Nursing Malpractice
Nursing Malpractice Lawyer in Houston, TX
Experienced Nursing Malpractice Attorney for Injury Victims & Families in the Houston Metro Area
In most hospitals and healthcare facilities, nurses are the frontline caregivers, spending more time at the bedside than doctors do. They monitor vital signs, administer medication, track changes in a patient’s condition, and raise the alarm when something is wrong. Patients and their family members depend on them to notice problems early and act quickly. Unfortunately, when a nurse fails to provide adequate care, the consequences can be serious. A missed warning sign, a wrong medication, or a delayed call to a physician can lead to permanent injury or even death.
Attorney Adam Funk is a trusted birth injury and medical malpractice attorney in Houston who represents injured patients and families harmed by negligent nursing care. He and his team at Funk Law Group work to uncover what went wrong, hold negligent providers accountable, and pursue the compensation clients need to move forward. If you believe a nurse’s mistake caused you or a loved one harm, call 346.501.FUNK or reach out through our online contact form to set up a free consultation with a Houston nursing malpractice lawyer today.
What Is Nursing Malpractice?
Nursing malpractice occurs when a nurse fails to provide the care that a reasonably prudent nurse would provide in similar circumstances, and a patient is harmed as a result. It is a form of medical malpractice, and it can happen in any medical setting, from hospital floors and emergency rooms to clinics, surgical centers, and nursing homes.
Nursing malpractice claims can involve registered nurses (RNs), licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and certified registered nurse anesthetists. Each of these healthcare professionals is held to the standard of care expected of a reasonably careful nurse with the same training and role.
Elements of Malpractice in Nursing
To succeed in a nursing malpractice claim, an injured patient must prove four elements. The first is duty — that a nurse-patient relationship existed, which means the nurse owed the patient a duty of care. In most cases, this can be done simply by showing that the nurse was assigned to or involved in the patient’s treatment.
The second element is breach — the nurse fell below the accepted standard of nursing care, whether by doing something a careful nurse would not have done or failing to do something a careful nurse would have done. The third element is causation — the nurse’s negligence caused the patient’s injury, rather than an underlying illness or an unrelated event. And finally, the fourth element is damages — the patient suffered actual harm, such as additional medical problems, longer hospital stays, lost income, physical suffering, or emotional pain.
What Is Negligence in Nursing?
Negligence is the failure to use reasonable care under the circumstances. In nursing, it means a nurse did not act as a reasonably careful nurse would have, and someone was hurt as a result. Negligence forms the foundation of nearly every claim against a nurse, whether the case involves a missed assessment, a medication error, or a failure to tell a physician that a patient was deteriorating.
Malpractice vs Negligence in Nursing
The terms “negligence” and “malpractice” often go hand-in-hand, but they are not one and the same. Negligence is the broader concept. It applies to anyone who fails to use reasonable care, from a driver who runs a red light to a store owner who ignores a spill. Malpractice is a specific type of negligence: professional negligence by a licensed provider acting within their professional role.
The distinction matters because it determines which legal rules apply. In Texas, claims that fall under the definition of a “health care liability claim” are governed by Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. That law imposes special requirements, including a pre-suit notice, an early expert report, and caps on certain damages, that don’t apply to an ordinary personal injury case. Knowing whether a claim is malpractice or ordinary negligence shapes the entire legal process.
Types of Negligence in Nursing
Nursing negligence takes many forms. Ordinary negligence involves a failure of basic care that doesn’t require professional judgment, such as leaving a spill on the floor of a patient’s room. Professional negligence, or malpractice, involves a failure of nursing skill or judgment, such as misreading a heart monitor. Gross negligence involves conduct so reckless that it goes well beyond a simple mistake.
Nursing errors can also be divided into errors of commission and errors of omission. An error of commission is something a nurse did wrong, like giving the wrong medication. An error of omission is something a nurse failed to do, like not checking on a high-risk patient or failing to report a dangerous change in their condition. Errors of omission are often harder to spot but can be just as harmful.
Gross Negligence in Nursing
Gross negligence is conduct that, viewed objectively, involves an extreme degree of risk, where the nurse was actually aware of that risk but proceeded with conscious indifference to the patient’s safety. An example might be knowingly ignoring repeated alarms or falsifying records to cover up a missed assessment.
In Texas, gross negligence can support an award of exemplary or “punitive” damages, which are meant to punish the wrongdoer rather than compensate the victim. However, gross negligence must be proven by clear and convincing evidence, a higher standard than in most civil cases.
Nursing Malpractice Statistics
One of the most detailed sources of data on nursing malpractice claims comes from CNA and the Nurses Service Organization (NSO), a leading professional liability insurer for nurses. Their 2025 Nurse Professional Liability Claim Report analyzed 466 closed claims that resulted in payments of $10,000 or more between 2020 and 2024.
The findings show how serious these cases can be.
- Death was the most common injury, involved in about half (50.2%) of all closed claims.
- The average total cost of a claim rose 12.5% from the prior report to $236,749.
- Obstetric claims carried the highest average cost of any specialty at $543,305.
- Fetal and infant birth-related brain damage was the most costly injury, averaging $759,485, a figure the report attributes largely to the lifelong cost of 24-hour care.
- The most frequent allegation was improper treatment or care, which accounted for 56.2% of claims.
- Patients' rights and professional conduct allegations came next at 18.2%, and more than 80% of those involved patient falls. Of the fall-related claims, 38.6% resulted in death.
- Assessment failures made up 9.7% of claims, and medication administration errors made up 8.2%, with an average cost of $279,507.
- Paid claims took an average of 4.2 years to close, which underscores how long and complex these cases can be.
Examples of Negligence in Nursing Malpractice Cases
Nursing negligence takes many forms, but most claims fall into a few recurring categories. The examples below reflect some of the most common ways a nurse’s mistake can harm a patient.
Medication Errors
Nurses are usually the last line of defense before a medication reaches the patient, which is why they are expected to verify every dose. When a nurse makes a medication error, the consequences can range from a minor reaction to organ damage or death. Common errors include:
- Giving the wrong medication
- Giving the wrong dose
- Giving a drug to the wrong patient
- Giving it by the wrong route, such as intravenously instead of by mouth
Missed or delayed doses can be just as dangerous, as can a failure to check for allergies or harmful drug interactions. Misprogrammed infusion pumps and other medical equipment errors also fall into this category. A Houston medication error lawyer can help determine whether these mistakes violated the standard of care.
Failure to Monitor and Report Changes in Condition
Nurses are responsible for watching a patient’s condition between physician visits and recognizing when something is wrong. Negligence often involves missing changes in vital signs, oxygen levels, or mental status that signal a developing emergency, such as sepsis, internal bleeding, or a stroke.
Even when a nurse notices a problem, they must escalate it. Failing to notify a physician promptly, or failing to follow the chain of command when a physician doesn’t respond, can delay necessary care until it is too late. Poor communication between nurses at shift change and inadequate documentation of a patient’s condition can also allow critical warning signs to slip through the cracks.
Nurse Negligence in Labor, Delivery, and the NICU
Labor and delivery nurses play a central role in protecting both mother and baby. They monitor fetal heart rate tracings throughout labor, and misreading those strips or failing to report signs of fetal distress can lead to oxygen deprivation and permanent brain injury. Nurses also administer labor-inducing medications like Pitocin to strengthen contractions. Giving too much, or failing to stop it when contractions become too frequent, can reduce the baby’s oxygen supply.
After birth, newborn care mistakes in the nursery or NICU can also cause serious harm. Examples include failing to monitor jaundice, missing signs of infection or low blood sugar, and making medication errors in tiny, weight-based doses. If your child was harmed by nursing errors during or after delivery, a birth injury lawyer in Houston can help you understand your options.
Falls, Pressure Injuries, and Other Preventable Harm
Patients who are elderly, sedated, or recovering from surgery are often at high risk of falling. Nurses must follow fall precautions, such as bed alarms, assistance with walking, and regular rounding. Failing to reposition immobile patients can lead to painful pressure injuries (bedsores) that may become infected.
Lapses in infection control, such as poor hand hygiene or improper care of IV lines and catheters, can expose patients to dangerous infections. Documentation errors can compound all of these problems by giving the next caregiver an inaccurate picture of the patient’s condition.
Can You Sue a Nurse for Negligence?
Yes. Nurses are licensed healthcare professionals, and they can be held legally responsible when their negligence harms a patient. In practice, however, nursing malpractice claims usually name the hospital or medical facility that employed the nurse as well.
Under the legal doctrine of vicarious liability, an employer is generally responsible for the negligent acts of its employees performed within the scope of their jobs. Because hospitals typically carry far more insurance than individual nurses, naming the facility is often essential to recovering full compensation.
Who Can Be Held Liable for Nurse Malpractice?
Depending on the facts, liability for nursing negligence may extend to the individual nurse, the hospital, clinic, or other healthcare facilities where the nurse worked, and any nursing staffing agency that placed a travel or temporary nurse. A supervising physician may also share responsibility if they directed the nurse’s actions or failed to respond to the nurse’s concerns.
Independent-contractor arrangements can complicate the picture. Some hospitals use agency or contract nurses and may argue they are not responsible for those workers.
In some situations, a hospital can still be liable for its own failures, such as inadequate staffing, training, or supervision. An experienced attorney can sort through these relationships to identify every responsible party.
Can You Sue a Student Nurse for Malpractice?
Student nurses can be held accountable for their actions, and they are generally expected to meet the standard of care for the tasks they perform. In practice, however, these claims more often focus on those responsible for supervising the student. That may include the supervising nurse or clinical instructor, the hospital that allowed the student to provide care, and potentially the nursing program itself if it failed to provide adequate supervision or training.
Nurse Practitioner Malpractice Lawsuit
Nurse practitioners have advanced training, and in many settings, they diagnose illnesses, order tests, prescribe medications, and manage treatment with significant independence. Many patients today see an NP rather than a physician at urgent care centers, primary care clinics, and hospital units. That expanded role also increases their exposure to liability.
NP malpractice claims require qualified medical experts who can speak to the standard of care that applies to nurse practitioners. In Texas, physician experts are generally needed to establish causation, meaning that the NP’s error caused the patient’s injury. As such, building the right expert team from the start is critical to these cases.
Malpractice for Nurse Practitioners: How Liability Works in Texas
In Texas, nurse practitioners generally practice under delegation from a physician, including prescriptive authority agreements that define what the NP may prescribe and how the physician will supervise. Because of this structure, a supervising physician may share liability alongside the NP if supervision was inadequate. The clinic, hospital, or practice that employed the NP may also be responsible.
Common claims against NPs include a missed or delayed diagnosis, prescribing errors such as the wrong medication or a dangerous dose, and a failure to refer a patient to a specialist or the emergency room when their symptoms called for it.
Nursing Facility Negligence Lawyer for Long-Term Care Injuries
Nursing negligence is not limited to hospitals. Residents of nursing homes, rehabilitation centers, and assisted living facilities depend on nurses and aides for nearly every aspect of their daily care. When these facilities fail to provide adequate care, residents can suffer serious harm, including painful bedsores, falls and fractures, medication errors, dehydration and malnutrition, and untreated infections that progress to sepsis.
In many of these cases, understaffing is a root cause. When too few nurses are responsible for too many residents, essential tasks like repositioning, assisting with meals, and checking on high-risk patients get skipped. Facilities that put profits ahead of safe staffing levels can be held accountable for the harm that results.
How to Sue a Nurse for Malpractice in Texas
Texas medical malpractice law is among the most demanding in the country. Strict notice rules, early expert deadlines, and damage caps all shape how a case must be built, and a single missed step can end a claim before it starts. That is why it’s important to involve an experienced nursing malpractice lawyer like Adam Funk from the very beginning.
Here’s how the process typically works:
Steps in a Nurse Malpractice Lawsuit
The legal process begins with a free consultation, where we listen to what happened and explain your options. Next, we obtain the complete medical records, including nursing notes, medication administration records, and vital sign flowsheets, and have qualified medical experts review them to determine whether the nurse’s negligence caused the injury.
If the case has merit, Texas law requires a written notice of the claim be sent to each defendant at least 60 days before filing suit. After the lawsuit is filed, we must serve an expert report on each defendant within 120 days after that defendant files an answer. The report must explain the standard of care, how it was breached, and how the breach caused harm.
The case then moves into discovery, where both sides exchange documents and take depositions of the nurses, doctors, and other medical staff involved. Many cases resolve through mediation, but if the defense won’t offer fair compensation, we are prepared to take legal action all the way to trial.
Texas Deadlines for Nursing Malpractice Claims
In Texas, most medical malpractice claims must be filed within two years of the date of the negligent treatment. However, when the injured patient is a child under 12, Texas law generally allows until the child’s 14th birthday to file.
Waiting can still hurt your case, even if the deadline hasn’t passed. Electronic records, monitor data, and staffing logs can become harder to obtain over time, and the memories of nurses and other witnesses fade. Contacting a nursing malpractice attorney promptly helps preserve the evidence your case depends on.
Compensation in Nurse Malpractice Cases
Injured patients and their families may be able to recover:
- Past and future medical expenses, including additional hospital stays, surgeries, and rehabilitation
- Lost wages and reduced future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering, emotional distress, and loss of enjoyment of life
- Wrongful death damages for family members who lose a loved one, including lost financial support, companionship, and funeral expenses
It’s important to note that Texas caps non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering and emotional pain, in medical malpractice cases. Economic damages, such as medical bills and lost income, are not subject to that cap. Careful documentation of every financial loss is essential to securing substantial compensation.
How an Experienced Nurse Injury Lawyer Can Help You
Recovering from a serious injury, or caring for a loved one who was harmed, often takes everything you have. You shouldn’t have to fight a hospital at the same time. When you work with Funk Law Group, we take on the hospitals, insurers, and defense lawyers so you and your family can focus on recovery.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities often begin protecting themselves the moment an error occurs, and their insurers and defense teams are experienced at minimizing medical malpractice claims. That’s why, when choosing among medical malpractice attorneys, it’s important to look for a firm with a proven track record of taking on large hospital systems and the resources to see a complex case through.
At Funk Law Group, we level the playing field by investigating every detail of your patient care, working with respected medical experts, and building a case that shows exactly how the nurse’s error happened and what it has cost you.
Why Choose Adam Funk as Your Houston Nurse Malpractice Lawyer?
Attorney Adam Funk focuses his practice entirely on medical malpractice and birth injury, which means he understands how nursing care works at the bedside and how to identify the moments where it broke down. Adam and his team at Funk Law Group have the resources to fund the expert-heavy litigation these cases demand, from nursing and physician experts to economists and life-care planners.
Throughout your case, we communicate with compassion and clarity. We return your calls, explain each step, and make sure you never feel left in the dark while you pursue justice for yourself or your loved one. We also represent clients on a contingency fee basis, which means you pay no attorney’s fees unless we recover compensation for you.
A Seasoned Nursing Negligence Lawyer Who Knows Hospital Systems
Nursing errors rarely happen in isolation. They often reflect larger system failures, such as chronic understaffing, unsafe nurse-to-patient ratios, inadequate training, or policies that discourage nurses from escalating concerns. As a seasoned nursing malpractice lawyer in Houston, Adam Funk understands how hospital staffing practices affect the medical care patients receive, and he knows how to uncover the institutional decisions that set individual nurses up to fail. Holding the hospital accountable for those choices is often key to a full recovery and to preventing the same harm from happening to someone else.
Contact a Houston Nurse Injury Attorney at Funk Law Group for a Free Consultation Today
If you or a loved one was harmed by negligent nursing care, you deserve answers. You don’t need to know for certain that a nurse made a mistake before you call us. Tell us what happened, and we will help you understand whether you have a case and what steps to take next.
Your consultation is free, and you pay nothing unless we win your case. Call an experienced Houston nursing malpractice lawyer at Funk Law Group at 346.501.FUNK or reach out through our online contact form to get started right away.