Atlanta Doctor/Nurse Error Attorney
Doctors and nurses receive years of education and training on how to properly diagnose, treat and care for patients. As medical professionals, doctors and nurses are required to provide the same standard of care that a reasonably competent and skilled medical professional in the community would provide. When doctors and nurses fail to meet this standard due to negligence or incompetence, they have committed malpractice. The Carroll Law Firm in Atlanta holds doctors and nurses accountable for their medical mistakes and helps malpractice victims get the care and compensation they need to deal with the damage that has been done to them. Learn about the most common doctor and nurse errors below, and contact the Carroll Law Firm to discuss your claim with an experienced and successful Atlanta doctor & nurse error attorney.
Doctor Errors
The most common mistakes doctors make are errors in diagnosis. These errors can occur in any setting, including the doctor’s office, a clinic or hospital. Diagnostic errors include failing to conduct a differential diagnosis and diagnosing the wrong condition; missing the diagnosis entirely, such as failing to identify cancer or heart disease; and unreasonably delayed diagnosis. A prompt, accurate diagnosis is essential to getting the right care and treatment. Diagnosis errors can prolong or worsen disease and even cause death.
Other doctor errors are more likely to occur in a hospital or surgery center. Chief among these are surgery errors. Even the most minor operations carry significant risks, and severe injuries can ensue if doctors are not skilled and attentive throughout the procedure. These errors include harming internal organs, causing nerve damage or internal bleeding, and leaving surgical instruments inside the patient. Other inexcusable surgical errors include operating on the wrong patient or body part.
Obstetricians can be held liable for birth injuries if they apply too much pressure to the fetus during delivery, take too long to deliver the baby or order a c-section, or fail to monitor for signs of fetal distress during labor. Birth injuries include fractures, nerve damage and brain damage, sometimes leading to lifelong physical or cognitive deficits.
Anesthesia mistakes are another doctor error that can be even more serious than a surgical mistake. When anesthesiologists administer too much or too little anesthesia, fail to monitor the patient’s vital signs, or negligently insert a breathing tube, damage can range from pain and psychological trauma to permanent disability, brain damage or death.
Nursing Malpractice
In Atlanta hospitals, clinics and doctor’s offices, nurses and nurse practitioners are more and more often serving as the primary patient caregiver, performing many functions that once were done by doctors. Nurses are present, involved and essential in every area of patient care, from the ER to the OR to an annual physical exam. Nurses are held to a standard of care appropriate to their professional license, whether they are a registered nurse (RN), a licensed practical nurse (LPN), a licensed vocational nurse (LVN) or a nurse practitioner (NP). About ten percent of the nation’s nursing staff were trained outside of the country, and these thousands of nurses are the subject of most medical malpractice claims. Some of the most common nursing errors are:
- Administering the wrong medicine or dose, or other committing medication errors
- Failing to carry out a complete patient assessment
- Failing to include vital patient history information in the file
- Delivering an intravenous injection when an intramuscular injection was called for, and vice versa
- Failing to identify the need for medical intervention or communicate it to the doctor
- Failing to take or read vital signs accurately
Nursing Home Errors
Doctors and nurses in nursing homes can also be guilty of medical malpractice for any of the errors mentioned above. Typical nursing home medical mistakes include failing to conduct a proper medical evaluation of a patient in distress; failing to perform diagnostic tests or make referrals to specialists as needed; failing to monitor, chart and report on patient health; making diagnosis errors; and failure of the attending physician to act when notified of medical needs.
Help with Doctor & Nurse Errors in Atlanta
Atlanta doctor/nurse error attorney Stacey Carroll takes on all types of doctor and nurse errors in any setting. He’ll go over every aspect of your case and go the extra mile to make sure your claim is successful and that you receive a full and fair amount of compensation for the damage done to you. If you’ve been harmed by a doctor or nurse error in an Atlanta hospital, doctor’s office or another health care facility, call the Carroll Law Firm for a complimentary consultation with an experienced and successful Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer.
