It is a busy Monday night in the emergency department. You’ve arrived with your 2 year old child. You cannot get in to see your family doctor and she’s got a fever of 39.5 C, a sore throat and an earache.Your daughter’s crying and miserable. There is a long line up at triage. Eventually you are seen and assessed by a triage nurse and then sent to the waiting room. The waiting room is packed, your child is miserable and you are wondering how long are you going to have to wait for?
When a medical malpractice lawsuit occurs, the hospital and all members of the health care team may be named as defendants. This might include the nurses, physicians, nurse practitioners, midwives, ambulance attendants, laboratory technicians, respiratory therapists, nursing and medical students and contracted hospital employees who provided care. Both the plaintiff and defense lawyers may then be required to retain experts from each of the defendant disciplines to provide expert opinion. Although there is no obligation for health care professionals to take on this role, you may be considering it. Many regulatory bodies endorse the professional responsibility to do so. This article will help you learn more about the role and responsibilities of the expert witness.
Two years ago, at a conference in Atlanta, a woman from Jamaica excitedly approached me when she learned that my company provided experts for medical malpractice cases. She had been searching for resources to help in her efforts to support victims of medical malpractice in her home country. She shared multiple stories of negligence that were almost unimaginable and confided that although many Jamaican doctors were educated to North American standards, their underfunded, undersupplied and poorly managed public health-care system was struggling greatly, leaving too many patients injured as a result. There was little recourse for injured patients and minimal accountability for health-care providers.
When your case involves future costs of care, you need an expert to accurately assess your clients’ needs who understands the full spectrum and interplay of medical diagnoses, treatments, medications and client goals. Connect Experts has the perfect expert for this role; Nurse Life Care Planners.
This white paper is the second of three parts on the complex functions of brain, what happens when an injury is acquired and how to care for and manage a life-changing brain injury.
BY LINDA SIMMONS, RN BScN
Consultant and Cost of Future Care Expert, Connect Medical Legal Experts
TBI refers to any injury to the scalp, skull (cranium or facial bones) or the brain. Injury to the brain can be focal or diffuse. Focal injuries result in contusions, lacerations, or hemorrhages. The hemorrhages that can occur are epidural hematoma, subdural hematoma, intracerebral hematoma, and subarachnoid hemorrhage. The diffuse injury can cause a mild to severe concussion or diffuse axonal injury.
BY LINDA SIMMONS, RN BScN
Senior Nurse Life Care Planner, Connect Medical Legal Experts
This document will increase the health care professionals understanding of Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). ABI is defined as damage to the brain that is acquired after birth. It can affect cognitive, physical, emotional, social, or independent functioning. ABI is an umbrella term used to describe all brain injuries. ABI can result from traumatic brain injury (i.e. accidents, falls, assaults, etc.) and non-traumatic brain injury (i.e. stroke, brain tumours, infection, poisoning, hypoxia, ischemia or substance abuse).
The motor vehicle related accident clients that we at Connect Experts see with ABI have often resulted from a Traumatic Brain Injury and thus ABI’s that have resulted from a TBI will be the focus of this document.
This white paper is the third of three parts on the complex functions of brain, what happens when an injury is acquired and how to care for and manage a life-changing brain injury.
BY LINDA SIMMONS, RN BScN
Consultant and Cost of Future Care Expert, Connect Medical Legal Experts
The prehospital care of a patient with a brain injury has a profound impact on the subsequent course of events and outcomes. Prehospital management refers to the initial resuscitation and interventions that stabilize the patient at the scene of the accident and on route to the hospital. Prehospital management requires timely and effective brain resuscitation, as the brain only has minimal reserves to meet ongoing metabolic needs. If resuscitation is insufficient because of reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) and decreased oxygen delivery, ischemia and hypoxia develop and can lead to secondary brain injury.