Results 1 to 4 of 4

Hybrid View

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    2

    Default Excessively Tight Dressing Leads to Severe Finger Damage

    My question involves medical malpractice in the state of: Florida.

    This is pretty much a mixed bag with two flavors, medical negligence by a nursing assistant and illegal tactics by my employer. Long post is long, but I'll try to be as descriptive as possible.

    I work at a job that deals with fire/smoke/water/mold damage. We were doing a fire job on someone's house and I was instructed by the crew chief to clean the contents of the master bathroom. Cleaning a vase, unbeknown to me there was a sharp hole in it, and as I pulled out, it cut a nice chunk of my finger off. Some bloodshed and wrapping the wound later, on the way to the hospital the bosses daughter told me that I had to lie and say I did it at home, and that they would pay the bills sent to my house.

    At first I went along with it because I felt extremely pressured, vulnerable, and in shock, but in the next hospital visit I buckled down and told the truth and got my medical records changed. After three weeks of being injured, in severe pain, and waiting, they finally put me on Workers Compensation. The state informed me that they would be fined big time for putting me on WC late.

    Now for the medical part. In the ER when the staff member finally got there to treat me, they put a foam compression on there and wrapped my finger EXTREMELY tight, to the point where it was throbbing immediately and proceeded to tell me to keep the dressing on for at least 36 hours. In those 36 hours and in 3 days I was in extreme, throbbing pain, crying my eyes dry without no pain medication prescribed by the hospital. After finally taking the dressing off after the first 36 hours, due to the roughness and tightness of the bandage, my finger was VERY swollen and blistered, as if it were burned over a fire. The worst part of it is, is that the nursing assistant's (not a licensed physician with years of experience or at least a nurse) dressing has damaged the nerves in my finger and I haven't had feeling in it in over a month, and I'm likely to have invasive surgery to repair it, IF it can be repaired.

    The hand specialist I was referred to by a second hospital informed me that 36 hours was WAY too long and the dressing was too tight and they were shocked to know how long had it on. I have saved the pictures of my wounds for documentation and am thinking about pursuing a case, if the hand specialist gives me a statement that my damaged nerves is the result of the nursing assistant/hospitals negligent knowledge to treat me.

    Do I have a case? More information will be provided if needed. Here are some pictures.

    http://i51.tinypic.com/35k49c0.jpg
    First picture of my open wound.

    http://i56.tinypic.com/1zdb81.jpg
    Second picture displaying tight dressing.

    http://i54.tinypic.com/r6zk93.jpg
    After 36 hours, finger is very swollen, blistered all over, and damaged.

    http://i55.tinypic.com/25aopc9.jpg
    Close up view of bottom finger, swollen, blistered, etc.

    http://i56.tinypic.com/2qs6txg.jpg
    Side blister.

    http://i51.tinypic.com/2zrp940.jpg
    Finger black due to foam compression merging with clotted skin, white due to excessive moisture from bandage.

    I used links because I didn't want to enlarge the post even more, also keeps it more organized.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    Toledo, OH
    Posts
    16,307

    Default Re: Negligent Nurse Leads to Severe Finger Damage

    In the ER when the staff member finally got there to treat me, they put a foam compression on there and wrapped my finger EXTREMELY tight, to the point where it was throbbing immediately and proceeded to tell me to keep the dressing on for at least 36 hours
    When you told the NA that the dressing was so tight that the pain was extreme and your finger was throbbing, what did s/he say?

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Posts
    2

    Default Re: Negligent Nurse Leads to Severe Finger Damage

    Thanks for the response. After telling them how much pain I was in, they didn't care nor say anything but to suck it up and wait the 36 hours. They shoo'ed me out the door without any pain medication/prescription whatsoever. All they suggested was to go out and buy Ibuprofen which didn't help one bit.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    38,867

    Default Re: Negligent Nurse Leads to Severe Finger Damage

    that's one ugly finger.

    to the nerve damage. Way to soon to determine if there is any permanent damage. Compression of a nerve can cause temporary loss of sensation (if you couldn't feel anything, how can you claim it hurt?). Nerve damage can take a long time to heal, sometimes up to a couple years.

    Is there any other actual damage that is more than short term?

    based on the info you have at the moment, no way to determine if you have a case. If there is some permanent damage, it is likely you have a case. You then need to realize that the damages are not extreme and as such, any payout would not be all that large generally.

    1. Sponsored Links
       

Similar Threads

  1. Search and Seizure: K-9 Search Leads to Cosmetic Damage to Vehicle's Exterior
    By Kta_27 in forum Criminal Procedure
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 05-12-2011, 10:52 PM
  2. Medical Malpractice: Cast Was Too Tight
    By hisbeauty4ashes in forum Malpractice Law
    Replies: 9
    Last Post: 01-27-2011, 06:04 PM
  3. How Does One Go About Getting Legal Advice if Money is Tight
    By jlookn in forum Child Custody, Support and Visitation
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 01-16-2011, 05:42 PM
  4. Premises Liability: Test driving a vehicle leads to damage
    By Alisa in forum Accidents and Injuries
    Replies: 8
    Last Post: 06-13-2006, 02:14 AM
  5. Police Conduct: Handcuffs were too tight
    By tonda1114 in forum Police Investigations
    Replies: 3
    Last Post: 09-18-2005, 05:53 PM
 
 
Sponsored Links

Legal Help, Information and Resources