Nurses are amongst some of the most-skilled and experienced of medical professionals. Entrusted to care for patients while hospitalized, nurses are often required to perform various tasks related to a patient's medical and overall care. Nurses work under the direction of a physician who is responsible for making the majority of decisions with regard to a patient's medical care and treatment.

Cases of nursing negligence can result when a nurse makes a judgement call or decision that is outside of his or her purview. Patients who suffer injury or harm as a result of such nursing errors may choose to take legal action in the form of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Nurses readily care for patients who have undergone surgical procedures. For such patients, it is critical that surgical incisions and wounds be attended to in order to prevent infection and other post-surgical complications from developing. One man, who was hospitalized after undergoing a surgical procedure, recently filed a lawsuit against the hospital related to injuries he sustained as a result of alleged negligent acts by one nurse.

According to the lawsuit, the nurse changed the settings on a medical device which had been positioned in the man's surgical wound to aid in the drainage of fluids. The nurse is accused of changing important settings on the device without authorization or direction from a doctor. Such action effectively resulted in the man suffering additional pain and injury.

The man has filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the hospital to recover compensation related to pain and suffering, injuries, lost wages and medical expenses.

Source: The Southeast Texas Record, "Christus, plaintiff agree on trail date in med-mal," David Yates, May 9, 2013