Imagine your typical hospital lobby or emergency room. You probably see plenty of patients patiently (pardon the pun) waiting for someone to treat them. You also probably see medical personnel frantically, or at least quickly, moving around to get all of their work done. Records need to be updated, tests need to be performed, procedures are on tap, treatments need to be recorded and implemented. The list goes on and on.
With all of this chaos, an issue should be immediately clear to anyone imagining (or living) this situation: medical professionals don’t have enough time to get everything done. They are always hustling around that it can lead to more mistakes and worse care. And yet, more patients keep piling up and medical professionals are asked to do more with less time seemingly with each passing year.
Consider all of the mistakes that can be made when a medical professional rushes his or her work. They could forget to update a patient’s record. They could botch a simple procedure that they have performed thousands of times before without any problem. They could miss a critical sign or symptom of a person’s current condition. They may skip certain steps, such as consulting with specialists. They may misread someone’s notes or perform the wrong test or procedure.
These mistakes can, and usually will, lead to disastrous consequences for the patient, whose life may never be the same after them. Anyone afflicted by medical negligence or medical errors should consider their legal options.
