Atlanta Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
Unfortunately, over the last few years, the number of nursing malpractice cases has been increasing. This is not good news.
Evidently, nursing malpractice statistics have started to increase sharply over the last five years or so. The evidence of this is provided by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, whose figures reveal that registered nurses are now, more than ever, being held accountable for malpractice and negligence. The types of errors they are being held accountable for include medication errors, documentation errors and failure to assess or intervene.
It may be helpful to understand just what negligence actually means on the part of a medical professional from the point of view of an Atlanta personal injury attorney. A medical professional may be a doctor, EMT, RN, LPN, dentist, physiotherapist, radiation technician or anesthetist, etc. Negligence means they fail to perform a medical duty or obligation according to the “normal” standard of care. In many cases, nurses are also present when patients are injured mentally or physically.
In looking for an explanation for the drastic increase in nurse malpractice cases, one only has to look at the current nursing shortage in the US. Those that are working are overworked, overloaded and overwhelmed. They often don’t have enough rest time to enable them to stay on the ball; something that is the result of longer shifts. It’s a no-brainer that lack of sleep makes a person inattentive and easily distracted, and this may cause harm to patients.
Other causes of nursing malpractice relate to under qualification. There are a fair number of nurses who didn’t finish the full nursing education program and some don’t even have the proper training. It would follow that in those cases, medical malpractice may happen. Nurses are vitally important to the care and recovery of patients in the hospital or other medical settings. If malpractice happens, it is significant and may cause serious injury or death.
Those who have been the victim of nurse malpractice may be able to file a claim for compensation for pain and suffering, medical expenses and other things such as lost wages and benefits. In order to find out if you do qualify to file a medical malpractice case, speak to a competent Atlanta personal injury lawyer. If a death resulted from the malpractice, as a family member you may be able to file a wrongful death suit and claim for loss of companionship, loss of support, and funeral and burial expenses – to name a few.
Tim Anderson works with Atlanta Personal Injury attorney, Stephen M. Ozcomert. The firm specializes in personal injury, malpractice, motorcycle accidents, and wrongful death. To learn more about Atlanta personal injury lawyer, Stephen M. Ozcomert, visit Ozcomert.com.