| Hospitals across the nation have a legal and moral | | | | department |
| responsibility to ensure their employees are | | | | - Failure to monitor a patient's condition |
| properly trained to meet patient's needs. | | | | - Anesthesia errors |
| Unfortunately, understaffing and limited funding | | | | - Failure to respond to a crisis or treat a patient in |
| leads to a hospital staff that is overworked and | | | | a timely manner |
| under-trained. The results can be devastating. | | | | - Improper use of a medical device |
| Statistics reveal that more than 1,700 patients | | | | - Failure to identify and/or treat infections |
| have died and nearly 9,500 have been injured | | | | - Performing procedures they are not trained to |
| because of hospital and nursing errors. Nurses | | | | do |
| have more patient interaction than doctors, so | | | | - Pharmaceutical injuries, such as administering the |
| they are responsible for their nursing duties in | | | | wrong dose or incorrect medication |
| addition to communicating a patient's condition | | | | The Nursing Shortage |
| with the doctor. A majority of nursing errors are | | | | Across the United States, there is a significant |
| caused by careless or medical negligence resulting | | | | nursing shortage. A study by the University of |
| from: | | | | Pennsylvania revealed that nurses who worked |
| - Fatigue | | | | more than 12.5 hours a single shift were three |
| - Inexperience | | | | times more likely to make a patient error than |
| - Insufficient training | | | | nurses who worked up to 8.5 hours. |
| Dangerous Cost-Saving Hospital Tactics | | | | The study revealed that 393 nurses worked |
| Because they battle constant funding cuts, many | | | | more than 5,000 shifts. The most common |
| hospitals now rely on machines to monitor | | | | mistakes made were: |
| patients' vital signs. If a nurse does not hear an | | | | - Errors involving medications (58 percent) |
| alarm from a monitoring machine, he or she | | | | - Procedural errors (18 percent) |
| cannot perform the appropriate care and | | | | - Chart-related mistakes (12 percent) |
| potentially lifesaving action. | | | | - Transcription errors (7 percent) |
| Nursing aides have also been hired to assist | | | | Nationwide, the number of nursing errors among |
| nurses. However at an average salary of $9 per | | | | hospitals has constantly risen over the last five |
| hour, most aides are students or do not even | | | | years. With hospitals still significantly under-funded, |
| possess a high school diploma. When these aids | | | | that number is only expected to increase. |
| are needed to fulfill a higher-paid nurse's duties, | | | | A Nurse's Responsibility |
| many do not have the expertise. Other | | | | Like doctors, nurses have a responsibility to do no |
| cost-saving hospital techniques allow housekeeping | | | | harm. When nurses are negligent in that duty, |
| staff to perform duties like dispensing medicine, | | | | patients consequently suffer. Sometimes those |
| which can lead to a number of mistakes. | | | | injuries are minor, sometimes they are fatal. |
| Examples of Nursing Errors | | | | Nursing negligence is completely avoidable, yet all |
| Some common types of nursing and hospital | | | | too common in today's hospitals and clinics. Every |
| errors include: | | | | year thousands of patients suffer because of a |
| - Miscommunication between a nurse and doctor | | | | nurse's failure to follow acceptable practices, |
| - Miscommunication between a nurse and other | | | | orders and standards of care. |