Tom Smith, a patient at Sunny View Hospital, fell out of his bed during his inpatient admission. An incident report was completed at the time of the fall. Smith is suing the hospital because he feels that the nurses were negligent when caring for him. The following actions were taken by the facility. Determine which of these actions should not have occurred.
A-The incident report was filed in the risk management office.
B-A note was entered in the patient, record stating that an incident report was completed.
C-A copy of the incident report was filed in the patient's record.
D-Defense attorneys for the health care facility reviewed the incident report to prepare for the case.

Question

Tom Smith, a patient at Sunny View Hospital, fell out of his bed during his inpatient admission. An incident report was completed at the time of the fall. Smith is suing the hospital because he feels that the nurses were negligent when caring for him. The following actions were taken by the facility. Determine which of these actions should not have occurred. ​
A-The incident report was filed in the risk management office.
B-A note was entered in the patient, record stating that an incident report was completed.
C-A copy of the incident report was filed in the patient's record.
D-Defense attorneys for the health care facility reviewed the incident report to prepare for the case.
​

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Incident reports are internal documents and should not be filed in the patient's record. Noting in the patient's record that an incident report was completed is acceptable, but the report itself should remain confidential and used for internal review and risk management purposes.

Tom Smith, a Patient at Sunny View Hospital, Fell Out