(845) 802-0047While patients in Poughkeepsie reasonably expect that doctors, nurses, and other medical staff are trained properly and work in their best interests, sometimes they, unfortunately, do not. When this happens, a patient may suffer injuries such as a nursing error. Nursing errors can cause patients to need more time in the hospital and additional medications, suffer unnecessary pain, have life-long disabilities, and have a host of other issues.
According to the Chicago Tribune, federal records indicate that since 1995, at least 1,720 patients in hospitals were accidentally killed and 9,548 were injured as a direct result of mistakes made by registered nurses all over the country. If you too were injured by a nursing error, you may want to contact a Poughkeepsie nursing error lawyer to help you seek compensation for your injuries. A seasoned medical malpractice attorney could work to lessen any financial damage resulting from the errors by swiftly filing your claim and negotiating with the defendants effectively.
Defining Nursing Errors
Nurses are responsible for not only providing safe care but also for ensuring their care is appropriate for each individual patient. When they make preventable mistakes, often as a result of an oversight, these are called nursing errors. Common examples of nursing errors include:
- Administering the wrong dose of medication
- Giving medication to the wrong patient
- Forgetting to provide a prescribed treatment
- Not reporting pertinent information to the doctor
- Not noting specific symptoms
Deadline for Recovery After Nursing Malpractice
Patients who experienced injury from a nursing error have a limited amount of time to file their claim in civil court. This is known as the statute of limitations. As per New York Civil Practice Law and Rules § 214-a, plaintiffs in a medical malpractice case generally have a time limit of two years and six months from the date the injury occurred to take legal action.
After this deadline passes, the plaintiff would likely not be able to recover monetary compensation for their injuries. Although they could still file a suit, it would probably be contested by the prospective defendant and summarily dismissed by the court since the statute of limitations has expired.
However, there may be exceptions to when the time period begins depending on the circumstances of the nursing error in question and when related injuries were discovered. A Poughkeepsie nursing error lawyer could help patients determine when their statute of limitations expires and how to proceed with their case.
Let a Poughkeepsie Nursing Error Attorney Help
Navigating your medical and legal needs after a potential nursing error injury may be overwhelming. To have your legal situation assessed effectively and potentially move forward with a personal injury claim, you would likely need an attorney who is well-versed in nursing error laws.
A Poughkeepsie nursing error lawyer may be able to help you pursue compensation for your injuries. Specifically, a skilled attorney with a background in nursing error law could have the knowledge and tools to stand up to the defendant’s insurance company and big corporations and be passionate about getting justice for their clients. Reach out to a Poughkeepsie nursing error attorney today to start protecting your rights as an injured party in a nursing error case.