I was hoping to solicit feedback regarding an incident that occurred this weekend at work (subacute/LTC facility). I was supervising RN on duty. The pt in questions' primary nurse is also a RN.
Pt had a fall event @ 1am. Physical assessment revealed a hematoma with scant bleeding to the back of the head. The pt denies pain, mental status is baseline, neurochecks are unremarkable. I paged the physician for the primary nurse with no response. Neurochecks were done as protocol throughout shift and remained unremarkable with pt voicing no complaints and no change from baseline. The physician was paged 3 times and never responded.
I notified the family because of the nature of the incident. I explained the nature of the incident, our interventions, and we were awaiting for physician return call for further orders. The next of kin was accepting of this.
I endorsed to the next shift to continue to try to reach the physician and continue neurochecks as protocol.
When i returned to work i was notified the pt was sent to the ER and was found to have a subdural hematoma. The family was understandably upset and holding our facility liable. I do not know if they have any intent to take any legal action.
My question is, am I legally liable for this pt's case? I'm not sure where culpability lies as I was supervising RN, however the pt's primary nurse is also a RN. In a worst case scenario if this case did end up in court, would I be held partially accountable for this case? I did not document in the notes, as again the primary nurse was a RN, who did her own assessment and documentation although she noted I, the supervisor, was aware and I was the one paging the physician. In a case such as this, if the supervisor holds the same license as the primary nurse, are both seen as responsible legally?
