In Partial Fulfillment of the Course Requirements in

Nursing Leadership & Management

CASE ANALYSIS (FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT #4)

Prepared by:

SILVA, CONRAD FRANCIS LEDESMA

To be Submitted to:

Prof. Raquel E. Ponelas

November 27, 2022

The Department of Health (DOH) is investigating reports that a newborn died at the Cotabato

Regional Medical Center in Cotabato City due to the negligence of a nurse who allegedly

ignored the mother’s call for help. Local News reported that Marnilyn Galapin, 27, of Upi,

Maguindanao, complained that her child died when a nurse did not respond to her call for help

when she was laboring last May 20. Galapin reportedly told the nurse that she was about to give

birth but the nurse instead allegedly reprimanded her. She delivered the baby on her own but the

baby slipped from the bed and dropped on the floor and died.  The hospital reportedly denied

this, claiming that the baby was born prematurely. Galapin reportedly complained that the nurse

ignored her because she belongs to an indigenous group Teduray.  It is assumed at this point that

the mother was ignored because of her ethnicity. 

The ethical standards of nursing care declares that nurses should practice care and deliver

service with the proper and equitable procedures to patients with various ages, race, ethnicity and

culture. With competence and compassion at hand, nurses are expected to apply the principles of

nursing ethics and observe the law in attending to the needs of every patient in the healthcare

setting, with beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice and autonomy are upheld in every

circumstance. Negligence is a general behavior that fails to meet the level of care that is required

of the patient and being accused is a dreadful obstacle to a nurse’s profession. Under the 1987

constitution, Article 2, Section 17 promulgates that "The State shall protect the right to health of

the people and instill health consciousness among them". The core feature of this case provides

the negligence of a nurse towards the call of a patient who is in dire need of assistance in giving

birth at a hospital.
 In this case of Marnilyn Galapin, a 27-year-old pregnant woman from Upi, Maguindanao,

arrived at the hospital and yelling in pain as she was experiencing extreme pain in the stomach

due to contractions. It was allegedly reported that the nurse at the Cotabato Regional and

Medical Center reprimanded Galapin for shouting, even stating “Wala ka sa palengke”. After

being ignored by the nurses, the mother narrated that she gave birth on her own and the baby

slipped and fell on the floor, in which this is the only time that the nurse attended to her.

Galapin’s testimony states that the act of negligence arose from the assumption that she belongs

to an ethnic group called Teduray. Under the rules of evidence, this statement by Galapin is a

subjective point of view and if taken up in court, this testimony is inadmissible as it is a form of

evidence formulated by an opinion, unless the witness is qualified as an expert witness and was

objectively stated by the defendant (Chin, et. al., 2017). Another immaterial action that is not

recommended in the case is the diagnosis of premature birth that resulted the baby’s death.

Regardless of the diagnosed condition of the infant, it was clear that malpractice had occurred

and nurses did not respond to the call. In a trial, the case cannot be decided based on assumptions

and manifestations, as every case is judged through facts and supporting evidences. In

determining the strengths of this case, Andong (2014) reported that the management will deem

the incident as a pathway in improving the nursing services of the hospital and implement strict

rules regarding nursing practice and ethical considerations. Moreover, the release of the results

of the alleged negligence and incident was assured by the healthcare management as soon as the

DOH completed its investigation. Thus, the case was handled ethically and fairly as the chief

nurses will not tolerate any unethical actions such as negligence in the institution and is open to

testify. The weakness of the healthcare professionals in handling this case is that they are
attempting to overrule the charges against the nursing staff by the premature diagnosis of the

infant that resulted to its death. Unfortunately, it was not convincing that the diagnosed condition

of the baby resulted to its death as the nurse did not heed to the call of the patient who requires

immediate medical attention. Any nurse and medical practitioner would be knowledgeable that a

premature baby can be subjected to ICU treatment and have a chance to survive if given the

proper attention beforehand. The management even failed to conduct preliminary investigation

and assessment regarding the incident.

In arriving at a just resolution of this case, nurses cannot be expected to be present

everywhere and available at all times. To prevent the act of negligence that had occurred, it is

crucial to always be attentive and respond to the call of every patient, especially in an emergency

situation. In this case, the nurse should have notified the charge nurse of the emergency and asks

for help if he is unable to immediately respond to the patient (Faubion, 2022). Documentation is

always essential of whom the nurse asks for assistance and any follow-up as this will be a part of

the investigation when a trial ensues, in order to determine the proper witness for any unfortunate

incident. To avoid any act of negligence, whether intentional or not, the nursing staff should

amend their delegation of tasks to each nurse and the policies ought to be followed by all of the

members of the organization. Nurses must remember to always ask for assistance and report to

the charge nurse for emergency situations and if there is any nurse available to respond to the

call of patients. Having active memberships in professional organizations and firm reprimanding

or penalties for negligence in the institution is a strategy to prevent any misfortunate events that

may occur in the future (Brusie, 2021). Furthermore, the healthcare staff should never deviate
nor ignore these policies and continue to serve patients with compassion and respect, regardless

of their ethnicity and culture.

REFERENCES

Andong, L. M. (2014, May 30). Hospital probes death of baby who fell on concrete floor. ABS.

Retrieved November 24, 2022, from

https://news.abs-cbn.com/nation/regions/05/29/14/hospital-probes-death-baby-who-fell-

concrete-floor

Brusie, C. (2021, August 25). What is negligence in nursing?: Berxi™. Berxi. Retrieved

November 24, 2022, from https://www.berxi.com/resources/articles/what-is-negligence-in-

nursing/

Chin, J. M., Tomiska, J., & Li, C. (2017, September 1). Drawing the line between lay and expert

opinion evidence. McGill Law Journal. Retrieved November 24, 2022, from

https://lawjournal.mcgill.ca/article/drawing-the-line-between-lay-and-expert-opinion-

evidence/

Faubion, D. (2022). 20 most common examples of negligence in nursing + how to prevent them.

20 Most Common Examples of Negligence in Nursing + How to Prevent. Retrieved

November 24, 2022, from https://www.nursingprocess.org/negligence-in-nursing-

examples.html