subject: $4.5 Million Recovery For Infant's Injuries Due To Nurse's Failure To Notice Placental Abruption [print this page] Every day pregnant women put themselves and their unborn baby in the care of a doctor to help them through childbirth. It may often take quite a bit of time after the patient is admitted to the hospital until the infant is born. In somepart of this time doctors tend to rely on the nurses and staff to keep an eye on the woman's situation and to let them know about of any issues that may arise.
The physician remains responsible for supervising the nurses and staff. Also, the nurses and staff are responsible for having the knowledge, training and experience to identify signs of difficulties and for telling the physician when they do arise. The fact is, though, that nurses and staff in some cases fail to meet these demands.
Consider the published claim regarding an expectant mother having reached full term commenced having contractions at at home and when heading to the local hospital she commenced having unrelenting extreme pain. When she showed up at the hospital the woman informed the admitting nurse that she was experiencing severe pain and that she thought she had a complication to the pregnancy. Unfortunately the nurse either failed to register or dismissed her complaints and did not contact the obstetrician, who had not arrived at the hospital, to inform him.
Rather the nurse acted like this was a normal pregnancy. Valuable time passed before she even commenced following the fetal heart rate. As soon as she finally did recognize that the unborn baby was experiencing fetal distress. Finally the nurse did notify the obstetrician, who even now was not in the hospital, by telephone. A second physician on the unit took charge and carried out an emergency C-section. The extreme pain was due to a placental abruption which led the unborn child to suffer from a lack of oxygen causing severe brain injury. The infant is permanently disabled and requires full time care. The law firm that handled this matter published that they were able to reach a recovery in the amount of $4.5 million from the hospital for the nursing staff's failure to recognize that the pregnant woman had suffered an abruption.
In this case the patient actually flagged the nurse of her perception that something had gone wrong with the pregnancy. At this point in the pregnancy extreme persistent abdominal pain can be due to a placental abruption.
It is not known why the nurse did not connect these. Whether she ignored the patient's complaints, failed to hear them, did not have the right knowledge, training or experience to correctly understand the situation, or discounted her complaints on the grounds that a placental abruption is regularly (though not always) coupled with visible vaginal bleeding, she overlooked symptoms of a dangerous complication.
The result, however, was a serious injury to the unborn child resulting in a permanent disability. As a result of the damage from the nurse's mistake the law firm that represented the family reported a settlement designed to ensure that the baby has suitable care for life.
by: Joseph Hernandez
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