When you become a parent you do whatever you can to make sure that your child is safe. You child proof your home and you take your child to the doctor if they are ill, but sometimes all of your precautions don't matter when someone else isn't taking the same care when dealing with your child. A recent case has made the news of a nurse who accidentally cut off the pinky finger of an infant while she was trying to remove an intravenous tube that was attached to the baby's hand. The result is a lawsuit against the hospital for negligence.
The three month old baby was checked into the hospital for a high temperature and had spent two days there. After the baby received a clean bill of health and was cleared to go home, the nurse was ordered to remove the intravenous tube. The nurse probably had done this hundreds of times with no incident, but this time while removing the tube with a scissors, she accidentally cut the baby's pinky finger off and it fell to the floor. The baby began screaming and the nurse ran and got help. Doctors at hospital tried to save the baby's finger, but it was too late. The nerves of the finger were too delicate and the veins were too small.
In the lawsuit the mother is claiming that while the nurse was trying to remove the intravenous tube with a scissors, she failed to follow safety procedures and that the hospital failed to properly train its employees on the proper use of scissors when removing tubes of this type. The mother is seeking more than $15,000 in damages and wants to make sure that this does not happen to any other child.
Hospital officials regret the harm that was caused to the child and are concerned for the child and her family. While the hospital and the family have not been able to reach a mutually agreeable resolution to this matter, they will continue to work towards that goal.
The nurse involved in the accident took time off after the incident, but is back at work at the hospital.
Source: Orlando Sentinel, "Polk mom's lawsuit: Nurse cut off baby's pinky," Ray Reyes, March 27, 2012
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