overall outcomes. The behaviour in the case presented is both unethical and unlawful, and does not lie within the code of conduct for health professionals. As a paramedic, I have an obligation to discuss with my partner or report any behaviour which I consider unprofessional. As a health professional, I must also take reasonable action to prevent unnecessary risk to patients due to concerns around my own and my colleagues’ fitness to practice. If I do not do this I may be accused of negligence and prosecuted under the Civil Liability Act for my state or territory or suffer litigation for not acting within my profession’s code of conduct.StrategiesThere are several strategies suggested to deal with workplace issues including professional practice dilemmas as mentioned in this post. It is important to always address the problem with the person concerned first as there may be a simple explanation for events which have occurred. If this is not reasonable or the problem is not resolved, further steps including escalating and presenting the problem to a manager or supervisor may be necessary (FWC, 2016).In this situation, it may be appropriate to mention to Mary that you have been concerned with some of her behaviours lately and explain why these are worrying you. Wording is important in this situation as to avoid placing accusation or blame on the individual. It may be appropriate to ask Mary to double check that she had in fact administered the morphine as the patient has not had any obvious reduction in pain since administration. If I was not completely satisfied with the answers provided by Mary, I would need to refer to my ambulance services code of conduct in order to appropriately address the problem.According to the Code of Conduct for the Ambulance Service of New South Wales (2007), I must report to my supervisor if there are any concerns of a staff member placing myself or others in a breach of the relevant code of conduct. If I am not comfortable with reporting an issue to my supervisor, I may report to a more senior staff member. Organisations such as Ambulance NSW often provide protection for people who raise concerns for code of conduct breaches and are protected under law (Ambulance Service of New South Wales, 2007).
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