Researchers find that stressed nurses make more medical mistakes

When seeking medical care and treatment in Maryland, there is a natural expectation that the providers will be fully prepared, pay attention to what they are doing and adhere to the proper standards. Unfortunately, mistakes happen and patients become ill, injured and lose their lives. This could be the basis for a medical malpractice claim. These errors arise for many reasons and researchers try to discover common causes to prevent them from happening in the future. It is not only doctors who can make mistakes when caring for people, but nurses as well. This should be considered if there are questions about treatment and outcomes.

Nurses who are having mental and physical problems may be prone to errors

A recent study by the College of Nursing at Ohio State University found that nurses experiencing problems physically and mentally might have a propensity to make more medical errors than nurses in a better frame of mind. Nurses who are part of the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses were surveyed. Almost 800 took part. Researchers found that 61% stated they felt physically subpar while 51% said the same about their mental state. Forty percent showed signs of depression. More than 50% showed indicators for experiencing anxiety. Medical errors were 31% to 62% more common for nurses experiencing these personal challenges.

Patients and their families might not be overly worried about the personal well-being of the nurses whose job it is to provide care. However, it may be important if the mental and physical stress damages their ability to do their job and missteps occur. For the nurses’ sake, it is a positive if their employer pays attention to their personal needs. Still, that should not gloss over the damage that can be done to patients if nurses and other staff members are not fully attentive about their work. If this is believed to have been a factor in a medical error that caused damage and death, it should be investigated.

Addressing medical malpractice may require qualified assistance

Whether it is a misdiagnosis, a medication error, a gaffe during surgery or any other incident resulting in medical malpractice, it is imperative to understand the potential ramifications and act immediately. People can suffer significant damage, face exorbitant medical expenses and be confronted with other problems if a medical caregiver does something wrong. Having help can be essential when assessing the situation, determining what happened and weighing options to pursue a claim.