Jury Says Inexperienced Nurse Has To Pay $4,400,000 For Child's Brain Injuries

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While treated by a physician or a nurse individuals typically believe that the doctor

or nurse either (1) has the knowledge and experience to make a correct diagnosis of whatever they may have and recommend appropriate treatment or (2) is under the supervision of a senior doctor or nurse who does. Under the second possibility, the doctor or nurse can gain experience while treating actual patients as long as their errors are noticed and rectified so that patients are not injured. After all, they go to school, study, and devote many, many hours learning practical understanding through real experience. But before they attain an appropriate amount of experience they are likely to make errors. Plus returning to expectations people want to be sure that any such mistake will not injure them.

Physicians and nurses who are still in training have to appreciate that there are limits to their knowledge and skill. The senior physicians and nurses who supervise those who are in training must also understand that those in training have not yet fully developed the knowledge and skills required to act on their own. If hey do not realizing this, the amount of supervision will not be sufficient and can lead to errors. And with a lack of proper supervision these mistakes will not be caught and corrected resulting in devastating consequences.

Recently a claim was reported that revealed how an expectant mother went to the hospital with suffering from nausea and vomiting. The expectant mother was admitted to the hospital where a nurse in training was placed in charge of her. The nurse trainee connected the mother to a fetal heart rate monitor to check on the unborn baby. The strip showed that the woman's unborn baby was in severe fetal distress. It was that nurse trainee, however, instead of an experienced doctor or nurse, who read the tracings from the fetal heart rate monitor. The nurse trainee incorrectly read the strip as normal. Without any supervision by a doctor or a registered nurse, the nurse trainee failed to take any action to protect the health of the baby and merely discharged the woman.

Three days after the baby was delivered as scheduled. She had suffered severe brain injury and developed cerebral palsy. The baby had a seizure disorder. She could not eat without the help of a feeding tube. She needed therapy to keep her body from atrophying. She only survived to age 4 from cerebral palsy complications. She was survived by her father and mother and by her two older brothers. One was 11 and one was 16. The law firm that represented the parents was able to report that they took the case to trial and achieved a verdict on behalf of the parents in the amount of $4,400,000.
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This case illustrates what can occur if a physician or nurse who is still in training is allowed to treat patients on their own prior to having fully developing the necessary skills. A nurse trainee is much more likely to make a mistake that can cause a significant injury to a patient. But while an experienced labor and delivery nurse has interpreted hundreds or thousands of these strips a nurse trainee has only read a few and is much more likely to make an error. A mistake by a nurse trainee and the failure to properly supervise the nurse trainee, as in the case above, may lead to a medical malpractice claim.

by: Joseph Hernandez

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