Author Archives: Kathleen
MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE AND COMPARTMENT SYNDROME
Compartment syndrome is a medical emergency that develops over hours in which increased pressure within a closed muscle compartment compromises the circulation and function of tissues, muscles, nerves and blood vessels within that space with escalating compression. The most common … Continue reading
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Tagged amputation, clinical index of suspicion, communication, compartment syndrome, complications, crush injury, death, defense, delay in diagnosis, diagnosis, disability, drug-affected, emergent, failure to recognize, fasciotomy, fracture, high indemnity payment, legal nurse consultant, medical emergency, medical expert, medical malpractice, medical negligence, medical-legal, meritorious, missed diagnosis, neurological defecit, nurse, opiods, pain, patient, patient controlled analgesia, patient outcome, PCA, physician, prompt recognition, regional analgesia, risk, standard of care, surgery, trauma
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Distracted Doctoring | Electronic Devices Places Patient Safety at Risk
Hoping to decrease the risk of medical error, hospitals and physicians’ offices have invested heavily to place iPads, iPhones and other electronic devices into the hands of medical staff for instant access to patient data, drug information and case studies. … Continue reading
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Tagged American Medical Association, anesthesiology, cardiopulmonary bypass, certified legal nurse consultant, critical care, discovery, doctor, drug, electronic medical records, grave injury, healthcare, HIPAA, hospital, intraoperative, lawsuit, legal, medical, medical error, medical malpractice, medical negligence, neurosurgeon, nosocomial infection, nurse, outpatient, patient safety., personal injury, physician, plaintiff attorney, post-surgical site infection, standard of care, sterile technique, surgeon, surgery, wrongful death
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Defensive Medicine – Patients as ATM Machines
Defensive Medicine refers to the concept that doctors order unnecessary tests and extra medical procedures as a means to avoid medical negligence lawsuits. However, research at Dartmouth Hitchcock College of Medicine and other studies support there is very little evidence … Continue reading
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Tagged Amercican Hospital Association, certified legal nurse consultant, community hospital, defensive medicine, diagnostic, doctors, healthcare, hospital, imaging, liability, medcial malpractice, medical negligence, Medicare, medicine, mortality rate, National Practitoner's Databank, patient, personal injury, physicians
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Lack of Communication – The Number One Cause of Medical Errors
The Joint Commission, which accredits most hospitals in the US and many abroad, consistently identifies communication as the number one cause of medical errors. Healthcare providers are increasingly becoming aware of the opportunities for information to get lost during handoffs … Continue reading
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Tagged American Medical Association, certified legal nurse consultant, communication, critical care, doctor, emergency room, handsoff, healthcare, hospital, hospitalist, intensive care, Internal Medicine, Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, medcial errors, medical negligence, medical-legal, medical-surgical, nurse, nursing home, physician
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Preventable Medical Errors – The Third Leading Cause of Death in America
Preventable medical errors kill and seriously injure hundreds of thousands Americans every year. Any discussion of medical negligence that does not involve preventable medical errors ignores this fundamental problem. Reducing medical errors is the best way to address all problems … Continue reading
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Tagged accident, claim, colleague incompetence, disciplinary, disclosure omission, doctor, error, healthcare, hospital, infection, JCAHO, lawsuit, Leapfrog, medical error, Medical Error Apology Program, medical malpractice, medical negligence, Medicare, medicine, meritorious, national practitioner's data bank, negligent, patient safety., personal injury, preventable, serious injury, standard of care, state medical board, wrong site occurrence
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Medical Error Apology Program & Medical Negligence
Hospitals nationwide are currently implementing medical error apology programs. Healthcare group advocates are proactively pushing these programs to encourage doctors and their insurers to openly disclose medical negligence errors along with physician apology for personal injury and proactive voluntary offering … Continue reading
Emergency Room Medical Malpractice
A hospital emergency room is an area where medical errors are common and often overlooked. Because of the increasing patient load and the need to triage patients by order of medical urgency, many things often go clinically wrong in an … Continue reading
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Tagged attorney, certified legal nurse consultant, clinical, delayed treatment, diagnosis delay, emergency room, hospital, medical error, medical malpractice, medical negligence, misdiagnosed, omission, patient, patient safety., standard of care, standard of care breach
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Medical Negligence & The Joint Commission – List of Top 10 Sentinel Events
A Sentinel Event is defined by The Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) as an unexpected occurrence involving death or serious physical or psychological injury, or the risk thereof. Serious personal injury specifically includes loss of limb or function. … Continue reading
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Tagged attorney-client privilege, certified legal nurse consultant, court, delay in treatment, discoverable, health care, healthcare, hospital, injury in restraints, investigation, JCAHO, Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, lawyer, legal, legal counsel, loss of function, medical, medical expert, medical malpractice, medical negligence, medical-legal, medication error, never event, operation complication, patient death, patient safety., peer review privilege, perinatal death, personal injury, post-op complication, preventable, psychological injury, quality of care, risk, root cause analysis, sentinel event, serious adverse outcome, standard of care, wrong-site surgery
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