4 Most Common Medical Errors in a Hospital Setting
When you or your loved one is extremely ill or badly injured, a hospital admission may come as a relief. Hospital patients are monitored by trained medical professionals 24 hours a day, so you would think that they are as safe as possible. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Hospitals are often understaffed and overwhelmed, which can contribute to critical safety mistakes. Hospitalized patients are medically fragile as it is. A single careless mistake can do serious harm or even prove fatal. If you were personally harmed by or lost an immediate family member due to medical malpractice in a hospital setting, you may be entitled to recover compensation. An attorney can help you better understand what rights you may have.
What Are the Most Common Careless Mistakes Made in Hospitals?
Hospital inpatients are often not in a good position to speak up for themselves and look out for their own safety. They have little choice but to trust that the medical professionals treating them are taking the needed precautions to keep them safe. When they are not, the results can be traffic. The most common types of medical malpractice to look out for in hospitals include:
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Misdiagnosis - Doctors may hastily make a diagnosis without fully considering possible alternative explanations for a patient’s symptoms. This can lead to a patient receiving incorrect treatments that ultimately do them harm. It can also lead to a delay in diagnosing the actual problem. A patient’s condition may worsen during this delay.
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Medication Errors - A variety of problems can lead to a patient being given the wrong medication - or not being given a necessary regular medication that they do need. If the wrong medication given is contraindicated by a different medication the patient takes, the patient could have a serious reaction. Or, missing doses of an at-home medication can cause a condition to worse.
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Poor sterilization - When an operating or procedure room has not been adequately sterilized, or equipment like IV supplies become contaminated, patients can acquire serious infections that can prolong hospitalization or become fatal. Steps should also be taken to prevent patient-to-patient transmission of viral and bacterial illness.
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Falls - Precautions should be taken to protect fall-risk patients, like those who are elderly, recovering from anesthesia, or using mobility aids. For patients who are confused, appropriate precautions may include things like bed rails and bed alarms.
These are all examples of medical malpractice that may occur in hospital settings. If you have been affected by one of these errors, your next step should be to speak with an attorney.
Call a Kane County Medical Malpractice Attorney
Kinnally Flaherty Krentz Loran Hodge & Masur P.C. helps victims of medical malpractice pursue compensation. Our skilled Aurora medical malpractice lawyers may be able to recover financial compensation for those who suffered as a result of negligence in a hospital setting. Call 630-907-0909 for a free consultation.
Source:
https://alwaysculture.com/hcahps/communication-medications/8-most-common-causes-of-medical-errors/
