Do you have an elderly relative living in a nursing home? Or perhaps you might have even spent time recovering from surgery or extended illness in a skilled nursing facility until you were well enough to return home. If so, the following may be of interest.
While many New York medical malpractice lawsuits are filed against doctors, mistakes by nursing staff can be just as serious. When a medical error can be traced back to a nurse or any other hospital employee, it is usually possible to file a lawsuit against that person directly.
New York patients may be dismayed to hear that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that a nurse may have infected two people with viruses after reusing syringes. It was believed that, as a result, two patients were exposed to the hepatitis C virus and two other patients were exposed to the hepatitis B virus.
A common type of problem that can happen when New York hospital patients are bedridden is the development of a bedsore. Health care facilities have protocols in place in order to prevent people from developing bedsores, but medical staff members do not always take the steps that are required to help prevent their development.
According to statistics, approximately 1 to 2 million people aged 65 or older in the United States have been exploited, injured, or mistreated by a caregiver. According to research, roughly 1 of every 14 incidents involving elder abuse in domestic settings is actually reported to local or state authorities.
Medical mistakes can occur at all levels of care in a New York hospital or other medical setting. Mistakes can cause serious harm or even death to a patient.
When aging loved ones in New York require consistent care, it is a common practice for their family members to place them into a long-term care facility, such as a nursing home. While most nursing homes are professionally run, the unfortunate reality is that some facilities have low standards of patient care, or even a history of negligence and abuse. In the past, standard arbitration clauses in facility contracts made it difficult for families to hold a nursing home or negligent nurse accountable for their negative behavior.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were 15,600 nursing homes in the United States. As the country’s population grows, as many as 40% of all adults will be admitted to a nursing home at some point in their lives.
According to the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB), there were 3,546 advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) in the United States from 2003 and 2013. During the same period, 1,458 medical malpractice cases were filed against APRNs.
Over 1.5 million US citizens, comprising parents, grandparents, and siblings, are known to be residents in nursing homes. Usually, these nursing homes and other types of living establishments with assistance charge exorbitant prices. Because of the high expenses, we trust that our loved ones are safe and living luxurious lives. However, regrettably, this is not always the case.
