Medical malpractice, or lawsuits filed against medical
personnel, is more common than most people realize. 85% of medical lawsuits
involve doctors, but on occasion a hospital or a medical practice may be
involved.
Witness
Witness
As a nurse, there is always a chance that you could be
called as a witness in the case of a lawsuit. You could be subpoenaed by the defense or prosecution, depending on
needs, and what they may feel you can offer.This is never a good position to be in, you will certainly not score
points with an employer or coworkers, even if you are forced to testify,there
is going to be some resentment. If
called to speak, you will be under oath, and you need to be honest, which will
hurt or help your coworker and employer. Either way, it will be an uncomfortable situation, one that you would be
much better avoiding.
Statistics and Facts
Statistics and Facts
This is not to imply there is never a time that a
lawsuit is not justified, however, there are many lawsuits that are generated
and appear to be a waste of everyone's time. Lawsuits, whether justified of not ruin lives. A lawsuit can ruin a
reputation and even end a career, and it is estimated that ¾ ‘s of all lawsuits
has no factual basis. So why are there
so many lawsuits in the medical community if more than half have no backing,
and will most likely lose in court? It
narrows down to money. Medical
malpractice insurance companies would often rather settle and end the crisis
that to fight it. The result is the lawyer
and a person suing to get a substantial sum of funds, and agree to drop the
suit. Once a malpractice suit has been
filed, the person or person(s) being sued will most likely see an end to their
career, regardless of the outcome.
Avoiding
Involvement
Obviously, the best option is to not be involved in any
lawsuit activity. You have a moral and
ethical obligation to be honest and protect the patients, so in the event you
observe something that could potentially harm a patient, it should be brought
to the attention of your supervisor, or if you are uncomfortable doing that,
human resources will respect your confidentiality.There is no actual way to avoid involvement
if you are in the right place at the right time. There are some things you can do to lessen
the odds you would be summoned.
- Never discuss coworkers or doctors in a
negative or questionable means, with coworkers. If you see something that needs to be reported, make sure it is to the
appropriate person. Avoid discussing it
with anyone else.
- Make sure
you follow rules and protocol; you may set a positive example for someone
else.
- If it is
not something related to you, remove yourself from the equation.
- If called to provide testimony, stick to the
facts alone, and make answers short and to the point. Answer only what is directly asked of you.
- Don't answer if someone verbally asked
you to testify for the prosecutor, however if summoned, you have no choice. Sometimes just ignoring the verbal request
will make it appear that you would not be a good witness.
- Keep a low profile when it comes to
problems at work, and avoid being associated with any coworkers that are
considered gossipers.
Related: Common
Intestinal Disorders
You can't always avoid being caught in a situation that
involves a medical malpractice suit, however you can lower the risk of being
summoned.
A nurse that practiced at a large hospital was working
with one of her favorite doctors in the surgical unit. She always enjoyed
kidding with him and teasing about staying out late at night on his many
dates. She took a break and while in the
cafeteria, continued to offer friendly and playful joking when the doctor came
in for a bite.Later that day the doctor
operated on a patient that experienced unforeseen complications. There was nothing the doctor could have done
that would have prevented the incident, which led to an extra long recovery for
the patient. The nurse that was so fond
of the doctor was called to testify for the plaintiff. The plaintiff had family members in the
cafeteria the day nurse was kidding with the doctor about his lack of sleep. The doctor’s insurance company settled for a large amount, and of course his
career as he knew it was over. The nurse
that was at the center of the talk felt terrible, as she never intended for
anything negative to occur from her kidding. It was a mistake, however one that ruined lives. Always think about what is being said. You never want to be placed in a predicament such as this.
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