Errors in the medical field

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DeVry University, Keller Graduate School of Management *

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542

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Medicine

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Apr 3, 2024

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Uploaded by abygaylalvarez

Medical Errors In the United States Week 7 HSM 541 DeVry University Abygayl Alvarez

` Introduction The problem with medical errors in the U . S healthcare system is a critical issue that has generated significant attention in recent years . Medical errors have a variety of ranges which include misdiagnoses, medication errors, surgical errors, communication issues, and other types of breakdowns that prevent exemplary care . This can result in patient suffering, increased healthcare cost, and even the loss of life . Understanding the causes of medical errors can prevent so many issues that have developed in today’s healthcare system . Evaluating the effectiveness of programs aimed at reducing medical errors can improve patient safety and the overall quality of healthcare in the United States . Causes of Medical Errors There are many factors that go into medical errors and the mistakes that happen daily in a medical setting . Healthcare providers are human at the end of the day and experience the same stressors as you and I . These factors include fatigue, stress, inadequate training, and even cognitive behaviors . It is known that medical professionals need to be “perfect” due to the lives that are at risk, but we should be understanding that not everyone is perfect and not everyone can be saved . Communication plays a major role in the services that our provided to patients . Sometimes the lack of communication can be detrimental when it comes to patient care . Miscommunication or lack of between the patient and provider can cause barriers . This is can

lead to a misunderstanding and major errors that the patient may not see coming . Some examples of communication issues can be language barriers as well as cultural misunderstanding . This can hinder between patients who are diverse in population . It is important that hospitals and clinics carry the appropriate services to help patients understand the services they are being offered and the services that may be required for the betterment of their health . Many hospitals and clinics offer a variety of languages through an interpreter that is on call at all times, this will help minimize the medical errors that can happen . Human Factors When it comes to medical professionals there are many reasons that could lead to medical errors during treatment . Inadequate training or ongoing education for healthcare professionals can lead to errors in diagnoses, treatment, or even patient care . It is important that medical facilities invest in their team in order to provide the appropriate training that is required to treat patients . This could look like additional resources, improved technology, on-site trainings and mentors, mandated certifications . If you invest in your team you are investing in your clinic/hospital . Many experience fatigue while on the job, it is known that health care providers work long hours or work consecutive shifts, this can cause fatigue while on the job . This could lead to impaired judgement and poor decision making when it comes to treating patients . While many may experience fatigue others can experience stress and burnouts . High levels of stress and burn outs are the highest amongst any profession . Stress and burnouts among

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healthcare providers can impair their performance and increase the likelihood of error . According to the “U . S News” the burnout rate amongst nurses is 56%, 54% in clinical staff and 47% amongst doctors . “Every member of the healthcare care team is really critical to patient outcomes and patient care… it’s just really important for us to remember that as we are trying to optimize both patient outcomes and experiences for our workforce . ” (Healthday, 2023) Patient-Related Factors But not all medical errors land on the medical professional . Many factors can start at the patient level . It is important that patients understand the important of their health and well-being . Health literacy can become the beginning of medical errors . Patients with low health literacy may not fully understand their condition or diagnoses . This can include treatment plans, medical instructions or course or medication or treatment, this in itself can lead to medical errors in self- management . Patients who do not follow the course of their treatment may not fully understand the severity of their diagnoses, this can cause severe and adverse outcomes . It may be different for those who are experiencing multiple diagnoses at once . Managing multiple chronic conditions can increase the complexity of care and the risk of errors . With that being said, with those who are experiencing multiple conditions can also experience multiple medications for multiple diagnoses . Errors in prescribing, dispensing, and administering medications can result from factors such as look-alike or sound-alike drug names, improper dosages, or medication allergies .

Extreme Conditions In some extreme conditions medical errors can be drastic when it comes to patient care . Anything can go wrong in a clinical setting whether it be surgical or outpatient procedures . When surgeons operate it is important that all factors and risk are taken into consideration . There are chances that surgeons may operate on the wrong body part or the wrong patient . Equipment can also fail in certain scenarios . Malfunctioning or improperly maintained equipment can contribute to errors during surgical or medical procedures . Like everything or anyone, nothing can be perfect but in the medical field you need to be close to it . “Surgical errors are a type of medical error and include retained foreign bodies, mislabeled surgical specimens, and wrong- site, wrong-procedure, and wrong-patient errors (WSPEs) . An analysis of these errors over the last few decades has revealed their cause is often multifactorial . ” (Jones, 2023) Efforts to Reduce Errors in the U . S Many efforts have been made in order to reduce medical errors . Federal and state laws have been passed to help minimize errors in the medical field . Patient safety and Quality Improvement Act (PSQIA) is a federal law that encourages healthcare providers to report medical errors without fear of legal repercussions, to promote a culture of transparency and accountability . The information is collected issued to identify and address systemic issues . This is act was established in 2005 to help enhance the data available to assess and resolve patient safety that can help resolve patient safety and health care quality issues . “T o encourage the

reporting and analysis of medical errors, PSQIA provides Federal privilege and confidentiality protections for patient safety information, called patient safety work product . PSQIA authorizes HHS to impose civil money penalties for violations of patient safety confidentiality . ” (HHS, 2022) One of the most effective measures utilized is the implementation of checklist, especially in surgical settings . Checklist can serve as a simple but powerful tool to ensure the importance of steps that are needed to perfect and have a successful procedure . The World Health Organization’s Surgical Safety Checklist is a notable example that is used to reduce complications and mortality in surgical patients . As mentioned before there are many ways to improve medical errors from trainings to enhancing the culture of safety in the clinic . Whether it’s a federal law or a known practice, any effort made in order to minimize error is necessary to improve the overall well-being of the patient . Reducing medical errors in the U . S . healthcare system is an ongoing challenge, but with concerted efforts, a focus on patient safety, and the implementation of the best practices, significant progress can be made in enhancing the quality of healthcare while minimizing harm to patients .

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Burnout Levels High Among U . S Health Care Workers By: HealthDay April 4, 2023 https://www . usnews . com/news/health-news/articles/2023-04-04/burnout-levels-high-among-u-s- health-care-workers Prevention of Surgical Errors Gregory Santos, Mark jone, May 29 2023 https://www . ncbi . nlm . nih . gov/books/NBK592394/#:~:text=Surgical%20errors%20are%20a %20type,their%20cause%20is%20often%20multifactorial . Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 Statute and Act December 23, 2022 https://www . hhs . gov/hipaa/for-professionals/patient-safety/statute-and-rule/index . html Patient Safety, WHO, September11, 2023 https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/patient-safety Medical Error Reduction and Prevention, National Library of Medicine , May 2, 2023 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29763131/ Medical Errors: How the US Government is addressing the problem, PMC Central August 2000 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC59595/#:~:text=The%20Medical%20Errors %20Reduction%20Act,and%20public%20disclosure%20of%20reports.

Errors in the medical field

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