Preview

Who Is To Blame For Medical Errors?

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
119 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Who Is To Blame For Medical Errors?
Medical errors are preventable, and as mentioned earlier it takes the collaboration of all the stakeholders in order to deal with possible mistakes that can arise. While doctors and nurses are mostly blamed for the errors conducted in the medical centers, patients and administrators also play a significant role in the possible mistakes observed. For instance, the inability of a patient to explain clearly their problem or how they feel highly determine the doctor’s possible diagnosis. It is obvious that when the diagnosis is incorrect, the patient will definitely get the wrong treatment. Therefore, most individuals end up developing other complications while at the same time the condition they had worsened leading to them succumbing to the illnesses.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In this case study, the hospital operated on the incorrect patient. This is classified as wrong-site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-patient errors (WSPEs). These wrong-site, wrong procedure, wrong-patient errors (WSPEs) are termed “never events” by the National Quality Forum and “sentinel events” by the Joint Commission are errors that should never occur and indicate serious underlying safety problems (Woods,…

    • 1020 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Mistakes in medicine are hard to think of because at the end of the day, there are real people…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the essay “When Doctor’s Make Mistakes” is about the experience of a medical surgeon named Atul Gawande and the medical malpractice that he nearly committed as well as the challenges he faced regularly. This essay describes how medical errors are common to many hospital surgeons and how achieving perfection will always be their main goal. I anticipate on using this source to explain how enhancing communication amongst team members will provide effective patient care and reduce medical…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Appendix N. 1: A Case Study

    • 3066 Words
    • 13 Pages

    The scenario included in Appendix n.1 shows multiple errors consequently leading to a patient’s deterioration. There was poor communication and record-keeping leading to an incomplete Early Warning Score Chart (EWS) and Fluid Balance Chart, and lack of practical knowledge and skills of the nursing staff in recognizing signs of deterioration of the patient. Furthermore, there is failure to understand the life-saving importance of intravenous antibiotics and the necessity of intravenous access in the case of emergency in acutely ill patients, and failure of the regular review of the patient by the nurses and doctors alike. Identified as the primary issue is the lack of communication and secondary problem an incomplete fluid…

    • 3066 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Lewis Blackman Paper Graded

    • 4960 Words
    • 13 Pages

    Medical errors in decision making that result in harm or death are tragic and costly to the families affected. There are also negative impacts to the medical providers and the associated institutions (Wu, 2000). Patient safety is a cornerstone of higher-quality health care and nurses serve as a communication link in all settings which is critical in surveillance and coordination to reduce adverse outcomes (Mitchell, 2008).…

    • 4960 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ten percent of all US deaths are due to medical errors, and those deaths are the third highest cause of deaths in the US (Johns Hopkins, 2016). These are alarming facts, and this leads to the question; what is being done to stem the tide of this issue? Having a system in place to ensure hospitals and clinics are living up to a certain standard is the first step. This is a program called accreditation.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are several methods for monitoring adverse events in the healthcare system, characterized by strengths and weaknesses. The correct choice should be appropriate to achieve their goals. Compared to other methods, such as population studies based on review of medical records or the analysis of administrative data, the communication system does not provide data on prevalence and incidence of adverse events because many factors can influence the reporting of errors or adverse events. For example, the level of safety culture and also if the organization is oriented toward identifying and reducing adverse events. For this reason, in a reporting system, as the monitoring of sentinel events, a high percentage of reports of sentinel events, most probably represents the cultural tendency of an organization towards the identification and the reduction of adverse events. The monitoring system of adverse events has as its main purpose, to build throughout the national health system, the culture to learn from errors, which constitutes the foundation of the methodology for clinical risk management and patient safety. And 'in fact one of the most, “noted and frustrating aspects of patient safety, which is the apparent inability to learn from one’s errors. Tragic errors are continuing to be seen in many situations and in all health organizations. The best suited solution to this problem is to study our errors and to share knowledge gathered by the development of reporting systems of adverse events (Lucian Leape; WHO)…

    • 629 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Atul Gawande TED Talk

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In his TED Talk, Gawande mentions “40 percent of our coronary artery disease patients in our communities receive incomplete or inappropriate care. 60 percent of our asthma, stroke patients receive incomplete or inappropriate care. Two million people come into hospitals and pick up an infection they didn't have because someone failed to follow the basic practices of hygiene” (Gawande 2012). Doctors are seen as all-knowing after their extensive schooling, but now it is impossible for one person to know all that can be known about medicine. Even when doctors do the “right” things, there can still be failures. For example, he discusses a woman with pregnancy sickness that leaves doctors at a loss after prescribing her many different treatments that have worked for others in the past. The hardest thing in my opinion would be to tell a patient that you can’t help them, but that is just what a good doctor must do, in order to not give the patient false hope. Sometimes there is more that cannot be explained by our understanding of medicine, and doctors and patients must recognize that there is no one routine case or foolproof treatment, even for the most simple…

    • 888 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Best Essays

    In short it is defined as “Errors or mistakes committed by health professionals, which result in harm to the patient. They include errors in diagnosis (DIAGNOSTIC ERRORS), errors in the administration of drugs and other medications (MEDICATION ERRORS), errors in the performance of surgical procedures, in the use of other types of therapy, in the use of equipment, and in the interpretation of laboratory findings” ("Reference.md," ). There are many reasons for these errors starting from initial patient diagnosis, primary care, faulty diagnostic tests, and wrong prescription of medicines, inappropriate drug dosages, improper surgery and post- surgical…

    • 4015 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Better Essays

    Errors are an innate part of human life. Execution Safe execution of medical orders is plays a significant part role of in patient care. It is also the main component of nursing performance and has a distinguished role in patient safety. Medication errors are a healthcare professional’s worst nightmare and has become one of the biggest issues devoted encountered in today’s healthcare setting. According to the National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention (2016), “a medication error is any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional…

    • 909 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Adverse Error

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Medication error is a very common error happened in a hospital. It may cause mild side effect to serious side effect, which is death. According to the institute of medicine, medication errors injure at least 1.5 million people every year and result in billions of dollars in extra medical costs. The National Coordinating Council for Medication Error Reporting and Prevention defines a medication error as any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the health care professional, patient, or consumer. Such events may be related to professional practice, health care products, procedures, and systems, including prescribing; order communication; product labeling, packaging, and nomenclature; compounding; dispensing; distribution; administration; education; monitoring; and use. For this case scenario, it is related to procedure, system and communication.…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medication error defined is any preventable event which may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or harm to a patient (Treas & Willkinson, 2014). Medication mistakes are the most common type of healthcare error. Clinical factors which can contribute to medication error can include inadequate nursing education about patient safety and quality, excessive workloads, staffing inadequacies, fatigue, illegible provider handwriting, flawed dispensing systems, and problems with the labeling of drugs. Mistakes which can result in medication error can involve giving the wrong medication or the wrong dose at the wrong time, omitting doses, giving the wrong dose,…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Medical Law and Ethics

    • 1706 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Give all relevant information to the physician in order to reach a correct diagnosis. If a patient fails to inform a physician of any medical conditions he or she may have and an incorrect diagnosis is made, the physician is not liable.…

    • 1706 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Millions of patients and their families place their lives in the hands of medical professionals on a daily basis. These medical events range in severity from a simple cut or sprain to a major surgery and everything in between. Although many people view medical facilities as safe and free of risk, that is not the case. The quality of healthcare that the average patient receives is usually exactly what they were expecting and to the best of the physicians ability. However, there are times when errors or mistakes are made that result in serious complications. Unfortunately, many people experience a problem and it sometimes leads to death or serious injury. In May 2005, Elizabeth Weiss wrote, "As many as 98,000 Americans still die each year because of medical errors despite an unprecedented focus on patient safety over the last five years, according to a study released today."1 This is not the only source that exhibits such a large number. "The mortality resulting from medical errors each year in the United States is estimated to be between 44,000 and 98,000—accounting for more deaths than from motor vehicle crashes, breast cancer, or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome."2 These staggering statistics have driven the American medical industry (hospitals, nursing homes, doctor 's offices, etc.) and the patients they treat to focus their efforts on improving the quality of their services. It is important for patients to be educated about their medical needs and the costs associated with them. It is equally important for medical professionals to observe the importance of providing quality care. The possibilities of medical mistakes are endless, but there are specific tools available to help improve the quality of healthcare in our country and around the world.…

    • 7227 Words
    • 29 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    As a nursing student, I am particularly glad that I was exposed to the concept of medical errors this early on in my training so I can actively define my role in preventing them. The documentary reminded me that I am entering a profession where my actions have real and significant consequences. A sloppy or incomplete performance in medicine is unacceptable and I must find the best way to become as competent as possible. I was immediately encouraged to become a better student in the classroom, to work harder and retain necessary knowledge that I know may be of great consequence one day. Additionally, since my skills have not yet been fully established, I can take certain measures to ensure that bad and perhaps dangerous habits which can lead to errors, do not develop.…

    • 452 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays