What Constitutes Nursing Malpractice?

Scartelli Olszewski P.C.

Pennsylvania is home to more registered nurses than many other states. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, over 144,000 RNs work in the Keystone State. It gives PA the fifth-highest RN employment level in the country, behind only California, Texas, Florida, and New York.

Because of this, Pennsylvania also has the second-highest medical malpractice rate in the U.S. This includes malpractice cases brought against doctors and nurses.

Are you wondering whether you may have been a victim of nursing malpractice? Learn more about what constitutes this specific type of medical malpractice below and whether you might have grounds to build a case should you decide to pursue legal action.

What Is Nursing Malpractice?

Nursing malpractice occurs when nurses fail to deliver reasonable standards of care to patients who rely on them for medical treatment. This breach of duty can lead to patients suffering harm caused by nurses’ negligence.

This type of malpractice sometimes occurs when nurses make crucial mistakes while caring for patients. A botched treatment can lead to a nurse injuring a patient and force them to seek additional medical treatment.

In other cases, malpractice happens when nurses fail to properly monitor patients and take action when their medical condition changes. They may, for example, neglect to notice a patient is in respiratory distress and allow them to deteriorate by not calling medical professionals to help.

What Are Examples of Nursing Malpractice?

Let’s look at several common examples to provide you with an even better understanding of nursing malpractice. They should demonstrate the various ways in which this form of malpractice can impact patients.

Here are a few easy-to-understand examples:

Medication errors: Nurses giving patients the wrong medications or the wrong dosages
Recordkeeping errors: Nurses failing to accurately record patients’ vitals, medications, allergic reactions, etc.
Communication errors: Nurses forgetting to tell doctors about issues patients are having
Medical equipment errors: Nurses using medical equipment improperly and causing patient injuries or even deaths

How Can You Prove Nursing Malpractice?

Unfortunately, it isn’t uncommon for nurses to make medical errors while tending to patients. One large-scale study on the nursing error rate found that nearly all nurses admit to making at least minor mistakes while on the job.

However, just because a nurse makes a mistake doesn’t automatically mean they’ve committed nursing malpractice. If you plan to hire a legal claim attorney to file a malpractice case against a nurse, they’ll need to prove these four key elements for you to earn a victory in court:

Duty: Showing a nurse had a legal obligation to provide medical care to a patient
Breach: Explaining how a nurse failed to deliver reasonable care to a patient
Causation: Highlighting how a nurse’s failure to care for a patient led to health issues
Harm: Pointing out the specific injuries a patient suffered as a result of a nurse’s negligence

The last element, in particular, is extremely important in these malpractice cases. It helps determine the damages a plaintiff can seek to recover when filing a malpractice claim.

Victims of medical malpractice can often collect compensation to help them pay medical bills and other expenses related to the harm they suffered.

Call Us To Speak With a Medical Malpractice Attorney

Do you believe a nurse you trusted to provide medical care may have acted negligently and caused you harm? Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. can provide a medical malpractice attorney and help you take legal action against this medical professional.

Contact us today by calling (570) 346-2600 or contacting us online to discover more about what constitutes nursing malpractice.