professional

Ethics part 2: making good and right decisions in paramedic practice

Despite the creatine kinase and other blood tests being normal, Anne subsequently contracts pneumonia resulting in a month's stay in hospital. Upon her return home, Anne no longer feels she can leave...

Ethics part 1: what do paramedics owe patients?

In 2013, a paramedic refused to attend a 999 call near the end of their shift, when no further resources were apparently available. It gained media attention, and following a 2-year suspension, the...

Writing a prescription: the law and good practice

The legal requirements for writing a prescription are defined by regulation 217 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. For any prescription-only medicine to be sold or supplied, the prescription...

Respecting an autonomous decision to refuse life-saving treatment: a case study

‘in which autonomous patients are choosers who act intentionally, with understanding, and without controlling influences that determine their actions’. .

A human rights perspective on the use of social media by the ambulance services

‘Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and...

Medical negligence insurance for paramedic professionals

The cover is generally described as Medical Malpractice insurance—but can often be referred to as Medical Liability insurance, Medical Indemnity, Clinical Negligence cover or Professional Indemnity....

Does precedence trump in the origins of confidentiality?

‘All that may come to my knowledge in the exercise of my profession or outside of my profession or in daily commerce with men, which ought not to be spread abroad, I will keep secret and will...

NICE: Advanced paramedics to ease pressures on A&E?

In order to make these recommendations, the guideline committee investigated whether enhancing the competencies of paramedics resulted in a reduction in hospital admissions and demand for emergency...

Live tweeting by ambulance services: a growing concern

A brief analysis of a convenience sample of existing tweets found numerous breaches of professionalism and potential risks to public confidence using the legal and ethical measures identified above....

Emotional labour in paramedic practice: student awareness of professional demands

Hochschild defines the term ‘emotional labour’ as ‘the management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display’ (Hochschild, 2012). Where this exists as an integral part of...

Future of digital technology in paramedic practice: blue light of discernment in responsive care for patients?

In an ever-increasingly digital society, the profile of IT literacy of patients seen in everyday paramedic practice is a significant factor in how they approach understanding their medical conditions...

Community paramedics: need of legal education specific to the pre-hospital non-emergency environment (discussion based on Texas)

Community paramedicine institutes medical monitoring, treatment, and interventions performed by a paramedic into the home setting (White and Wingrove, 2012). However, community paramedicine also...