Nurse Malpractice
March 2nd, 2010 by Author173
Over the past ten years, many reports have been released on the occurrence of medical mistakes happening in the U.S. The Institute of Medicine reported in 1999 that close to 98,000 fatalities a year could be blamed on preventable medical mistakes. Medication errors harm more than a million individuals every year according to a 2006 follow up study, in addition, other medical mistakes injure hundreds of thousands more. As a matter of fact, the IOM states the occurrences of medical mistakes in the U.S. an epidemic. And it’s not only doctors who are responsible. Nurses may also commit acts of negligence that result in severe patient injury or death. This is commonly referred to as nurse malpractice.
Factors that Contribute to Nurse Malpractice
Nurse malpractice has become increasingly common in recent years, in part because of a severe shortage of trained nurses to staff hospitals and other healthcare facilities. The problems that arise as a result of nurse staffing shortages are a couple:
- Nurses are required to work longer shifts. Working longer hours however, leads to fatigue and raises the risk of a medical mistake. A study in 2004 proved that nurse malpractice increased threefold when working more than 12.5 hours.
- Hospitals and healthcare facilities are more likely to hire unlicensed/unregulated nurse aides to fill the need left by a shortage of registered and licensed practical nurses.
Another factor that contributes to nurse malpractice is miscommunication. Even though miscommunication are not typically planned, the pain is still devastating and sometimes deadly.
Common Types of Nurse Malpractice
There are numerous types of nurse malpractice, but some of the most common include:
- Failing to follow doctor’s orders
- Failing to monitor a patient or care for a patient when necessary
- Dispensing the wrong drug, the wrong dose of drug or a drug to the wrong patient
- Carrying out medical procedures without the necessary qualifications
Any of these errors can result in potentially fatal consequences, including:
- Organ damage
- Drug toxicity
- Cardiac arrest
- Infection
- Coma
Have You Been Injured by Nurse Malpractice?
Medical professionals have an obligation to give their patients a standard level of medical attention and nurses are one of these professionals. When a nurse is negligent, the victim of this incident has legal rights.
Depending on the circumstance, a nurse malpractice victim may be able to seek compensation for medical expenses, wages lost, pain and suffering and more. In case death is the outcome, the victim’s family members may be able to file a lawsuit for cost of the funeral, loss of companionship, loss of support and more.
it is important to know there are legal deadlines that apply when filing a case of nurse malpractice so be sure to speak with a professional attorney right when you suspect malpractice happened.
Contact Our Law Firm Today
For a free claim evaluation, contact the nurse malpractice attorneys at our law firm today. One of our attorneys will evaluate your case and explain your legal options.
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