Negligence in Post-Operative Care

During treatment and monitoring following a surgical procedure, patients typically are vulnerable to further medical issues, and in turn, require medical supervision in a hospital post-operative care ward. In post-operative care settings in today’s hospitals, wards are understaffed, patient needs are more complex than ever before, experience often lags, and fatigue is common. Unfortunately, the climate of post-operative care often leads to post operative care negligence, which detrimentally affects the recovery and overall health a patient in the post-operative setting. In cases like these and others, patients are afforded legal rights to recover compensation for damages they incur as the result of negligent treatment.

The Nature of Post-Operative Care Damages

Given the volatile environment of the modern post-operative care ward, many patients will be forced to endure a lowered quality of care and monitoring following surgical procedures. This in itself, while unfortunate, is not necessarily negligence. Negligence in post-operative care entails any actions, event, or incident involving a patient in post-operative care that is well below the reasonable standard of care offered at any other hospital facility, assuming they were tasked with the post-operative care of the patient in question.

In post-operative care negligence cases, a cluster of common negligence claims arises in the majority of legal actions taken against healthcare providers and hospitals. In these post-operative care lawsuits, patients often allege negligence played a role in one or more of the following claims, including:

• Prescription drug errors

• Failure to monitor patient in post-operative care according to their needs inherent after a given procedure, including monitoring for known complications that may arise after a given procedure

• Hospital acquired infections

• Slip and fall injuries

• Neglect by hospitals, which often entails patients being refused care by post-operative care staffers or simply being forgotten about by the post-operative staffers. This may also include post-operative care staffers forcing a patient to do things against the medical advice of the operating surgeon

Essentially, any action taken by a post-operative care staffer, or occurring while in post-operative care ward, which significantly deviates from the applicable standard of care in a patient’s case, is medical malpractice. The extent and amount of damages caused by the medical malpractice, however, is only determined on a case-by-case basis. Each of the listed incidents above may include a variety of damage claims resulting from these common instances of negligent in post operative care.

Getting Legal Help with Claims of Negligence

Any patient that feels they have been a victim of negligence in post operative care should consult with an attorney about their legal rights. In many cases, patients are afforded the right to compensation from liable parties, should they elect to file suit for damage sustained as the result of negligent post-operative care.