mothers sudden death

[sharsmom]

What is the name of your state?I live in NC but my mother lived in Pa.
I'm 38 and just lost my mother on the 14th. She had out patient surgery to tack her bladder and spent one night before being released. A day or two later she was in the ER for severe stomache pain and spent a few days and was released again. She came home on a Wed. and saw her Dr. the following friday. A visiting nurse saw her Sat and Sun and left Mon. because my mom didn't answer the door or phone. She was later found dead in her bed. The autopsy showed the cause of death as a pulmonary embolus and we finaly had her cremated and held the service a few days ago. I am now home and researching her cause of death... I wanted piece of mind and thought I would be assured that it was "just one of those things" but it seems all her symptoms should have been taken more seriously. I have documents from her home nurse 24 hours before her death stating that she was shakey and thought process seemed off. Any advice? she was 62.

 

[ellencee]

sharsmom
Much depends on your willingness to invest a lot of money, time, and emotions in order to get the answer that you seek.

A medical malpractice attorney can obtain and review your mother's records and have the records reviewed by an expert consultant.

The Home Health nurse had a duty to report a change in condition to the physician. A change in level of consciousness requires an urgent notification to the physician. It is possible that professional negligence occurred with significant damages to the patient if the nurse failed to notify the physician of the change in level of consciousness (shaky, confused thought process) and by such failure to notify the MD, the patient was denied appropriate medical intervention. Since you apparently have the records, did the RN notify the MD after or during the visit with your mother on Sunday? If the MD was notified, were any orders obtained? Did the RN record a pulse oximetry measurement of your mother's oxygen saturation?

The Home Health RN should have pursued this change in condition by sending your mother to the ER if the physician did not agree to see your mother on the same day or to send your mother to the ER. An RN can not simply note a deficient change in mental or physical status and stop; to do so is to exceed the scope of nursing practice.

Consult with a medmal attorney at your earliest convenience. A statute of limitaions will apply and for malpractice that results in death, the statute of limitations is usually one year.

Best wishes,
EC

 

[reviewphysician]

What is the name of your state?I live in NC but my mother lived in Pa.
I'm 38 and just lost my mother on the 14th. She had out patient surgery to tack her bladder and spent one night before being released. A day or two later she was in the ER for severe stomache pain and spent a few days and was released again. She came home on a Wed. and saw her Dr. the following friday. A visiting nurse saw her Sat and Sun and left Mon. because my mom didn't answer the door or phone. She was later found dead in her bed. The autopsy showed the cause of death as a pulmonary embolus and we finaly had her cremated and held the service a few days ago. I am now home and researching her cause of death... I wanted piece of mind and thought I would be assured that it was "just one of those things" but it seems all her symptoms should have been taken more seriously. I have documents from her home nurse 24 hours before her death stating that she was shakey and thought process seemed off. Any advice? she was 62.

Its often diffcult for lay people to understand all the medical jargons involved. Send the materials and lets take a look.

( www.reviewphysician.com )

....Be relentlessly positive ,focusing whenever possible on successes not failures, that’s how you get somewhere in life

 

[lkc15507]

Please, please do as ellencee suggests and allow an attorney that you can physically see and talk to review your mother's case. Pulmonary embolus is a known risk of any surgical procedure, but any mental status change requires investigation by a health care provider. The abdominal pain may or may not be related, but the mental status change is a major red flag. I am so very sorry for you losing your mother. Take care and I hope the best for you.