Sangamon County Nurse Malpractice Lawyers

Attorneys for Injuries Caused by the Negligence of Nurses and Medical Personnel in Springfield and Bloomington

Medical negligence can take a variety of forms, and it is not always committed by doctors. In fact, patients in emergency rooms, hospitals, or other medical facilities often have more contact with nurses than they do with physicians, surgeons, or specialists. Nurses are required to monitor a patient's condition and ensure that they are cared for correctly, and the failure to do so can have drastic consequences. Nursing errors are a form of medical malpractice that can cause patients to suffer serious injuries.

The attorneys of Kanoski Bresney are highly experienced in personal injury cases involving medical negligence, and over our firm's 40-year history, we have helped our clients receive over $550 million in verdicts and settlements. We understand the legal issues involved in medical malpractice cases, and we are prepared to pursue cases against large healthcare companies or insurers to ensure that you are fully repaid for the injuries you have suffered. We will treat you with respect at all times, provide you with a quick and effective response to your questions and needs, and help you achieve the results you deserve.

Types of Nursing Errors

Nurses play a crucial role in the healthcare system, and in addition to ensuring that patients receive the proper care, they also act as advocates to ensure that patients' best interests are being served by doctors and medical facilities. They have a wide variety of important duties, including monitoring patients' vital signs and overall condition, working with patients and other personnel to create plans for medical treatment, performing diagnostic tests, administering medications, providing treatment, operating complex medical equipment, and informing patients and family members about their options and what they can expect as they receive care.

Because nurses have so many important responsibilities, any mistakes or errors made when performing these duties can have serious consequences for patients. Some common forms of negligence that can lead to patient injuries include:

• Failure to monitor patients - Nurses should be sure to take a patient's vital signs and record this information, as well as any other important details about their condition. Failure to do so could result in a delay in treatment that is needed to address changing conditions or other medical concerns. Nurses should also attend to patients' needs and respond to their requests. In some cases, patients may suffer slip and fall injuries or experience other issues if nurses do not provide proper assistance when needed.
• Failure to inform doctors - Any changes in a patient's condition should be reported to doctors to ensure that issues are addressed promptly. This can be especially important after a patient has undergone a major procedure such as surgery. The failure to provide doctors with information about a patient could lead to delayed treatment that affects the patient's recovery from a procedure and the overall outcome of their case.
• Failure to advocate for patients - Nurses should always consider patients' best interests and offer recommendations for treatment based on an assessment of a person's condition. If a nurse believes that a doctor is not providing the proper treatment or is not properly considering a nurse's recommendations, they should take the proper measures to ensure that hospital supervisors are aware of these issues. Since nurses spend the most time with patients, they know how best to meet a person's needs, and patients can be injured if a nurse does not advocate on their behalf.
• Failure to follow the proper procedures - There are a variety of different types of errors that nurses can make when providing care for a patient, such as failing to provide the proper treatment within the required time period, using equipment incorrectly, or injuring a patient when inserting an IV or catheter.
• Medication errors - Nurses are often tasked with administering drugs, and patients can be seriously injured if they are given the wrong medications or receive the wrong doses. Medication errors can result in a patient suffering harm due to an allergic reaction, interactions with other drugs, overdoses, or lack of the necessary medication to treat their condition.
• Infections - Patients are often at risk of harm when receiving treatment in a hospital due to weakened immune systems, and proper sterilization procedures should be used to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Nurses may be responsible for patient injuries that occur because they did not wash their hands, because they failed to properly treat or clean wounds, or because they did not follow the correct post-operative procedures or infection control protocols.

Causes of Nursing Errors

While some forms of nursing malpractice are due to simple mistakes, many patient injuries occur due to hospital administration issues or other preventable forms of negligence. Some reasons these errors may occur include:

• Improper training - Nurses must be fully trained and have experience in medical procedures, the use of tools and equipment, and other duties they perform. A hospital or medical facility should ensure that all nurses have the correct training for the types of care they will be providing since patients can suffer injuries if a nurse attempts to administer treatment without the proper training. Medical facilities should also be sure to address any disciplinary issues or previous forms of malpractice by a nurse to ensure that they will provide the proper care to patients.
• Understaffing - Nurses are often overworked, and they are required to provide care for large numbers of patients at the same time, which may cause them to be unable to monitor patients' conditions or respond to their health concerns within the right amount of time. If a hospital does not ensure that enough nurses are working at any given time, this may cause nurses to be unable to provide the care patients need.
• Fatigue - In addition to concerns about patient volume, nurses often work long hours, and the stress of their jobs can lead to exhaustion and make mistakes more likely. A medical facility should have policies in place to limit the number of hours a nurse can work and ensure that they will be able to provide excellent care to patients whenever they are working.

When Are Nursing Errors Considered Medical Malpractice?

As with other medical malpractice cases, there are several elements that must be demonstrated before a patient can pursue financial damages for injuries caused by nursing errors:

• Nurse/patient relationship - If a nurse provides any type of care or treatment to a patient, this establishes a relationship and a duty of care that the nurse must meet.
• Breach of duty of care - It must be shown that a nurse did not meet the standards of care that another nurse or medical provider with similar training and experience would have provided in the same situation.
• Injuries - The nurse's failure to meet the standard of care must have caused the patient to experience an injury or illness that would not have occurred otherwise.
• Damages - The patient's injuries must have caused them harm in the form of financial expenses or physical or emotional pain.

What Types of Compensation Can I Receive for Nursing Errors?

By pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit, you can seek repayment for any damages you have experienced due to your injury. Your "economic damages" include the medical bills for any treatment you have received for your injury, as well as the costs of any future treatment, rehabilitative therapy, medications, medical devices, or other out-of-pocket expenses. You should also be repaid for the income you have lost while recovering from your injury and any losses of future income due to a disability or impairment resulting from your injury.

Your "non-economic damages" include any other ways your injuries have affected your personal or family life. These may include the physical pain and suffering you have had to deal with, as well as emotional trauma for you and your family members. You may also be able to receive compensation for your loss of enjoyment of life or the loss of companionship you would have been able to provide for your family. In cases involving gross negligence by a nurse or medical facility, punitive damages may also be awarded by a court as a way to punish the liable party.

Every case is unique, and the specific amount of damages you may be able to recover will depend on the severity of your injuries and other factors involved in your case. At Kanoski Bresney, our attorneys work with medical experts and financial advisors to make sure we understand the many ways an injury has affected your life and your family, and we will fight to help you receive financial compensation that fully addresses all of the damages you have experienced.

Contact Our Champaign County Nurse Malpractice Attorneys

An injury that was caused by a nurse's negligence can be difficult to deal with since it is a betrayal of the trust that you have placed in a person who you depended on to provide high-quality medical care. The lawyers of Kanoski Bresney can help you take the right steps to hold a hospital, clinic, or other medical facility responsible for the harm that was done to you. We will fight to make sure your family will have the financial resources you need to recover from your injuries. To schedule a free consultation, contact us at 888-U-COUNT-2 or 888-826-8682. We provide legal help to victims of medical negligence across the state of Illinois, including Champaign, Peoria, Quincy, Springfield, Adams County, McDonough County, Peoria County, Decatur, Schuyler County, McLean County, Pekin, Rushville, Champaign County, Macon County, Tazewell County, Sangamon County, Macomb, and Bloomington.