family plans on suing hospital, i'm nervous as hell.

allnurses Guide · Jul 4, 2009

I recently had a situation where I discharged a pt to a ltc facility and they immediately sent her back to the er with a problem that was missed by both myself and the doctor. We had to have a meeting w/corporate attorney, managers, and everyone involved in her care. Thankfully, we were given the chance to tune up our charting before the medical records would be released to the families lawyer. Ask your managers what the policy is on releasing medical records. It is in the hospitals best interest to ensure that you charted everything accurately.

What does that mean!??? Altering medical records after the fact to make yourself and/or the facility look better?

Wheaties · Jul 5, 2009

Thanks for the great responses from all of you, it's much appreciated. I haven't talked to anyone yet, not even my family about it. The plan right now is to talk with the hospital attorney thats it and wait and see what's going to happen.

Also I don't have a malpractice insurance, I figure I was covered by the hospital, but I read that it's always good to carry my own. Now I want to sign up. But Would it be too late to sign up for one like say NSO just to cover myself before I talk to the hospital attorney next week or do I still have time.? I tried signing up for NSO yesterday on the internet and the website asked me a whole bunch of questions, questions that I can honestly answer yes and no to now.

Thanks for the responses.

Batman24 · Jul 5, 2009

This is a prime example of why every nurse should have their own malpractice insurance. You should speak to an attorney ASAP before meeting with the hospital attorney. It's going to cost you more than if you were already with NSO but protecting yourself is too important not to pay the cost.

Sign up for NSO ASAP so you will be covered from here on out. They won't cover you for this case because you weren't covered at the time it happened but they might be willing to put you in touch with someone for an additional fee.

sunkissed75, CNA · Jul 5, 2009

originally posted by meluhn

i recently had a situation where i discharged a pt to a ltc facility and they immediately sent her back to the er with a problem that was missed by both myself and the doctor. we had to have a meeting w/corporate attorney, managers, and everyone involved in her care.

thankfully, we were given the chance to tune up our charting before the medical records would be released to the families lawyer

. ask your managers what the policy is on releasing medical records. it is in the hospitals best interest to ensure that you charted everything accurately.

what does that mean!??? altering medical records after the fact to make yourself and/or the facility look better?

i'd like to know this as well!! we are learning about charting right now in school. this sounds like it goes against everything i was just taught! eg: use black ink...fill any empty spaces with lines. all this is to prevent tampering with the charts should they be needed for court. if you are "given the chance to tune up our charting before the medical records would be released to the families lawyer" why not just do all the charting in pencil!?! i don't know the whole story, but this seems a little sneaky...

leslie :-D · Jul 5, 2009

Thankfully, we were given the chance to tune up our charting before the medical records would be released to the families lawyer.

so, so, soooooo not cool...or legal...or ethical.

student and new nurses - this is an example of what you should never do.

leslie

caliotter3 · Jul 5, 2009

Not having malpractice insurance at this point means that you are on your own regarding this case. You will have to pay for your own attorney out of your pocket with no reimbursement from the insurance company. You will also need to disclose the current litigation situation to the insurance company as part of your application process.

sunkissed75, CNA · Jul 5, 2009

so, so, soooooo not cool...or legal...or ethical.

student and new nurses - this is an example of what you should never do.
leslie

I agree! And someone gave kudos to that...WOW!!! :uhoh3:

spenmom · Jul 5, 2009

You know what's sad, is that this was a case that was not going to have a happy ending. So, what is the point of possibly ruining lives and careers? For a few thousand dollars? I will never understand people.

I had a legitimate malpractice case, to the point where there were lawyers calling my husband daily, asking about my condition, what he had decided about legal options, etc. But, from my perspective, we all make mistakes, and I was lucky to get away with my life more or less intact. Not only that, it scared the *#@% out of the hospital, the nurses, and the doc who had been primarily in charge of my care, reminding them, I am sure, of the importance of doing FULL ASSESSMENTS at every shift change, at any change in patient condition, escalation in patient pain, etc., and reminded them that you never know which patient is going to be the one that has the complications. To this day, I look at the experience as an opportunity, so that the complacency that can set in (especially in a place like L & D, where my complications first developed, only to be discovered 3 weeks later when I became septic-decompensated with met acidosis, renal failure, was in the ICU for weeks, had to have emergency surgery, and months of painful rehab) can be shaken off. The doctor and the hospital fully expected to be sued (as did some of the nurses--the hospital went so far as to fire some of the nurses who had cared for me when I first came in 3 weeks earlier, I later found out) and when I asked for my records just for continuity of care because I was moving across the country, you wouldn't believe the basic crap I got. I asked for EVERYTHING, regardless of cost, nursing notes and all, but only got H & Ps, consults, some lab results, xray/MRI/CT results, OR reports, and discharge summaries. Nothing else. Now, that made me want to go back with a subpoena, not to sue, but to get what was legally mine---I wanted to see for myself where things went wrong, and what could be done in the future to prevent the situation for my own benefit as a nurse. But, it was clear the chart was marked as a "poor outcome" so without going all the way with an attorney, I'll never get all the info.

I feel for anyone who has to testify about anything. Unfortunatey, from my experience (well, from my father's experience), even if you are innocent, and have done absolutely nothing wrong, that doesn't mean there won't be something you'll be found guilty of. So, as the other posters have advised, say no more than is asked, give as few details as needed, and "I don't recall" is always a gem of a response if there is any question at all about what to say.

Best of luck to you. Now go get some malpractice ins ASAP (you never know when something else might happen). Do your homework before the deposition (looking over the chart, notes, etc.,), and when it comes down to "the day" follow your gut, in the context of the rules the nursing veterans of the legal system have given you. Hopefully, it will go before a judge who will look at the case in its entirety, see the futility of the whole thing, see the patient's condition in the first place, and not allow it to go further.

diane227, LPN, RN · Jul 5, 2009

The attorney you will be initially speaking with will be the attorney for the hospital. You will be given an opportunity to review the record and the attorney will ask you some questions. This initial meeting is usually casual. You want to find out if the family attorney has issued an intent to bring charges against the hospital. If they have, you need to ask to review what their allegations are. This is am important document because it will help you understand what their key points are. It is the responsibility of the attorney for the hospital to review the medical record, meet with staff as indicated, meet with the manager and review the hospital policy that was in effect at the time of the event. He/she might also what to know if there is any current disciplinary action in progress with any of the staff involved in the events. The manager will be responsible for providing information regarding staffing and staffing ratios for the time period in question. Just let me tell you that decub ulcers that occur in a hospital are almost always viewed by a jury as a sign of neglect.

I urge you NOT to discuss this case with anyone, even on this web site. If they find out that you shared any information regarding this case, you will be accused of patient privacy violations. So don't give us any updates regarding this matter.

Katie82, RN · Jul 5, 2009

Litigation is every nurse's worst fear, but it should make you feel better to know that only a small percentage of cases that are threatened are actually filed and make it to court. And an even smaller percentage of those win. Sounds like no one could have made this lady's life worse than it already was, and that's the burden of proof. The suits that really make me mad are those that hospital insurance companies insist on settling because it's cheaper to do so than to defend, even though they would probably not be won. Sounds like this guy was just fishing for info to see if the family had a case. Hopefully he'll decide that a few IV bruises or an antibiotic rash are not enough to make it worth his while.