What can you do ton sustain your environment? Medicine Term Paper

Analyzing a Current Healthcare Problem
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Analyzing a Current Healthcare Problem
Preventable medical errors are a cause of concern in healthcare as they threaten patient safety. Medical errors can occur in any healthcare setting and can be caused by any medical personnel. According to Shah, Jue, and Mackey (2019), medical errors would be the third major cause of death in the United States (US) if it was classified as a disease. This indicates that addressing preventable medical errors should be an issue of priority in healthcare organizations. This analysis expounds on preventable medical errors by identifying the key elements, possible solutions, and the ethical implications of implementing the solution.
Elements of Preventable Medical Errors
When patients visit healthcare facilities, they expect to get better. However, preventable medical errors increase the chances of a patient getting worse while in a healthcare setting. Preventable medical errors are defined as unexpected outcomes resulting from negligent or insufficient practices by medical personnel (Kahriman & Ozturk, 2016). They can be in the form of Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), medication errors, surgical errors, patient falls, and diagnostic errors, among others. Preventable medical errors are attributable to errors of commission, errors of omission, and miscommunication (Clapper & Ching, 2020).
Errors of commission occur when a healthcare professional takes the wrong action when handling a patient. In a systematic review, Clapper and Ching (2020) revealed that errors of commission were the leading cause of medical errors. Examples of errors of commission include administering medication to a patient with a known allergic reaction to the medication or performing surgery on the wrong body part or wrong patient.
Errors of omission occur when necessary action is not taken or is delayed during patient care. Errors of omission were the second leading causes of medical errors (Clapper & Ching, 2020). Examples of errors of omission include patient falls resulting from failure to implement a safety procedure within the healthcare setting, such as identifying patients who are at risk of falling. Delaying to contact a patient about their abnormal laboratory results is also an omission error that contributes to medical errors.
Communication errors or miscommunication occur when there is inadequate communication within a healthcare setting. Miscommunication causes medical errors because when there is a breakdown in communication or poor communication, patient information can be lost or misinterpreted. For example, poor documentation of patient history is a communication error that contributes to medical errors. Clapper and Ching (2020) reveal that sometimes, communication errors can be the cause of errors of commission or omission.
Analysis
Addressing preventable medical errors is of great importance to me in both my personal and professional career. I have seen medical errors threaten the life of loved ones in the past. I would not want other families to experience the same. As a professional, I have a responsibility to promote patient safety and part of this responsibility involves reducing medical errors during my practice. Understanding this issue is, therefore, critical to my success as a healthcare professional.
Context of Preventable Medical Errors
Patient safety has always been a priority in healthcare, hence the need to address preventable medical errors. Often, at the organizational level, healthcare professionals have to deal with institutional factors that increase their risks of making medical errors. Kahriman and Ozturk (2016) indicate that poor staffing of medical personnel as well as inadequate automation of healthcare services are some of the institutional factors that healthcare professionals have to deal with. Chances of a medical error occurring are higher when an organization has not addressed such issues. Also, healthcare professionals have to deal with factors at the individual level that leave them vulnerable to making medical errors. These include fatigue due to high workloads and work-related stress. When other factors take precedence, such as attending a high number of patients within limited time duration, healthcare professionals are more likely to make errors of omission, commission, or communication, thereby endangering patient safety.
Affected Populations
Preventable medical errors affect the general population who seek medical care from healthcare facilities. This includes patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Emergency Department (ED), nursing homes, and psychiatric wards among other healthcare settings. As revealed by Makary and Daniel (2016) preventable medical errors contribute to about 400,000 deaths annually in the US. Thus, the general population, whether involving patients facing impending death or those with a long life expectancy, are at a high risk of dying as a result of medical error rather than the disease they are suffering from. Even when the patients survive, the psychological effects can be enormous on both the patients and their families.
Patients are the primary population affected by medical errors. The secondary population includes healthcare providers. When a healthcare provider realizes they have made a medical error, the health, ethical and legal repercussions can be great. In terms of health, healthcare providers suffer emotionally and psychologically. They are often blamed for the errors, albeit being unintentional (Robertson & Long, 2018). Also, they receive malpractice litigations and may end up losing their medical licenses.
Potential Solutions
As the name suggests, preventable medical errors can be avoided when the right measures are put in place. Healt...