subject: Undiagnosed Fetal Distress Leads To Child's Brain Injury And $4.4 Million Lawsuit [print this page] Physicians and nurses go through years of schooling and practice to build the crucial knowledge and skill base to handle patients. But people want a safety net should the physicians or nurse in training make an error. We further expect, though, that they will be carefully supervised and their work will be reviewed by a competent, experienced physician or nurse. If told otherwise most people would likely still let a doctor or nurse in training care for them but would want the treatment to be supervised by an experienced physician or nurse.
Doctors and nurses who are still in training should understand that there are limits to their know-how and skill. Those supervising them need to also understand the skills that the physicians and nurses in training have mastered and the limits of what are able to do on their own. Without realizing this, the level of supervision will not be sufficient and can lead to mistakes. And with a lack of proper supervision these errors will not be caught and remedied resulting in devastating consequences.
In a reported claim a pregnant woman, near full term, went to the hospital as she was having bad nausea and vomiting. At the hospital the pregnant woman was monitored by a nurse trainee. The nurse trainee read the results as normal, concluding that the baby was fine and in no danger, even though they in fact showed signs of severe fetal distress, a situation which requires immediate attention. The woman was sent home without knowing that her baby was suffering from a lack of oxygen..
Three days after the child was delivered as scheduled. She was born with 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 11 and 16 year old brothers. 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.
This case shows how dangerous it is for a nurse trainee to diagnose patients without supervision from a physician or a registered supervising nurse. Yes, even experienced doctors and nurses can sometimes incorrectly read a fetal heart rate strip. A nurse trainee simply has not read a sufficient number of monitor strips to develop the appropriate level of competency in interpreting one. When the error is not caught, as in this case, the outcome can be devastating and lead to a malpractice case.
by: Joseph Hernandez
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