Have you ever headed somewhere and took a shortcut only to wind up taking more time than had you taken the original route? Well, the same is true in nursing. Some nurses take shortcuts to expedite their work load. Shortcuts can include pre-documenting, medication administration, setting up medications early or even ordering items well before the physician arrives because you are sure the doctor will order it. All of these are very dangerous practices. I have represented nurses who asked … [Read more...]
The National Practitioner Databank and You
The National Practitioner Databank is a repository for the names of certain individuals who have had an adverse action against their license or medical malpractice verdict or settlement. Congress enacted legislation to create the Databank because of increasing occurrences of medical malpractice litigation and the need to improve quality medical care. One of the factors that pushed for the need of a National Practitioner Databank was that, for example, a physician with multiple medical … [Read more...]
Is It Nursing Malpractice?
Is a med error considered malpractice? āMalpracticeā is a fancy word for negligence, but involves a professional. There are 4 elements of malpractice: Duty (the standard of care) Breach (you didnāt do what you were supposed to do or did something that you should not have done); Causation; and Harm. So, letās put it in laymanās terms. You have a duty to come to a halt at a stop sign, you donāt stop at the sign and you hit another car and cause injury. That is negligence because … [Read more...]
No Longer A Job For Life!
In the time when I was growing up, the goal of my parentsā generation was to get a job and stay there for life. It would be a job for which you could contribute to a retirement so that someday you would be able to retire. So, when I got out of nursing school, it became my goal to find that job for life! I knew I wanted to continue my education but always believed I would be working at the same facility and move up the ladder. However, as we have all come to realize, the culture has changed. … [Read more...]
What Can You Do About Understaffing?
I have heard from many nurses that where they are working is understaffed which is not safe for the patients. Those nurses put in a lot of overtime because they are concerned that if they didnāt, there would be fewer staff available to care for the patients. They also expressed concerns that if the facility is able to get staff from an agency, those people would not know the patients. This is a difficult situation. Many nurses want mandatory staffing requirements. However, I am not … [Read more...]
