Minnesota Nursing Negligence and Birth Injuries Lawyer
Nurses in hospitals and other birthing centers play a crucial role during labor and delivery. Nurses are the medical personnel who monitor, support, and care for expectant women during the majority of the birthing process. It is only towards the end of the process that the doctor will come in to actually deliver the child. As such, nurses must be able to do far more than check a woman’s vital signs and provide her with ice chips. Maternity nurses today must have an exceptional amount of knowledge and training in the labor and delivery process.
Nurses are also the direct line of communication between the pregnant woman and the doctor, and they must take this responsibility very seriously. Due to the fact that nurses are so prevalent during a birth, they are also prone to making mistakes. When this is the case and either the mother or the child suffer from injury, the parents can file a medical malpractice claim. A Minnesota birth nursing negligence lawyer can determine when malpractice occurred, and help you make it right.
Types of Nursing Negligence
Any type of nursing negligence in the labor and delivery room can result in a serious birth injury. However, there are some that form the basis of medical malpractice lawsuits more often than others. These are as follows:
- Communication negligence: When a nurse does not inform the doctor of a change in the health status of the baby or the mother, it is considered communication negligence. This is the most common type of nursing negligence in birth injury cases.
- Negligent monitoring: Infants must be properly monitored during the birthing process. When nurses fail to properly monitor the child or the mother, they can be held liable for any injuries that result.
- Failure to confirm proper physician care: Nurses may inform doctors of a change in the mother or child’s health status, but a doctor may fail to take action. The nurse then has a duty to tell another physician of the problem or follow other hospital protocols that deal with these situations.
- Medication mistakes: Nurses are sometimes responsible for administering medications to pregnant women. When they administer the wrong dose or the wrong type of medication, it is a negligent act.
Who is Liable for Nursing Negligence?
Medical malpractice cases that involve nursing negligence differ from many of those that involve doctor negligence. This is because doctors are usually considered independent contractors who have hospital rights. Doctors are not usually employees of the hospital, even though they have the right to practice within the facility.
The same does not hold true for nurses. Nurses are usually considered employees of the hospital for which they work. As such, the facility can be found vicariously negligent for the actions of their employees, including nurses. Nursing negligence lawsuits can involve multiple liable parties and so, these cases are even more complex. A Minnesota birth injury lawyer can determine which party was at fault for any birth injury.
Our Birth Injury Lawyers in Minnesota Can Determine Who was Liable for Injury
Nursing negligence lawsuits are extremely complex, but our Minnesota birth injury lawyers can help you overcome the challenges they present. At Wais, Vogelstein, Forman, Koch & Norman, LLC, our skilled attorneys will review your case for free and help you obtain the full and fair financial compensation you are legally entitled to. Call us today or fill out our online form to schedule a consultation.
