Nurse Liability in Malpractice Cases

Can Nurses Be Held Liable for Medical Malpractice?

Like physicians, nurses can be held responsible for harming patients. When a nurse harms a patient through improper treatment, disregard for safety or hospital protocol, or other negligent failure, they can be subject to medical malpractice lawsuits. Just like doctors, nurses are tasked with exercising the utmost caution when treating patients, especially when administering drugs, using medical machinery, and communicating with doctors and other nurses about patient care.

When Can Nurses Be Sued for Medical Malpractice?

Anyone who’s been to a hospital or doctor’s office recently will probably attest that they seem to have less time to devote to each patient. That means that the role of nurses has become increasingly significant.

So, if a patient is injured or made ill by something that a nurse did while following a physician’s orders, can the nurse be held legally responsible? In fact, medical malpractice suits against nurses (either individually or as part of a suit against a medical facility) have increased. Just what are a nurse’s responsibilities when given an order by a doctor if he or she disagrees with the order?

Nurses may certainly question an order if they are concerned about it. In some cases, they catch mistakes or know something about the patient that the doctor didn’t. However, they are expected to ultimately follow physicians’ orders regarding patient care unless they believe that an order could harm a patient and/or is clearly wrong.

When nurses feel that, based on one or more of these circumstances, they can’t comply and can’t change the doctor’s mind, they should contact their supervisor or the nurse in charge. Nurses shouldn’t just say or do nothing if they believe that a patient’s well-being is at risk. Although nurses can be sued for nursing errors, malpractice suits against them often involve something they’ve failed to do, such as failing to:

• Properly monitor or assess a patient’s condition
• Report a change in or concern about a patient’s condition to the attending physician
• Follow the standard of care

Hospital & Physician Liability for Nursing Malpractice

If a nurse injures a patient due to negligence, they may sometimes be held individually responsible for their actions, but hospitals and attending physicians may also be held responsible. The hospital may be responsible if the nurse was directly employed by or an agent of the hospital, the nurse was performing a job-related task when the patient was harmed, or if the nurse was acting under the direct instruction of a doctor or other hospital staff member.

The attending physician may also be held responsible if they failed to adequately supervise the nurse in question, failed to prevent the nurse from behaving negligently, or instructed the nurse to perform the action(s) that injured the patient.

Call Us Today to Speak to a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Florida

At Freidin Brown, P.A., we understand the complexities of hospital liability and nursing malpractice. If you have been harmed through the negligence or failure of a nurse or other hospital staff member, you may have a viable medical malpractice claim, and we may be able to help.

We are a group of experienced Florida malpractice lawyers with over 100 years of collective experience, and we have the necessary skills to protect your best interests throughout the course of your case. Connect with a member of our team as soon as possible in order to schedule your free, confidential case review.

We are available 24/7.