It wasn’t the doctor who was negligent and caused you to suffer an injury. Instead, it was the action, or inactions, of the nurse who was assigned to care for you that resulted in your medical malpractice injury. The results of a nursing malpractice can be every bit as devastating as the results of physician or hospital malpractice. Accordingly, it is important to understand how a nurse may be negligent and what you need to prove in order to make a legal recovery.
Types of Nurse Malpractice
A nurse can commit malpractice in many ways. For example, a nurse may have committed malpractice if he or she:
- Fails to bring in a doctor in a timely manner
- Misdiagnoses, fails to diagnose, or fails to contact a doctor to examine you based on your symptoms
- Administers the wrong medication or the wrong dose of medication to you
- Fails to properly communicate with you or with a doctor about your condition
Of course, this list is not all-inclusive, and other types of nursing malpractice may occur.
How to Prove Medical Malpractice Occurred in Kentucky
Generally, in order to prove that a nurse’s specific action (or inaction) was medical malpractice, you will need to establish that:
- A patient-nurse relationship existed
- The nurse breached his or her duty of care by failing to act like a reasonable nurse would, given the circumstances
- You were hurt as a result of the nurse’s breach of the duty of care
- You are legally entitled to damages
You don’t have to prove this on your own. Instead, you have the right to contact a Kentucky medical malpractice lawyer for help. Your lawyer may help you investigate your case and zealously advocate for your full and fair recovery. For more information, please contact us today for a FREE and confidential consultation by calling 800.634.8767 or 502.210.8942. We will do our best to help you recover from your medical malpractice injuries.