subject: Nurse Trainee Who Did Not Realize Unborn Baby In Fetal Distress Had To Pay Out $4.4 Million [print this page] While treated by a doctor or a nurse patients normally have an expectation that the physician or nurse either (1) has the know-how and expertise to make an accurate diagnosis of anything that is wrong with their health and recommend appropriate treatment or (2) is being supervised by a senior doctor or nurse who does. According to the second possibility, the physician or nurse can gain experience while treating actual patients if their mistakes are noticed and rectified so that patients are not injured. After all, they go to school, study, and devote many, many hours learning useful knowledge through actual experience. But before they reach a suitable level of experience they are likely to make mistakes. Plus returning to expectations people want to be sure that any such mistake will not injure them.
The learning curve is steep yet it does exist. During the training period these new physicians and nurses will inevitably make mistakes. While many mistakes will have little, if any, repercussions some will lead to serious harm or even in the death of a patient. That is why they need supervision by more senior physicians and nurses who can catch and correct the errors. Otherwise, even a single error that is not rectified by the supervising physician or nurse can result in tragic outcomes.
Recently a claim was reported that described how a pregnant woman went to the hospital with suffering from nausea and vomiting. On admission a nurse trainee examined the woman and checked her condition. The nurse trainee read the results as normal, concluding that the baby was doing well and in no danger, even though they actually demonstrated signs of severe fetal distress, a situation which calls for immediate attention. The woman was discharged home without knowing that her baby was suffering from a lack of oxygen..
The delivery took place three days after the visit to the hospitalafter 3 days. This was the scheduled delivery date. She had suffered severe brain injury and developed cerebral palsy. The baby had a seizure disorder. She could not eat without the help of a feeding tube. She needed therapy to keep her body from atrophying. She only survived to age four from cerebral palsy complications. She was survived by her father and mother and by her two older brothers. One was 11 and one was 16. The law firm that represented the parents was able to report that they took the case to trial and achieved a verdict on behalf of the parents in the amount of $4,400,000.
This matter is an example of what can occur if a physician or nurse who is still in training is allowed to treat patients on their own prior to having entirely developing the required skills. A nurse trainee is much more likely to make a mistake that can cause a significant injury to a patient. But while an experienced labor and delivery nurse has interpreted hundreds or thousands of these strips a nurse trainee has only read a few and is much more likely to make an error. And if an error by a nurse trainee is not caught by a supervising physician or nurse the outcome, as in the case discussed above, can have tragic consequences and may end in a malpractice lawsuit.
