When heading to the emergency room with a loved one, your top priority is to receive care as soon as possible. Eventually, your relative receives attention from a group of doctors and nurses. However, the wait seemed to last an eternity. 

The doctors and nurses rushed in to see your relative. A decision was made to admit him to hospital care. Bloodwork was taken, and the results would not allow him to be released home quite yet. All of this made sense to you at the time. Why send him home when he was clearly unwell?

Eventually, your loved one started to improve. His bloodwork returned to levels that allowed him to be discharged from care. He was finally eating and drinking. Things seemed to be improving. 

That is, until he returned home after discharge from the hospital. In the following days, his condition worsened. He stopped eating and drinking. All the prodding in the world could not rouse him from the couch. Finally, you decide to take him back to the emergency room. All the while, you are wondering what exactly has happened to your relative.

Hospital Occupancy Rates Make a Difference in Patient Care

When a hospital has few or no beds available, that means patients who would otherwise be readily admitted to hospital care are left waiting in the emergency room. Anyone who has spent any amount of time in emergency rooms can attest to the frenetic pace of the doctors and nurses. Everyone is running (literally), looking to help people in need. 

With that said, is it possible that the waiting time in the emergency room may have made a difference in the worsening condition of your loved one? More than an inconvenience, waiting for a hospital bed can worsen a patient’s health. 

There is no substitute for the type of care that a patient receives during an inpatient hospital stay. Monitoring is superior in the hospital than in the emergency room. Medication adjustments can be made based on examination results. In short, the care is better, and patients tend to respond more favorably once admitted to the hospital. 

Causes for Longer-Than-Normal Emergency Room Stays

There are a range of explanations why a loved one may find themselves remaining longer in an emergency room than is desirable:

• Hospitals may be short-staffed. When nurses and physicians are few and far between, it does not make sense to admit a patient even if beds/rooms are available. Depending on the hospital’s location, this may be a chronic issue. 
• As we just experienced a few years ago with the COVID-19 pandemic, medical events can overwhelm a hospital beyond its capabilities. Room availability and medical provider coverage are severely stressed in an environment like this. 
• In certain circumstances, there may be delays in discharging patients, leading to backups in admitting new patients to hospital care. Many doctors allow patients to leave the hospital after receiving “normal” lab results. If a lab is slow to submit blood test results, then dozens of patients may remain longer at the hospital than previously anticipated. 

When Your Health Has Worsened After Discharge

Leaving the hospital after discharge should be a positive experience. Instead, for many patients, leaving the hospital is anything but a good thing. The team of legal professionals at Crim Law, PLLC, has walked alongside people whose conditions have steadily declined after hospital discharge. 

A West Virginia emergency room negligence lawyer understands how to obtain evidence, structure arguments, and utilize the law to fight for your rights. Don’t accept an outcome at an emergency room because you think there’s nothing more that can be done. Instead, contact our office today for a free case review. We will discuss your case and circumstances with you while outlining a plan to move forward toward a brighter future.

Preserving Your Claim for Negligence Against a Hospital

If you believe that a hospital was negligent in treating you or a loved one, then there are steps you can take to strengthen a potential claim. 

First, you should request medical records from the incident in question. These records will form the basis for a medical malpractice case. Hospitals, doctors, and nurses must meet a certain standard of care in every interaction with a patient. When medical professionals fall short of that standard, it puts patients at risk. 

Next, start to build a timeline of events. What time did you arrive at the hospital? How long did you all wait in the emergency room? What changes did you observe in the condition of your loved one? No detail is too small to observe and notate. 

Those details that you observed with respect to the condition of your loved one, as well as any other relevant information, should be shared with an experienced West Virginia emergency room negligence lawyer. An attorney who understands how hospitals function can provide you with important context about the wait times you experienced. 

The main question is whether the standard of care common in emergency rooms was deviated from by the emergency room staff you interacted with. An attorney who focuses their practice on helping injured people recover the damages they need is the ideal advocate to speak with. 

Contact a Skilled West Virginia Medical Malpractice Attorney Today 

It is disheartening and deflating to see a loved one go through a physical or mental deterioration after a hospital discharge. However, you can be that person’s advocate by reaching out to someone who knows exactly what to do to help them get back on their feet. 

Contacting Crim Law, PLLC puts you and your loved one in a position where you can speak to our team of experienced legal professionals. Our practice focuses on managing West Virginia emergency room negligence cases. We take our responsibility to serve our clients seriously and would do the same for your loved one.