Medical Negligence Due to Recovery Room Mistakes

Legally Reviewed and Edited by: Terry Cochran

When many people think about medical negligence and medical malpractice, they imagine harm being done to people during major surgeries or operations. Most people do not realize that medical negligence can occur after a procedure has been completed in the recovery room. If you believe that you or a person you love has been a victim of an act of medical negligence in the recovery room following a medical procedure, book a consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer at Cochran, Kroll & Associates, P.C. to find out if you may be eligible for compensation.

Details about post-operative care

Your post-operative care begins as soon as they leave the operating room and ends when your doctor is satisfied with your health and discharges you. Once the doctor issues the discharge orders, a nurse instructs you on how to take your medication and clean your wound if applicable.
Because every person heals differently, the details of post-operative care vary from patient to patient. Depending on the severity and the complexity of the operation, the recovery period can also vary. However, during the recovery period, medical professionals will monitor you to make sure you are healing without infection or other complications.

The recovery room and the medical standard of care

The medical standard of care is the legal duty every medical professional has to their patients. If this medical standard of care is breached in any way, you could have grounds to file a medical negligence claim. This can be proven in a court of law by inviting an expert to give testimony after looking over the patient’s medical records.
If the expert, who ideally works in the same field as the defendant, determines that they would have taken a different approach to the care of the patient and deems the defendant negligent in their duties, then it is strong evidence to prove medical negligence or malpractice.

Medical negligence and infection

Infection is one of the most common acts of negligence that can occur in the recovery room and during the post-operative care phase. No matter how minor surgery may be, the body is still vulnerable to infection afterward.
Sterile environments and regular maintenance and cleaning of any surgical sites are key to a successful and infection-free recovery process, and when a doctor or a healthcare provider neglects these practices, an infection may occur. In a hospital setting, this can be incredibly dangerous due to the amount of bacteria already present in the environment.
Monitoring of a patient’s surgical sites as well as their vital signs and general health is an integral part of post-operative procedures and keeping up the medical standard of care, and if this monitoring does not occur, it can be deemed an act of medical negligence.

Other recovery room errors

Infection is not the only potential problem that can stem from medical negligence during post-operative care. Nerve damage, strokes, medication errors, cardiac arrest, brain damage, and other deteriorating issues can occur from this form of malpractice.
If you believe that you or a loved one may be eligible for compensation due to an act of medical malpractice or negligence, book a free consultation with an experienced and skilled medical malpractice attorney like Eileen Kroll who is also a registered nurse, soon as possible. Your attorney will review your medical records and determine if there is a viable reason for pursuing compensation and filing a medical malpractice or negligence claim based on the standards of your post-operative care.
If you have a viable basis for a claim, you can be compensated for medical expenses, lost wages, excessive pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, and other factors that may have caused you harm due to receiving substandard care after an operation or procedure. Call Cochran, Kroll & Associates P.C. at 866-MICH-LAW for a no obligation consultation.

Disclaimer : The information provided is general and not for legal advice. The blogs are not intended to provide legal counsel and no attorney-client relationship is created nor intended.