When you enter a Kentucky hospital, you put your life in the hands of health care professionals. You trust that the entire team is working with perfect clarity. Unfortunately, a breakdown in communication can lead to devastating hospital errors. Understanding how these breakdowns constitute negligence and violate the standard of care is critical in filing your compensation claim.

Errors at shift changes

Shift handoffs are critical periods. This is when doctors and nurses inform one another about your entire medical status. If key details are omitted or misinterpreted, it can result in delayed treatment, medication mistakes or a complete failure to follow up on a life-threatening symptom.

Gaps in test results

Errors frequently occur with diagnostic test results. Due to a nurse’s or technician’s negligence, they can lose your results in the complex electronic system. This common failure often causes communication gaps between health care professionals. Doctors become uninformed of an abnormal or urgent test result, leading to a delay in diagnosis and treatment.

Lack of informed consent

While doctors and nurses try their best to care for every patient, lapses can still occur. They fail to tend to your needs, affecting your trust in their services. This can worsen if they do not inform you of benefits, risks and alternatives to procedures they recommend. A lack of informed consent is a critical breach of their duties.

Facing the consequences of hospital errors

Simple errors due to miscommunication can constitute medical malpractice. If you or a loved one has suffered harm due to this, you have a right to seek accountability.

Filing a medical malpractice claim should be your next step. Be aware that Kentucky’s statute of limitations for these claims is typically one year from the date you discovered your injury. While this process can be complex, seeking compensation for your damages is possible.