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Think about how many people we put our trust in when it comes to our medical care. We trust our doctors. We trust nurses. When we have to go to the hospital, we trust the staff there. We are also putting our trust in the hospital itself to have done its due diligence in hiring hospital staff. Unfortunately, negligent hiring happens in hospitals and patients can suffer harm as a result. In these instances, the injury victim can pursue compensation for the damages they have sustained as a result of the hospital’s negligent hiring practices.
Common Negligent Hiring Practices in Hospitals
Being admitted to the hospital can be an unnerving and anxiety-inducing experience. It doesn’t make anyone feel better to consider the fact that hospital errors can result in serious injuries to patients. There are a variety of factors that can increase the chances of a hospital error occurring and one such big factor is when hospitals are not adequately staffed or have other staffing issues like unqualified or unfit individuals being hired in the first place.
Hospitals have a duty of care to make an appropriate standard of care available to patients. When this duty is breached and that breach causes a patient to suffer harm, then the hospital can be held legally liable for their negligence. One way hospitals expose themselves to liability is when they are negligent in their hiring practices. You see, a hospital can be held liable for the harm sustained by a patient because of an employee on the theory that they are responsible for the actions of an employee that they hired, supervised, or trained. If a hospital hired an employee they knew, or should have known, was unfit for the job and this negligent hiring practice contributed to you, the patient, sustaining injury or harm, then the hospital can be held legally responsible.
A hospital has a duty to consider if an applicant for employment is unfit considering the nature of the job and the applicant’s ability to properly fulfill the essential functions of the job. If there is a doubt about either of these things and the hospital hires the person anyways, they can be on the hook for compensating victims who suffer from harm caused by the employee.
Additionally, hospitals should have background checks when hiring staff members. In addition to duties regarding the hiring of hospital staff, hospitals also have a duty to ensure that the facility is adequately staffed at all times and that all staff are properly supervised. If a patient is injured due to negligent hiring, negligent staffing, or negligent supervision, the hospital can be held liable and, thus, may be on the hook for paying the injured payment monetary compensation.
Central New York Personal Injury Attorneys
Did you trust a hospital with your health care and came out worse for it? The trusted team at CDH Law will fight for your right to full and fair compensation for the harm you suffered due to hospital negligence. Contact us today.