Medical Malpractice Lawyer in NY: Getting Relief from Nursing Errors
In their code of ethics, it is stated that nurses’ role in healthcare is to provide optimal care and to help in promoting and protecting the safety and health of patients. Unfortunately, hospital and treatment errors, including those involving nurses, are still considered a serious problem in the United States.
A 2013 article by the Patient Safety America, Houston, Texas puts the number of deaths “associated with preventable harm in hospitals” at around 400,000 per year. If you or someone you know may have been a victim of these “preventable harms” brought about by negligence on the part of doctors, nurses, or anyone else in a hospital’s staff, do not hesitate to get in touch with an established NY medical malpractice lawyer to seek just compensation.
A 2010 study published by PubMed Central® has found that several measures may be effective in reducing nursing errors, including fostering an environment in which nurses could easily admit to committed lapses, so that immediate resolution may be implemented. Furthermore, according to the study, reducing work pressure and fostering a healthy patient-nurse relationship were other measures that resulted in the drop of nursing errors.
Common Errors of Nurses
Infections are considered common risks in treatments, especially with physical contact between nurses and patients. Accidental falls of bed-ridden patients are also normally attributed to nursing lapses as they often happen when patients try to get up on their own because of the nurses’ unavailability.
Medication errors probably account for the most number of medical malpractice lawsuits involving nurses. The most common mistakes that nurses make include giving the wrong dosages, erroneous or inaccurate drug labeling and packaging, and inadequate knowledge of the medicine.
How to Make a Claim
In pursuing a claim for nursing error, it is important for the victim to establish that any harm he or she suffered was the result of the error. The injury or suffering the patient experienced should have been the direct result of the nurse’s negligence, with no other possible reasons or explanation; or that the nurse’s mistake resulted in aggravating an existing condition. The attorney can help come up with a reasonable amount that would compensate the victim for the sufferings he or she experienced.
While most nursing mistakes do not result in serious harm or death, it is still crucial for victims to consult with medical malpractice lawyers in Long Island, NY like those from The Law Offices of Joseph Lichtenstein. The lawyers can assess each case, and determine if there is sufficient grounds for claims.
Sources:
Assessing the nursing error rate and related factors from the view of nursing staff. Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
How to Avoid the Most Common Nursing Errors Affecting Patient Safety. Nursezone.com