Nurses are the heartbeat of the healthcare industry. They are in the middle of all the action. From the Emergency Room to routine check-ups, facilities simply could not function without them present. Unfortunately, being the face of the patient experience can lead to a nurse becoming a scapegoat for something that is not their fault. 

Across the country, individual nurses are taking the fall for systemic issues (such as hospital policy failures and procedural shortfalls). This can lead a nurse to receive unfair discipline — or even the loss of their license. It's a problem that all nurses need to be aware of that could happen so they are better prepared for a situation in which they are being set up to take the fall. 

If you are a nurse currently experiencing a similar situation, do not hesitate to contact the Lento Law Firm's Professional License Defense Team today at 888-535-3686 or via our online form. 

How It Can Happen 

An example of the problems we're referring to can be seen in a recent event that took place at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. The report describes an incident in a Behavior Health Unit in which nurses found a patient slumped over and unresponsive but did not start CPR until 10 minutes later. The state's investigation into the event concluded that the death “could have possibly been prevented” if the nurses had acted sooner. 

At first glance, this case looks to be the fault of the inactive nurses. If you look deeper, however, there are other factors at play. First, the hospital had no policy to check vital signs immediately. Second, the nurses had never been trained in how to call a “code blue” — a term that is used to summon emergency aid for a patient in critical condition.  

The last factor that may have played a hand in the patient's death was the nurses' lack of training regarding something called “diagnostic overshadowing,” which is when nurses and other staff wrongfully assume that because a patient has a mental or behavioral issue, they won't also have a physical life-threatening event. In this case, the nurses were misguided to treat the crisis as anything other than an emergency — but whose fault is that, really? 

Situations like this can be dangerous for nurses. The facility had multiple opportunities to prevent this, but the nurses were the ones on the ground. It is all too easy for a medical facility to wash their hands of a single nurse rather than accept the potentially costly legal consequences of their systemic failures. 

The Lento Law Firm Is Here to Help 

If you find yourself in circumstances resembling these, or any issue that might result in the loss of your license, it may be tempting to believe that your employer has your best interests at heart. Do not take that risk. Instead, retain the Lento Law Firm's experienced Professional License Defense Team. We help nurses nationwide retain their licenses and keep their careers on track. Contact us at 888-535-3686 or via our automated form.