Who Is Liable After A Nurse Commits Medical Malpractice?
When people think of medical malpractice, they often think of a doctor making a mistake. But doctors are not the only ones who can commit medical malpractice. Any medical professional, including nurses, can commit medical malpractice.
Nurses have a huge responsibility to patients. Nurses are required to provide their patients with proper care. A nurse who departs from the accepted standards of nursing care and causes harm to a patient has committed medical malpractice.
If you or a loved one sustained an injury, or if you lost a loved one due to a nurse’s negligence, you can seek damages. However, medical malpractice cases involving nurses can be complex. Therefore, you should retain the services of a skilled attorney to pursue such a claim. After a nurse commits medical malpractice, determining liability can be challenging. A qualified medical malpractice attorney can help you determine who is responsible for the nurse’s negligent acts and seek the damages you deserve.
What Does Nursing Malpractice Involve?
Nursing malpractice arises when a nurse does not fulfill their duties in a way that a competent nurse in the same situation would, thus causing injury or death to a patient. Nursing malpractice may involve many actions, including the following:
- Failing to monitor a patient’s medical condition
- Failing to take prompt action in response to a change in medical condition
- Improperly administering medication
- Using medical equipment improperly
- Failing to properly communicate with the patient’s physicians
If you or a loved one suffered an injury or lost a loved one because of the actions mentioned above, get in touch with a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible to discuss your legal options.
Who Is Liable After a Nurse Commits Medical Malpractice?
If a nurse committed an act that led to you or your loved one suffering an injury, you might wonder who is responsible for the nurse’s negligent acts. Determining liability in a medical malpractice case when nursing malpractice is involved can be complicated. Fortunately, an attorney can help you.
The hospital may be liable for the nurse’s negligent act if the nurse is an employee of the hospital and was fulfilling a job duty when they committed the negligent act. Frequently, hospitals are a defendant in nursing malpractice cases. On the other hand, the attending doctor may be liable for the nurse’s negligence if they were present and in a position to prevent the negligence. Often, the issue of whether an attending doctor was in a position to prevent a nurse’s negligence is a dispute between the hospital and the doctor. But the outcome of this dispute does not prevent a plaintiff from recovering compensation; the outcome only determines who pays for the damages.
Lastly, note that in a situation where an attending doctor was present, the hospital may still be held liable if the doctor gave the nurse incorrect instructions and the nurse knowingly followed the wrong instructions.
Contact an Atlanta Medical Malpractice Attorney
If you or a loved one suffered an injury or lost a loved one because of a nurse’s negligent act, contact our skilled and dedicated Atlanta medical malpractice attorney at Carroll Law Firm to schedule a consultation and discuss your case.
Source:
law.cornell.edu/wex/malpractice
