The recent jury finding that a Holy Family Hospital nurse was negligent in the care of Helen Marie Bousquet raises the question whether negligence can result in safer patient care.
By Michael Wong, JD (Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
According to recently released press release by the Estate of Helen Marie Bousquet:
“A jury in the Essex County Superior Court in Lawrence, Massachusetts found that a Steward Health Care owned Holy Family Hospital nurse was negligent in her care of Helen Marie Bousquet on Monday, Sept. 17.”
Helen Marie Bousquet tragically passed away after what has been described by her son, Brian Evans, singer and nominee for Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, as “a basic routine procedure” for knee surgery. Mr. Evans said that her tragic and avoidable death highlights the need for better assessment of patients for sleep apnea and for better treatment and monitoring of such patients before, during and after surgery.
The finding by the jury of negligence raises the question whether negligence can result in safer patient care – can lessons be learned from negligence that may prevent a reoccurrence and thereby result in safer patient care?
To help prevent such a recoccurrence, the Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety has created The Helen Marie Bousquet Fund in her honor.
The Helen Marie Bousquet Fund has been established to help prevent further patient deaths from occurring by evaluating hospitals for their sleep apnea preparedness based on their:
- Assessment of patients for sleep apnea before surgery.
- Treatment of patients diagnosed with sleep apnea, including providing:
- Positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy during their hospital stay.
- Opioid-reducing therapies used before, during and after surgery.
- Continuous electronic monitoring of patients receiving opioids after surgery.
The Helen Marie Bousquet Fund will also help educate clinicians on the best practices for assessing and treating patients for sleep apnea.
Please help us prevent a reoccurrence and improve patient care by donating to the Helen Marie Bousquet Fund.