Nurse Practitioner Malpractice

Nurse practitioners now provide primary care to millions of Americans, but with expanded authority comes increased responsibility—and the potential for serious medical errors when they practice beyond their training or fail to recognize complex medical conditions requiring physician consultation. While most nurse practitioners provide competent care within their scope, malpractice occurs when they attempt to diagnose and treat conditions that exceed their expertise.

Unlike physicians who complete extensive residency training in their specialties, nurse practitioners receive different educational preparation that may not adequately prepare them for complex diagnostic decisions. This fundamental difference in training becomes critically important when patients present with symptoms that could indicate multiple serious conditions requiring specialized medical knowledge.

The intersection between misdiagnosis and nurse practitioner care is particularly concerning, as studies show diagnostic errors occur more frequently when patients are seen by nurse practitioners rather than physicians for initial evaluations of serious conditions. When nurse practitioners fail to recognize their limitations and properly refer patients to specialists, serious conditions can go undiagnosed until treatment becomes more difficult or impossible.

Medication errors represent another significant area of concern as nurse practitioners gain expanded prescriptive authority. Prescribing medications requires deep understanding of drug interactions, contraindications, and appropriate dosing—knowledge that comes from extensive medical training and experience.

The growth of nursing fraud and credentialing issues has also created situations where individuals claim to be qualified nurse practitioners when they lack proper education or licensing. This represents a form of medical malpractice that puts patients at serious risk.

We work with medical experts to evaluate whether nurse practitioners practiced within their scope and met the appropriate standard of care for their level of training.