Nurse Malpractice
Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010Numerous reports have been made over the past decade, regarding the incidents of medical mistakes occurring in the United State. In 1999, the Institute of Medicine reported that approximately 98,000 deaths a year could be attributed to preventable medical cialis tabs review errors. A 2006 follow up to that study revealed that medication errors harm over a million people every year, and other medical errors 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 physicians who are responsible. Nurses may also perform actions of negligence that result in major injury or death of the patient. 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. However, longer shifts often lead to fatigue and order cialis this increases the risk of a medical error. 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 is unintentional, its results are no less harmful or 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 online without prescription Camagra cheap buy 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?
Nurses are medical professionals and with their line of work comes a duty to provide patients with a standard buy Aciclovir online level of medical attention. A victim of negligence has legal rights when a nurse acts in a negligent way.
Depending on the circumstances, a victim of nurse malpractice may be entitled to compensation for medical costs, lost wages, pain and suffering, and other losses. Family members may be able to seek compensation for costs of the funeral, loss of a loved one and support, among others.
Keep in mind, there are legal deadlines that apply when filing a nurse malpractice case so as soon as you believe malpractice occurred, talk to an experienced attorney.
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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