Nursing Errors – Failure to Monitor

When you’re under the care of a nurse, you trust that they have the training and competence to manage your condition. Unfortunately, nurses are not immune from making negligent mistakes that can result in serious personal injury, or even wrongful death. Some nurses are underqualified, while others may act negligently or carelessly.

No matter the situation, you should know what to do if you suffer injury from a nursing error due to negligence. Our experienced Syracuse medical malpractice team at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano Personal Injury Lawyers is skilled in all types of medical malpractice cases. Our law firm also has satellite offices throughout all of Upstate, New York for our clients. If you suffer from a nursing error, you should contact us right away. That way you can focus on healing, and let us focus on seeking compensation for pain, suffering, and in the worst-case scenario—the wrongful death of a loved one.

Nurses play a critically important role in ensuring patient safety while providing care directly to patients. They have an integral role to play in hospitals and clinics, and when they make a mistake there can be huge consequences for a patient. Nurses are a constant presence at the bedside and regularly interact with physicians, pharmacists, families, and all other members of the health care team, and are crucial to timely coordination and communication of the patient’s condition to the team. Nurses are responsible for a wide variety of tasks, including interviewing the patient, taking a medical history, participating in the initial diagnosis, medication management, preparing a patient for surgery, and helping with care after surgery. Throughout their care, nurses must monitor patients for changing conditions. They must keep a close watch for signs of trouble and respond to potential problems in a timely and appropriate manner. The health status of a patient can change gradually or suddenly. The accuracy in monitoring and assessing skills of the nurse as well as their timely report of condition changes to a physician can be a matter between life and death. If you believe you have been harmed by negligent nursing, a knowledgeable Syracuse medical malpractice attorney at DeFrancisco & Falgiatano, LLP may be able to help you assert your rights.

Nurses are on the front lines of patient care. But as nurses’ workloads increase, so do their chances of making mistakes. Nursing errors can include documentation errors, failure to intervene, failure to assess, improper use of an instrument, failure to recognize signs or symptoms, and failure to inform a doctor of changes in a patient’s condition. When nurses do not communicate changes in a patient’s condition with doctors and other medical staff, it can result in a delay in care, which can be life-threatening to the patient. A failure to notice a change in symptoms or not recognizing the significance of the change can lead to complications that, if left untreated, can result in serious injuries or even death. In addition to monitoring patients for changing conditions, nurses must know when to seek the assistance of a physician or other specialist if a patient’s condition does change. Any time a doctor, nurse, anesthesiologist, or other healthcare professional fails to properly monitor a patient’s condition, the consequences could range from mild to severe, resulting in significant harm, lasting damage, or even death. In some cases, outcomes are related to a nurse failing to call for backup, even when concerns arise during patient monitoring. A nurse might also fail to properly administer medication ordered by a doctor or may accidentally harm a patient and fail to report it. This is also considered a failure to monitor, and the consequences can be equally severe.

In some cases, a hospital can be liable for a nurse’s error. Certain hospitals understaff nurses resulting in each nurse caring for more patients than can be safely cared for and this negligence can result in nursing errors. A hospital might be responsible for hiring a nurse with a record of making mistakes or other incompetent behaviors such as coming to work inebriated. In other cases, a hospital doesn’t take care to adequately train or supervise a nurse. Hospitals can be legally and financially responsible for their nurse’s errors when our lawyers can show the following: (1) the hospital employed the nurse, (2) the nurse was fulfilling job duties at the time of the error, and (3) an independent doctor wasn’t in charge of the nurse.

If you suffer injuries due to nursing errors in Upstate New York, our seasoned nursing malpractice lawyers may be able to represent you. If you or a loved one have suffered an injury because of a nurse’s negligence, contact one of our lawyers today to see what kind of compensation you might be entitled to. DeFrancisco & Falgiatano handles personal injury and medical malpractice lawsuits in Syracuse, Rochester, and throughout Upstate New York, including in areas such as Utica, Canandaigua, Binghamton, Cooperstown, Lyons, Elmira, Wampsville, Auburn, Herkimer, Oneida, Oswego, Ithaca, Watertown, and Lowville. Please call us at 833-200-2000 or contact us via our online form.