There are several elements that help to keep patients safe when they're under the care of medical professionals. For example, doctors and nurses will take care to prevent infection by meticulously washing their hands and using only sterilized equipment. Patient safety extends well beyond the procedures that you have done at the hospital, however. At the time that you're admitted and until you're discharged, your safety is the responsibility of the hospital staff. Here are some ways in which the staff may have failed you — and perhaps committed medical malpractice.

Securing You In Bed

Even when you're lying in your hospital bed to recover from a procedure, you're at risk of an injury. A common type of injury that can arise in this situation is a fall from the bed — which is often possible if you're on potent medication that may impede your balance and spatial awareness. Commonly, care teams will secure patients at risk of such issues by raising the rails on their beds. Doing so will help to keep your body contained on the bed, rather than falling to the floor below. If you've fallen and the bed rails were in the lower position, you may have grounds for a malpractice suit.

Placing You With A Dangerous Patient

Hospital patients frequently share rooms, which can mean that you'll often be in a room with someone you don't know. It's most likely that this person is innocuous, but there's also a chance that he or she could be a threat to you. Whether the patient is aggressive because of drugs (or because of not having certain drugs), has a mental illness, or there's something else at play, it's possible for the patient to physically attack you. The hospital may be negligent in this situation, especially if the patient had a prior history of being aggressive.

Allowing You To Move Alone

It's important for a hospital staff member to be by your side when you're recovering from a surgical procedure or are taking powerful medication, but this isn't always the case. For example, if you call to ask for help going to the bathroom, and the person at the nursing station indicates that you should just try to go yourself, you might end up falling on the floor. The hospital could be negligent in this situation because of not assisting you. If you felt as though your medical caregivers have failed to protect you, resulting in an injury, contact medical malpractice attorneys like those at R.J. Marzella & Associates, P.C.