Patient abuse
Causing harm or suffering to a medical patient / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the Monty Python sketch, see Patient Abuse.
Patient abuse or patient neglect is any action or failure to act which causes unreasonable suffering, misery or harm to the patient.[1] Elder abuse is classified as patient abuse of those older than 60 and forms a large proportion of patient abuse.[2]
- Abuse includes physically striking or sexually assaulting a patient. It also includes the intentional withholding of necessary food, physical care, and medical attention.
- Neglect includes the failure to properly attend to the needs and care of a patient, or the unintentional causing of injury to a patient, whether by act or omission.[3]
Patient abuse and neglect may occur in settings such as hospitals,[4] nursing homes,[5] clinics[6] and during home-based care.[7] Health professionals who abuse patients may be deemed unfit to practice and have their medical license removed[8]: 20 as well as facing criminal charges as well as civil cases.
Abuse amongst the general adult population has not been well-addressed in literature.[2]: 8