In order to know when there has been nursing negligence, one must first understand the role of a nurse and where a nurse’s responsibilities lie. It is important to be able to determine the standard of care which is acceptable, and whether the actions of a nurse have allowed these standards to fall below what is considered to be acceptable.
Nursing negligence means that there has been a breach or a failure in a duty of care. When it comes to nursing negligence, it must be demonstrated that under the same circumstances, a competent nurse would not have made the same mistakes, and any harm caused to a patient could have, and should have, been avoided.
Nurses are not doctors, and do not have the same level of training. Neither do they have the same responsibilities. Although a nurse should be able to any spot health problems and alert doctors before they become serious, nurses are not responsible for diagnosing medical conditions. Nursing negligence is most commonly associated with persistent failures which amount to incompetence, medication errors, failure to administer medication properly or on time, or the failure to use equipment properly or follow standard nursing guidelines.
Claiming Compensation for Nursing Negligence
In order to claim compensation for nursing negligence, you must be able to prove that ‘on the balance of probability’ that a competent nurse would not have made a mistake under the same circumstances. In order for nursing negligence to result in a successful claim for compensation, the mistake(s) made by a nurse must have caused a patient in their care to have suffered an injury, have caused a medical condition deteriorate, or have otherwise caused a patient to be harmed as a direct result of their actions or inaction.
If a nurse has failed to perform duties to an acceptable standard, and this has caused a patient harm, it could be classed as nursing negligence and a claim for nursing negligence compensation may be able to be made.
Legal Advice About Nursing Negligence
If you believe your health or the health of a loved one has suffered due to the actions – or inaction – of a nurse, we invite you to call our medical negligence claims helpline for free legal advice on making a claim for nursing negligence.
Our solicitors are highly experienced in all aspects of nursing negligence law, and will determine whether you have a valid claim for nursing negligence compensation.
Call our free claims helpline today on Freephone 
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