Facts : After a normal pregnancy, Janice Collins gave birth to a daughter, Donna Faye Collins, at Weiss Hospital at 11:35 a.m. on September 23, 1970. Shortly before delivering Donna, Dr. Jarolim artificially ruptured the membrane which contained Donna and amniotic fluid. He noticed that there was copious meconium, fecal matter of the fetus, in the amniotic fluid. The meconium indicated that the baby had undergone some trauma within the day before delivery.

The medical staff measured Donna's health shortly after birth using the Apgar test. After one minute of life, Donna's Apgar score was seven, showing acceptable health; after five minutes her score was ten, showing excellent health. Her cry was weak and her color was slightly bluish, but both her cry and her color were not seriously abnormal for a newborn baby. Dr. Jarolim had Donna placed in an isolette with oxygen and transferred her to the newborn nursery at the hospital. Weiss Hospital did not have any facilities for taking care of sick babies. Its nursery was strictly a "well baby" nursery.

Defendant Dr. Stein gave Donna a complete examination at 2:30 p.m. and he found her to be basically in good condition. However, he noted that her respirations were rapid at times, and he knew that Donna became bluish (showing inadequate oxygen) when she was removed from the isolette for examination. Defendant Tomasa Rubiano took care of Donna from 3 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the nursery. Donna progressed fairly well over this time, but her respirations remained shallow and rapid. Nurse Rubiano called Dr. Stein to report on the baby's condition, and he ordered that Donna not be given any food by mouth until the next morning.

Defendant Shirley Anderson took care of Donna from 11 p.m. on September 23 until 7 a.m. on September 24. At 11:30 p.m. she recorded that Donna's respirations had become very rapid: Donna took 150 breaths per minute, doubling the rate she showed at 8 p.m., and far in excess of the normal rate of 30 to 60 breaths per minute. Donna's temperature was 100 degrees, up from a 4:30 p.m. reading of 96 degrees, and from an 8 p.m. reading of 98.6 degrees.

At 5 a.m. Nurse Anderson recorded that Donna's temperature rose to 100.4 degrees despite a decrease in the isolette temperature. Donna's respirations remained rapid (128 respirations per minute) and her color appeared dusky at times. By 5:30 a.m. Donna was experiencing slight retractions, which indicate that she was having substantial respiratory distress. Around 6 a.m. Donna vomited brown mucus.

Nurse Anderson called Dr. Stein sometime around 6 a.m. and informed him of Donna's condition. Dr. Stein ordered increased oxygen in the isolette, and he arranged for Donna's transfer to Children's Memorial Hospital, which has facilities for the care of sick babies. He arrived at Weiss Hospital around 8:15 a.m. on September 24, and he gave Donna another complete examination. When she was transferred at 9:30 a.m., she was grunting and beginning to appear flaccid. According to plaintiffs' expert, the flaccidity indicated that Donna was beginning to suffer brain damage.

Donna remained at Children's Memorial Hospital until October 14, 1970, when she was discharged to the care of her parents. She had already suffered severe brain damage. Her discharge diagnosis was "Klebsiella sepsis," which is an infection caused by the Klebsiella bacteria. She is retarded, and she will never be able to take care of herself or work in a competitive, productive work situation.

In November 1978, Billy Collins, as father and next friend of Donna Collins, brought this action against Weiss Hospital, Nurse Anderson, Nurse Rubiano, Dr. Stein and other individuals not involved in this appeal. Plaintiffs charged that all of the defendants negligently failed to provide Donna with medical care consistent with the standards prevailing in 1970, and that as a result of that negligence Donna is brain damaged and retarded. Billy and Janice Collins also sued for past and future medical expenses related to treatment for Donna's brain damage.

After trial the jury returned verdicts in favor of defendants Nurse Anderson, Nurse Rubiano and Dr. Stein, but the jury found Weiss Hospital liable in the amount of $1,500,000.

Weiss Hospital appeals, arguing (1) that the verdicts are inconsistent, (2) that plaintiffs failed to show that defendants proximately caused the injury, (3) that the trial court erroneously interpreted pertinent regulations, (4) that the trial court improperly excluded the testimony of one of defendants' experts, and (5) that the trial court instructed the jury incorrectly. Weiss Hospital contends that the claim brought by Donna's parents is barred by the statute of limitations. Plaintiffs also appeal, arguing that the verdict in favor of Nurse Anderson is contrary to the manifest weight of the evidence. Plaintiffs do not appeal from the judgments in favor of other defendants.

Court Decision: Weiss Hospital argues that the verdict against the hospital is inconsistent with the verdicts in favor of the individual defendants. Plaintiffs concede that the hospital cannot be held liable on a respondent superior theory if the individual defendants are not liable. However, plaintiffs contend that Weiss Hospital can be held independently liable for its failure to provide a specially-trained nurse to supervise Donna's overnight care on September 23 to September 24, 1970.

Between 11:30 p.m. on September 23 and 7 a.m. on September 24, 1970, the sole nurse on duty in Weiss Hospital's nursery was defendant Anderson. Anderson received her nursing degree in 1969, upon completion of a three-year nursing program in Pennsylvania. Anderson testified that she had approximately five weeks of training in newborn care during her three years in nursing school. Approximately 2 1/2 weeks were devoted to hands-on care for babies, and Anderson never took care of sick newborns while she was in nursing school. Anderson could not recall any further training or experience in newborn care between her graduation and July of 1970, when she was hired by Weiss Hospital. Between July and September of 1970, Anderson worked for the maternity department of Weiss Hospital, dividing her time between the labor-delivery unit, the postpartum unit, and the newborn nursery. Nurse Charlene Ehlscheid oriented Anderson in the nursery, showing Anderson the routine and the policies and procedures of the unit, and working with her until both Anderson and Ehlscheid felt that Anderson was ready to work independently . Anderson had no choice of where or when she would work. She was assigned to work the overnight shift on September 23-24, 1970.

According to the regulations of the Chicago board of health in effect during September 1970, "there shall be one registered professional nurse specially trained in the care
of newborn and premature infants supervising each nursery at all times." The trial court instructed the jurors that, if they found that a party had violated that regulation, they could take that violation into consideration in determining whether or not the party was negligent. The trial court further instructed the jurors that they could find Weiss Hospital liable if they found that it negligently "failed to provide registered professional nurses with special training in the care of the newborn supervising the care of Donna Collins at all times," and if they found that the failure proximately caused Donna's injuries.

The jury reasonably could have found that Anderson had and applied the knowledge and used the care of a reasonably well-qualified nurse observing newborns, and that what was lacking was the supervision of a specially-trained nurse. The hospital alone is responsible for providing a nurse to supervise the nursery, and that supervising nurse must be specially trained so that she can appropriately judge when there is an emergency which warrants calling a doctor. 

The Northern Trust Company v. Louis P. Weiss Memorial Hospital 143 Ill. App. 3d 479; 493 N.E. 2d6; 97 Ill. Dec. 524; 62 A.L.R. 4th 673.

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