Can Nurses Be Held Responsible For Medical Malpractice?

Nurses are at the frontline of healthcare in the U.S. They are often responsible for monitoring the day-to-day wellbeing of patients. Because of their important role, nurses are held to a certain standard of care to ensure all patients are cared for effectively and attentively. When a nurse fails to provide medical care up to the applicable standard of care expected, patients can suffer injuries or even death.

Because nurses monitor the daily wellbeing of patients, there are a variety of ways that they can be negligent in their duties.

Nursing Malpractice Can Include:

• Failure to monitor or observe a patient’s condition
• Failure to respond to a patient’s call for assistance
• Making a mistake in the patient’s diet
• Administering incorrect medications or administering medication at improper times
• Failure to write down nurse’s observations
• Failure to notify a doctor of a serious change in condition
• Injuring a patient with medical equipment

Nursing malpractice can occur in hospitals, doctors’ offices, or in a patient’s home. However, the risk of nursing malpractice is increased in offices or hospitals where the nursing team is understaffed.

In order to establish nursing malpractice, Philadelphia law requires evidence that the nurse had a duty to the patient, that nurse failed to fulfill that duty, that the patient was injured, and that the failure could have been the cause of the patient’s injury.

Philadelphia Nursing Malpractice Attorneys

When a patient suffers an injury from medical malpractice, it can sometimes be difficult to understand how the injury occurred. It’s important to remember that there are time limitations within which an injured patient must file a personal injury lawsuit in Pennsylvania. So if you suspect that you were a victim of nursing malpractice, you need to speak with an experienced malpractice attorney who can help you understand what happened, and how you can hold the negligent parties responsible.

With more than 50 years of combined trial experience, the attorneys at Lopez McHugh LLP are proud to have worked with families throughout Philadelphia to help them rebuild their lives as much as is possible after unthinkable tragedies occur. Contact us today for a free and confidential consultation.