Nurses are critical to our healthcare system in Atlanta, GA. You find nurses assisting patients in all medical areas and medical facilities. They are responsible for monitoring patients, relaying information to physicians, administering medication, and many other critical tasks for patient health.
However, just like all medical professionals, nurses make mistakes. Unfortunately, nursing errors can cause traumatic injuries and wrongful deaths. If you or a loved one has been injured because of a nursing error, you need an experienced Atlanta medical malpractice lawyer to help you seek compensation for your injuries.
Malone Law has represented injured victims and their families in Atlanta since 1965. Our Georgia medical malpractice lawyers have more than 50 years of experience in medical malpractice and personal injury law. Our top-rated lawyers have won hundreds of millions of dollars, including record-setting jury verdicts.
When you need experienced legal representation, turn to the trusted lawyers of Malone Law. Call (770) 390-7550 or contact us for a free consultation with an experienced Atlanta nursing errors lawyer.
How Our Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyers Can Help if You’ve Been Injured Because of Nursing Errors
Generally, nurses spend far more time with patients than doctors. They perform more tasks and are on the front line of a patient’s care.
Nurses are entrusted with patient care just like doctors and other medical providers. Therefore, they have a duty to provide a standard of care that meets or exceeds the accepted standard of care. Unfortunately, when a nurse breaches their duty of care, patients suffer.
Hiring an attorney with experience handling medical professional negligence claims gives you an advantage. Insurance companies will not be able to use unfair tactics to pressure you to accept a low settlement or sign away your rights to pursue a claim.
With decades of legal experience, our Atlanta nursing errors lawyers at Malone Law are prepared to handle complex medical malpractice claims. When you hire Malone Law to handle your Atlanta, Georgia nursing errors claim, you are in a better position to obtain a fair settlement.
You can expect our lawyers to handle all matters related to your case, including:
- Conducting a thorough investigation to determine the medical error that caused your injury
- Identify all parties who could be liable for your damages
- Work with leading medical specialists and other expert witnesses to gather evidence supporting your claim
- Document the extent of your injuries and damages to calculate how much your case is worth
- Negotiate a fair settlement for your injury claim
- File a medical malpractice lawsuit and argue your case in court, if necessary
We want to help you receive the compensation you deserve after being injured because of a nursing error. Call Malone Law today to schedule a free case evaluation with one of our experienced nursing errors lawyers in Atlanta, GA.
Types of Nursing Errors That Can Cause Injuries to Patients
Nurses receive comprehensive training to care for patients. They have a duty to use a level of skill, care, and treatment that is appropriate and acceptable given the relevant circumstances. They are expected to provide a level of care consistent with their experience, training, and skills.
If a nurse breaches their duty of care, it could be considered negligence. Examples of nursing errors and negligence include, but are not limited to:
- Failing to follow standards of care, such as instituting fall protocols, applying anti thrombosis stockings, changing bandages, etc.
- Not communicating all patient information to the physician and nurse on the next shift
- Using medical devices improperly
- Failure to document information in a patient’s chart
- Failing to identify or ignoring symptoms of complications
- Failing to provide discharge information to the patient
- Failure to assess and monitor patients
- Administering the incorrect medication or dosage
- Neglecting or ignoring a patient
- Failing to check medical equipment
The above list is just an example of nursing errors. A nurse could cause a patient harm in many ways because of their negligence or mistakes. If you were harmed because of a nursing error, call Malone Law to discuss your situation with an Atlanta nursing errors lawyer.
How Nursing Errors Impact Patients
When nurses make mistakes, the consequences for the patient can be devastating. A nursing error could have immediate consequences, or the patient might develop symptoms of an injury in the weeks or months after a nursing error occurred.
Examples of the effects nursing errors have on patients include:
- Patient injury and harm
- Disability and permanent impairments
- Worsening of existing symptoms and conditions
- Emotional and psychological trauma
- Extended hospital stays and/or recovery time
- Financial losses
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Wrongful death
When a nurse makes an error, the patient can sustain economic damages and non-economic damages. These damages may be recovered by filing a nursing malpractice claim.
What Damages Can I Recover for a Nursing Malpractice Claim in Atlanta, GA?
The compensation you recover for harm caused by nursing error depends on the damages you sustain. Damages in a nursing malpractice claim can include, but are not limited to:
- Medical expenses
- Lost wages
- Emotional, mental, and physical pain and suffering
- A decrease in future earning capacity
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Out-of-pocket expenses
- Long-term care
- Diminished quality of life
- Permanent impairments
In many cases, the medical malpractice insurance provider pays a claim for nursing malpractice. Nurses are responsible themselves when they are negligent or commit malpractice.
While nurses have personal liability, malpractice claims are generally filed against other parties who could be responsible for the nurse’s negligence. Attending doctors, hospitals, and medical facilities are often named with the nurse in a nursing malpractice claim.
Proving a Medical Malpractice Case Based on Nursing Errors in Georgia
As the injured party, you have the burden of proving the elements of a medical malpractice claim for the nursing errors that caused your injury.
The elements of a nursing malpractice claim are:
- A duty of care inherent in a doctor-patient relationship existed
- The nurse failed to provide patient care with a reasonable degree of care and skill (i.e., breach of the reasonable standard of care)
- A direct and proximate link between the failure to provide care and the patient’s injury
The reasonable standard of care is defined by what a reasonably prudent medical professional with similar qualifications would have done in similar circumstances.
For a nursing malpractice case, we must hire a medical expert to explain what the reasonable standard of care would have been in your situation. The expert also explains how the nurse failed to meet that standard of care.
To win the case, we must prove that nursing error was the direct and proximate cause of your injury and you sustained damages because of the breach of duty. Without harm, you cannot recover compensation for a nursing error.
What Is the Statute of Limitation for a Georgia Nursing Malpractice Lawsuit?
Typically, you have two years from the nursing error to file a medical malpractice lawsuit in Georgia. However, the discovery rules could apply if you did not know about the nursing error immediately.
Determining the statute of limitations for a medical malpractice lawsuit is complicated. Missing the deadline means you cannot file a claim in court. Therefore, it is wise to seek legal advice as soon as you suspect that you are the victim of a nursing error or other medical negligence.
What Should You Do if You Think You Were Injured by a Nursing Error in Atlanta, GA?
If you believe that a nursing error caused your injuries or condition, it might be in your best interest to seek a second opinion from a medical expert. Our Atlanta nursing errors lawyers can help you locate an expert to provide a second opinion. If you need urgent medical treatment, seek a doctor of your choice immediately.
Gather records related to the nursing error, including admission forms, copies of your patient chart, and discharge instructions. Your records can help prove the nurse made an error by showing the treatment you received. When you hire our law firm, we will request copies of your records from the appropriate facilities and parties.
Document your injuries by taking photographs and making a video if the injuries are visible. For injuries that are not visible, you can secure diagnostic records to medically verify the injuries. It is also helpful to write notes in a journal to document your pain and suffering related to injuries caused by a nursing error.
Call an Atlanta nursing malpractice lawyer for help. Establishing causation, fault, and liability for a nursing errors case can be complicated. An experienced malpractice lawyer understands the law and what evidence you need to prove that a nursing error caused your injuries.
Schedule a Free Consultation With Our Atlanta Nursing Errors Lawyers
You should not bear the cost of nursing errors. Instead, you deserve to be compensated for all damages caused by medical negligence and malpractice. Call our law firm to request a free case review from one of our experienced Atlanta nursing errors attorneys.