Philadelphia Nurse Malpractice Lawyer
In many regards, nurses have even more duties than doctors. Nurses are responsible for administering medication, switching out IV lines, cleaning wounds and replacing dressings, assisting surgeons, ensuring that patients are as comfortable as possible to promote healing, cleaning and bathing patients who cannot do so on their own, assisting patients to the toilet, and so much more. A minor error might not result in any harm to the patient, but a serious mistake can be life-threatening. If you or a loved one were harmed because of a nurse’s error, you may be entitled to compensation through a medical malpractice claim filed against the hospital or clinic in which the incident occurred. Our Philadelphia nurse malpractice lawyer at The Villari Firm, PLLC understands how important recovering your damages are, and will help you pursue the truth and justice in the months ahead.
Failure to Monitor
One of a nurse’s primary duties is to monitor the patient’s well-being. This means monitoring vitals, ensuring that wounds stay clean and clear of infection, Checking to make sure the patient does not have bed sores, and more. Failure to monitor a patient can result in an injury as minor as a urinary tract infection, to as serious as cardiac arrest.
Medication Errors
Another area in which a nurse’s negligence might cause serious harm to a patient is administering medication. Medication errors include failing to stick to the correct schedule of a medication, failure to verify a patient’s allergic reactions to various medications, and giving a patient the wrong type of medication.
Documentation Errors
Nurses are required to regularly update a patient’s records, ensuring that there is an up-to-date and accurate record of a patient’s vitals, medication, doses of medication, complaints or concerns of the patient, and more. Failing to keep accurate records can lead to an overdose of medication, unnecessary and redundant procedures that cause harm, and the worsening of dangerous conditions such as blood clots.
Other Examples of Nurse Malpractice
- Failure to clean a patient’s main line, resulting in infection
- Failure to carry out routine tasks
- Failure to take swift action when needed
- Failure to follow a doctor’s orders
- Failure to properly monitor a patient
- Failure to follow safety protocols and procedures
- Failure to help a patient in and out of bed, resulting in a fall
- Failure to update the patient’s medical records
- Theft of medical devices or medication (such as fentanyl), leading to a patient’s harm
- Physical, emotional, or sexual abuse
- Neglecting a patient’s needs
Contact a Philadelphia Nurse Negligence Lawyer Today
Just like doctors and other healthcare providers, nurses can be held liable for their mistakes when those errors cause a patient to be physically harmed. If you or a loved one or injured, or your condition worsened, due to nurse malpractice, we encourage you to take legal action by filing a medical malpractice claim. Here at The Villari Firm, our Philadelphia nurse malpractice lawyers can help get you the answers you are looking for. Call us today at 215-372-8889 for a free consultation.
