Sometimes, you need to visit an emergency room for medical treatment. It could be because your primary care doctor is closed or because the issue that you’re experiencing is so severe that you need to seek treatment right away. 

Even though the doctors and nurses in the emergency room work to provide the best care possible, some common mistakes happen. There are also a few ways that you can avoid them so that you don’t end up staying in the hospital longer than necessary. 

1. Diagnosis

When you arrive at the emergency room, everything will likely happen at a fast pace. A nurse will triage you and take you to a room to find out why you’re there. 

After listening to your symptoms and performing tests, the doctor might not make the correct diagnosis. This could happen because the emergency room is busy or because a trauma case arrives that needs to be addressed. 

2. Triage

While in the triage area, there are a few things that could go wrong that result in an error:

• Getting the wrong vital signs
• Making the wrong notes in your chart
• Not gathering enough information about your symptoms

One of the details to keep in mind about triage is that it’s the first step in the process of being seen in the emergency room. Most of the time, you won’t stay here very long as the nurse will work to get you back to see the doctor as quickly as possible. 

This is where errors tend to begin as the nurse needs to be careful in gathering the right information to provide to the doctor about the reason you’re at the hospital. 

3. Medical History

The nurse you see should take a medical history when you arrive. This should include any medications that you’re taking, how long you’ve been experiencing the symptoms that you have, and what you’ve done to try to remedy the symptoms. If the nurse or doctor doesn’t gather all of the information or you leave something out, then it could impact the tests that are performed or the medications that you’re prescribed. 

4. Skipping Details

After giving the nurse and doctor your medical information, it’s their job to piece together what you say in order to make the proper diagnosis. If there are details that are skipped over, then it could lead to an error. An example would be glancing over an allergy and then giving you medications that you’re allergic to because they aren’t reviewed on your chart. 

If you feel that your history has been neglected, then you should talk to your attorney about how to prove medical malpractice liability so that you can file a claim to obtain compensation for proper medical treatment. 

5. Testing

There are several ways that emergency room errors can occur regarding tests. The doctor might not order the correct tests for the symptoms that you have. This could result in not discovering what’s wrong with you and then not providing the appropriate treatment before sending you home. Failure to follow up with you after a test and after you go home can be considered an error as well. 

Even after the correct tests are ordered and performed, your doctor might not read the tests correctly. This could result in an issue being missed and then not treated. 

Another error regarding tests is when doctors fail to give you information about your results. You can always contact the hospital or ask about your results, but it’s the responsibility of the doctor to give you vital information that could save your life if there is anything seen on your test results.