When filing a civil suit for nursing home abuse, it is important to work with an experienced attorney who has access to helpful resources. These resources can include access to expert witnesses in Florida nursing home abuse cases. These witnesses have a specialized set of knowledge which makes them very trustworthy when sharing knowledge in a particular field. These witnesses may be brought in to give a specific perspective on a certain detail within a nursing home abuse case. Contact a lawyer for more information regarding expert witnesses.
Who can be an Expert Witness?
Anyone can be an expert witness as long as they demonstrate their expertise in their field or on the particular topic being addressed. For example, when a person talks about the negligence of a nursing home administrator, the person who is an expert in a nursing home administration is often another nursing home administrator who can talk about the negligence of a nursing home and how the administrator plays a role in that negligence.
Most expert witnesses in nursing home cases have a medical background. They are nurses, CNAs LPNs, doctors, surgeons, and other types of medical specialists. In other cases, anyone with solid basic knowledge of a subject could become an expert witness.
When an expert witness talks about the negligence of a health care provider, the expert must be a health care provider in the same field or of the same specialty as the person they are discussing. A nurse can opine on the negligence of another nurse. A primary care doctor can talk about another primary care doctor who fell below the standard of care.
Types of Expert Witnesses in a Nursing Home Abuse Case
In a Florida nursing home abuse case, an injury lawyer may suggest that a nurse serves as one of their expert witnesses as well as a doctor depending on the injury. When the injury is specialized, a lawyer can have a specialist give testimony about the injury. Many times it is a primary care doctor with experience providing care to nursing home patients. Other experts could be neurologists, pharmacists, respiratory and rehabilitation therapists, and psychiatry or psychology experts.
Benefits of Using an Expert Witness in a Nursing Home Abuse Case
In a nursing home abuse case, a Florida injury attorney must prove that the nursing home fell below the applicable standard of care in their treatment of the injured or deceased person. The only way to do that is to call in expert witnesses to talk about the standard of care. In a nursing home, medical professionals can talk about that. A lawyer cannot tell the jury what the standard of care is or what was negligent. That is done through expert witnesses.
Importance of Hiring a Florida Nursing Home Abuse Attorney
A lawyer may have difficulty finding an expert witness willing to testify against a hospital, nursing home, or another doctor. Creating relationships with local expert witnesses is crucial to obtain the witnesses needed to try the case. That is why it is important to connect with attorneys who know where to find these experts and have excellent working relationships with them.
When a lawyer has a good relationship with expert witnesses in Florida nursing home abuse cases, an expert may be more willing to help out the lawyer and work quickly on their case. They make themselves available for deposition and trial which is often challenging. Schedule a consultation with an attorney if you wish to include expert witnesses in your nursing home abuse case.
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