Malpractice and Nurses

27 Dec Malpractice and Nurses

If you’re in the hospital for any length of time, nurses will likely provide the majority of your care. Doctors come in and out to make certain that you’re doing okay but, by and large, you will see a nurse more than you will see any other staff member at the hospital, in all likelihood. In some cases, these nurses are negligent in ways that make them vulnerable to being sued for medical malpractice. There’s a big difference, however, between suing a doctor and going after a nurse who was negligent in their duties.

Employees vs. Contractors

In most cases, doctors are contractors for the hospital where they deliver services. Nurses are generally regular employees. When you sue a doctor for malpractice, you go after the doctor and their insurance company for the damages. When you sue a nurse, you generally go after the healthcare facility itself and lay the blame for negligence at their feet. Just like doctors, healthcare facilities have insurance to protect them in the event that they are sued for malpractice.

What is Negligence

There are few people in society who have a position that commands as much respect as does a nurse. Nurses provide a great deal of patient care, they provide comfort and they also interact with patients and provide them with information that helps the patient to understand what’s going on with them. Negligence is not alleging that a nurse is incompetent or that they are not fit for their job. Negligence merely means that, in whatever instance applies, the nurse did not come through in the delivery of their duties as could be reasonably expected of them. When you say a nurse is negligent, you’re not saying that they should never be employed as a nurse again: you’re simply saying that they did not perform their job as they should have for you.

A medical malpractice claim can be a very complex undertaking. In some cases, you may end up going after a healthcare facility, a medical equipment manufacturer or distributor. In others, you may simply be going after a doctor. No matter what type of claim you’re filing, make sure you get your medical negligence information from a qualified attorney. These attorneys can make certain that you understand the information that you are given and that you understand your rights under the law. They will also make sure you understand how a doctor or healthcare facility is responsible for the care that they deliver.