Patients who seek medical care place a huge amount of trust in the team that’s taking care of them. One thing that nobody expects is that they will encounter a nurse who’s impaired while trying to take care of patients.
An impaired nurse can make errors with patient care that can put the patients in danger. The nurse may miss critical components of the patient’s case. This can lead to them failing to provide care that at least meets the established standards.
What signs of impairment should patients watch for?
Many of the signs that a nurse will exhibit when they are impaired are the same as any impaired person. They may appear sloppy or have an unclean appearance. They may seem to have considerable mood swings and might seem confused. Some other signs of impairment include:
- Seeming incoherent
- Acting unprofessionally
- Stuttering or slurring words
- Staggering or falling
- Forgetting job duties
A nurse who is impaired may give patients incorrect medications or do other things that directly affect the patients in a negative manner. Other nurses and supervisors should speak up, so those impaired nurses don’t care for patients, but that doesn’t always happen. This leaves the patients in a bad position.
Any patient who suffers harm due to the negligence of their medical care team may be able to seek compensation. A medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed in a specific amount of time, so be sure you act quickly if you suffer harm at the hands of a medical professional.