Are You a Victim of Hospital Staff Negligence?
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Recent, reputable nationwide studies have shown that hospital errors and medical negligence are among the leading causes of death in the United States. Medical News Today has reported that an average of 195,000 people die in the United States each year due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors (i). Further reports indicate that of these adverse events taking place within hospitals, 44% were avoidable (ii). Hospitals may be responsible for treatment that causes you or a loved one harm because the care does not meet acceptable standards. If the hospital, its doctors, or other hospital staff and employees are careless, not properly qualified, or do not follow the established procedures or rules, they may be held accountable for injuries you suffer as a result of their negligence.
Examples of Hospital Staff Negligence include:
- Failure to diagnose
- Surgical errors
- Failure to perform proper tests or lost test results
- Lost or not transmitted records
- Improper staff credentials
- Failure to monitor patients
- Failure to have sufficient numbers of staff
- Failure to provide proper medication and care
- Failure to triage appropriately
- Premature discharge
Nurses and other hospital staff members are responsible for many important parts of a hospitalized patient’s treatment and care. Some of their responsibilities include monitoring vital signs such as blood pressure or heartbeats, performing minor treatments, and calling a doctor if the patient’s condition becomes urgent or serious. Sometimes nurses and staff may not provide care that is required by standard practices. This substandard care can result in harm to the patient.
Nurses and staff may also fail to recognize serious or emergency conditions soon enough, or fail to notify the doctor of an emergency until it is too late. Nurses and staff may also fail to give the proper medication, and their negligence may also cause the patient to suffer the effects of wrongly administered or dangerously mixed medications.
Sources:
- (i) Medical News Today. 2004.
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/11856.php - (ii) Reuters. 2010.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/16/us-medicare-errors-idUSTRE6AF5SM20101116