Helen French, a 30 year veteran to emergency room nursing, is now dedicating her life to the cause of patient safety and speaking out about operating room malpractice. “I am just trying to save people’s lives,” she says.
French considers herself a “passionate advocate” for patient safety and she has made it her life’s work to educate consumers and medical professionals alike about proper operating room procedure. She still recalls her first experience with a tragic medical error when she was just a young nurse back in 1974. While attending a hysterectomy procedure, she was witness to sloppy OR procedure when doctors put the obese patient’s legs in stirrups incorrectly, cutting off the circulation. The patient had to have both legs amputated just days later and died that same year from further complications.
The experience left a lasting impression on French, who then made it a point to keep meticulous records of what she saw whenever she was in the operating room. She says, “I could write stories from here to the end of time and I would never run out.”
Her record keeping and frank, open opinions about the subject have been met with their share of opposition from her fellow OR colleagues. She’s even been the recipient of hate calls in an attempt to silence her. But it has done little to deter her from her fight against OR malpractice.
She has a right to be concerned. A recent study of hospital records revealed that over 913,000 patient safety events were reported between 2005 and 2007. Among those events, over 97,000 resulted in death of the patient.
Ironically, in 2007, French herself says she became a victim of medical malpractice after a surgery she underwent to correct her vertebrate left her with pain in her arms and a strange choking sensation in her throat. She now finds herself victim of the same issue she has spent most of her career fighting against.
In attempt to further her crusade and educate consumers about patient safety, French has started her own comprehensive website (http://operatingroomrnwatchingoveryou.com), which contains a wealth of helpful information as well as a way to contact French directly with feedback or questions.
Operating room malpractice is a very real, very dangerous problem facing patients across the country. If you have suffered injury or harm while in the OR, you have the right to fight back. Contact a medical lawyer to discuss your case today.
Source: www.lawyersandsettlements.com
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