Ohio hospitals are often busy, chaotic places, especially in emergency rooms. If you suffer an injury or schedule a surgical procedure, you may wind up spending a lot more time in the hospital than you’d ever prefer to do. When you need hospital care, you typically interact with numerous licensed medical professionals while you’re there. Especially if you are having surgery, you will likely be in frequent contact with your own doctor, your surgeon and a whole team of nurses and other medical workers.
During the course of a hospital stay, any number of things can go wrong that place you at risk for injury. Some situations might not be anyone’s fault. Sadly, however, many hospital injury incidents are completely preventable, and happen only because someone was negligent.
Be aware of issues that can lead to serious medical errors
The more aware you are of potential problem issues, the more proactive you can be regarding your own health care. You can always ask questions, especially if you don’t understand something a doctor or nurse has said or is doing, or if you suspect someone is about to make a big mistake. The following list shows the types of hospital situations that may put you at risk for injury:
- Disregard for protocol: There are strict regulations, as well as state laws, that govern medical staff members’ actions in a hospital setting. If someone on your medical team fails to adhere to them, you might be the one who suffers most because of it.
- Insufficient communication: While you’re in the hospital, a lot is going on around you regarding your situation. Your medical team members are in constant contact with each other regarding your care, and if someone fails to document information or incorrectly relays a message, it can result in serious patient injury.
- Identification mistakes: It is up to hospital staff to make sure you are the correct patient for a specific medical procedure. Many injuries have occurred in the past when surgeons operate on the wrong patients or when a nurse gives medication intended for one patient to another by mistake.
If you suffer a worsened condition because medical workers provided substandard care in an Ohio hospital, you may be among hundreds of other patients in this state and across the country who have grounds for filing medical malpractice claims in court. The court can issue monetary judgment against all liable parties whose negligence caused an otherwise preventable injury to occur if the court rules that you suffered substantial harm from substandard care.