Question

Prathibha, a 29-year-old woman, is recovering from same-day knee surgery. While in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), she unexpectedly goes into acute respiratory failure and requires intubation. Because she is a young, healthy woman with no medical problems and this was a very unexpected outcome, the charge nurse convenes a team to conduct a root cause analysis.Which of the following is an example of the type of causal statement that this team might expect to develop?

(A) Prathibha hid her diagnosis of asthma, so the team was not aware of her respiratory risks.
(B) The nurse responsible for Prathibha was unqualified to monitor complex medical patients.
(C) Respiratory compromise can occur in patients with underlying conditions post-operatively. It is unlikely that this outcome could have been prevented.
(D) The patient was unattended for 30 minutes because the nurse was busy caring for other patients, and this contributed to the outcome.

Answer 1

The team might develop the causal statement: Respiratory compromise can occur in patients with underlying conditions post-operatively. It is unlikely that this outcome could have been prevented.

Step-by-step explanation:

The type of causal statement that the team conducting the root cause analysis might develop in this scenario is option C: Respiratory compromise can occur in patients with underlying conditions post-operatively. It is unlikely that this outcome could have been prevented.

This statement acknowledges that respiratory compromise can happen in patients who have underlying conditions after surgery. It also implies that this unexpected outcome may not have been preventable. By considering the possibility of underlying conditions and the limitations of preventing certain outcomes, the team can explore potential contributing factors and determine the root cause of Prathibha's acute respiratory failure.