Reference no: EM133553894

Case Study: Please include your profession/discipline in the subject line (PH, RT, or PA). Iam a PH student

A patient admitted to a step-down unit, which offers care between Intensive Care Units (ICUs) and general units, began exhibiting signs of progressing mixed respiratory failure and seemed to deteriorate despite various interventions. The ICU medical resident, the ward medicine resident, and the overnight supervising hospital medicine attending, all of whom were in their first year out of residency training and female, concluded that the patient required ICU-level care. They conveyed this evaluation to the interdisciplinary team at the patient's bedside. On the other hand, the respiratory therapist and bedside RN, both male and with 5-10 years of experience at the institution, along with the ICU charge RN, believed that temporary rescue BiPAP therapy sufficed for the step-down unit. They argued that ICU-level care was unnecessary due to staffing limitations for ICU RNs. Following deliberation, the female physicians' decision was overruled, and the patient remained in the step-down unit.

In the end, the attempt at rescue BiPAP therapy proved ineffective, and the patient's respiratory failure advanced, necessitating urgent intubation in the ICU. Subsequently, his condition became more complex when he experienced a sudden episode of cardiac arrest with pulseless electrical activity, which was attributed to breath-stacking and auto-PEEP (positive end-expiratory pressure). Spontaneous circulation was restored after several rounds of resuscitation, and the patient could leave the hospital one week after admission. His respiratory condition had improved, and his baseline neurological function was regained.

Questions:

1. Find at least one implicit bias in this case that caused serious harm to the patient.

2. How can these biases affect healthcare professionals practicing in this environment?

3. How can these biases affect the patient?

4. What should this healthcare setting do to prevent similar situations and cases?