Georgia Man’s Family Alleges Nursing Shortage Caused Man’s Death
Although suicide is usually the result of a complex combination of factors, grief can drive a victim’s loved ones to look for a simple explanation—including something or someone to blame. In the case of a Georgian man who died by suicide, his family points their fingers at ER nurses.
As a nurse, you might be accustomed to taking the heat in tough or tragic situations. However, it can lead to serious charges or sanctions on your professional license. Call the LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team at 888.535.3686, or fill out this contact form so that they can stand up for you.
An Emergency Left Unanswered
On January 12, 2024, a 35-year-old man named Michael Sharadin called 911 to report that he was having a nervous breakdown and thoughts of killing himself. He was known to struggle with bipolar disorder.
An EMS team took Sharadin to the ER at the Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah. He was placed in an involuntary psychiatric hold, but lack of staff had forced the hospital’s psychiatric unit to close that day. Sharadin ended up in the general ER instead so that the staff there could ensure that they could keep eyes on him and ensure that someone was always with him, known as “line of sight” monitoring.
Unfortunately—and despite being observed by some staff members—Sharadin managed to obtain several hospital gowns and entered a bathroom alone. He tied one of the gowns around a bathroom rail and used it to hang himself. A security guard kicked down the door and found him 30 minutes later.
Hospital staff revived Sharadin and placed him on life support, but his mother, Carol, opted to cease care when he failed to regain consciousness after four days. She is now suing the hospital, its parent companies, and numerous staff members—including a physician, psychiatric nurse practitioner, and some nurses—for medical malpractice and negligence stemming from nursing shortages.
Nurses as Scapegoats in Healthcare
Sadly, Michael Sharadin was failed by multiple people at the ER on that fateful day, yet his family specifically blames the lack of nurses. Though unfair, this reaction is common. After all, no one could deny that the nationwide nursing shortages contribute to a myriad of other issues, including the quality of care that patients receive.
Nevertheless, nurses aren’t solely or even mostly to blame for tragedies like those that happened to Sharadin and his family. Shortages are a consequence of multiple forces, such as burnout and inadequate pay, and nurses have little to no control over them.
Still, nurses usually interact with patients more often than other medical workers. They also carry the bulk of responsibility for carrying out routine tasks and implementing protocols according to a patient’s needs—such as the “line of sight” monitoring that was meant to help Sharadin.
In other words, nurses act as the face of healthcare for many patients. Hence, they’re scapegoated and disciplined by their boards more frequently than physicians and other medical workers. That’s why it’s so important to have a dedicated legal team in your corner.
The LLF National Law Firm is on Your Side
Your hard work as a nurse merits appreciation, not derision. The LLF National Law Firm Professional License Defense Team believes that you deserve someone to take care of you just as well as you take care of others. Call our offices today at 888.535.3686 or fill out this contact form to schedule a consultation.