When you go in for any type of medical procedure in Florida, several different healthcare workers and providers will likely tend to you. From administrators and transporters to physicians and surgeons, all medical staff play a vital role in your care and recovery. However, nurses are among the most impactful of these caregivers. If you’ve ever been in the hospital or have required a surgical procedure, then you are likely aware of the importance of a good nurse.
Nurses have the most one-on-one contact with patients, so the influence that nurses have on the well-being of their patients is unrivaled. However, the growing need for healthcare workers around the country has resulted in more and more new or inexperienced nurses treating patients. In any field, if you are new at the job, you will naturally be more prone to making mistakes. Here are some common mistakes often made by inexperienced nurses.
Medication errors
Whether your nurse is brand new or has years of experience, any nurse can make an error with medication. However, new nurses may lack presence of mind or adjustment to the pressures of their role, which can contribute to errors with medication. Incorrect dosages or giving you the wrong medications or prescriptions are some of the more common medication errors seen. Tragically, the consequences of these mistakes can prove fatal for patients.
Charting errors
During training, the last thing that many nurses think about is all the paperwork they will have to complete. However, recording essential information relating to you and your health is one of the most important jobs for a nurse. Inexperienced nurses can be more likely to make errors in charting or leave out vital information, which can be detrimental to patient care.
Falls and other patient accidents
When you go through a medical procedure, it may be hard for you to move around on your own. If you are weak and try to get out of bed without help, you could fall and become seriously injured. Helping patients in these situations is one of the primary duties of a nurse. If there is no one around to help, patients may try to do things on their own, which could lead to accidents.
Infection risks
According to data from the CDC, nearly 99,000 patients die every year in the United States due to infections received in hospitals. If you are a patient in a hospital, your nurses play a vital role in minimizing your risk of infection. Good hygiene techniques are the best way to avoid infection issues, but new or inexperienced nurses can be more prone to missed steps. Infections can also happen as the result of negligence by nurses or other medical personnel.
Nursing negligence
Nurses and all healthcare workers have an obligation to provide a certain level of care and facilitate the recovery of their patients. When you are a medical patient, you place your life in the hands of your nurses and doctors and trust that they will give you appropriate treatment and care. Unfortunately, negligence or mistakes happen more often than you may realize in the medical field. Thankfully, if you receive an injury or suffer the loss of a loved one due to nursing negligence or medical malpractice, there is help readily available.