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Nurses can be and often are held liable for medical malpractice. While they play an important role in patient care, they must be careful not to step outside their professional duties and cause harm. When they do, victims may have the right to file a claim for compensation.
Doing so will require retaining skilled legal counsel who is ready to prove your case and argue for the damages you deserve. If a nurse or other medical professional has injured you, reach out to the Long Island medical malpractice firm of Dell & Dean PLLC.
Understanding Medical Malpractice in New York
Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional, including a nurse, makes a mistake that is unreasonable in light of the circumstances. Not just any mistake counts as malpractice. The error has to be such that it departs from the accepted standard of care.
Described another way, the nurse must act contrary to what would be expected of similarly situated nurses. In other words, what would a reasonably careful nurse, of the same or similar background and experience, do in this exact situation?
Long Island victims of nursing malpractice must prove the following elements if they wish to prevail in a lawsuit and seek compensation for their injuries:
- Duty of care: This means the nurse owed the patient a duty to act reasonably and provide the appropriate care to the patient. An expert witness can testify as to the applicable standard of care in these cases.
- Breach: A breach of the duty of care occurs when the nurse negligently does or fails to do something. The examples listed below may qualify as a breach.
- Causation: Next, the breach of the duty of care must actually cause injury to the patient.
- Damages: Finally, the injured patient has to prove the nature and amount of their damages.
Examples of Nursing Malpractice
These are some examples of how nursing malpractice actually occurs. Any of these can be considered a breach of the duty of care, so if you have experienced any of the following you need to speak with a Long Island medical malpractice lawyer:
- Medication errors: These include giving the patient the wrong medication, the wrong dosage, and related mistakes.
- Documentation errors: Entering incorrect information on the patient’s chart and in their other records can cause injury.
- Improper use of a medical device: Nurses should be properly trained to use medical devices and can be held liable when they make a mistake.
- Failure to properly assess: Nurses must make an objective and accurate assessment of the patient’s condition to administer proper care.
- Failure to intervene: Any nurse who fails to do something that could prevent further patient injury has a duty to do so.
- Failure to abide by the doctor’s orders: New York’s Nurse Practice Act prohibits nurses from acting outside the scope of their duties, and that may include disobeying the doctor’s orders.
- Failure to recognize a patient’s signs or symptoms: Any well-trained nurse should understand a patient’s signs and symptoms and react accordingly.
- Failure to alert the doctor to changes in the patient’s medical condition: When a major change affects the patient’s condition, the nurse must inform the doctor.
What Forms of Compensation Are Available?
Injured patients file nursing malpractice claims in Long Island to seek monetary compensation, also known as damages. These are generally intended to restore them to the condition they were in prior to their injuries, and may include:
- Medical bills: The patient may need medical care to correct the nurse’s mistake, and can ask for these as damages.
- Future medical bills: The same is true for reasonably anticipated future medical needs.
- Lost income: During the time spent recovering, the patient can lose significant income from missing work.
- Lost income-earning capacity: If the nursing malpractice is severe enough, the victim will lose future income, bonuses, and more.
- Non-economic damages: These are intangible losses like pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress.
- Wrongful death damages: If the nursing malpractice causes the patient’s death, eligible survivors can file a wrongful death action seeking various forms of compensation.
Let Our Dedicated Malpractice Attorney Serve You
Patients deserve the best of care, and when they don’t receive it, they can get injured. If you were hurt in Long Island due to nursing malpractice, get in touch with Dell & Dean PLLC. We can schedule your initial consultation today.
