Healthcare professionals are some of the esteemed people in society due to their dedication to treat and take care of patients. People always have great hopes with doctors and nurses when treating patients. However, there are still a number of patients who are cured, others progress to chronic phases of conditions, and some get long lasting complications after treatment. It is relevant for any healthcare provider to consider taking a prevention of medical errors course in order to gain relevant skills in avoiding mistakes.
Medical errors are defined as faults or mistakes committed by health professionals, which result in harm to patients. Most of these faults are preventable, and they have resulted from carelessness, which in turn has affected patients, family members, and healthcare providers. Such mistakes contribute to high healthcare costs when treating patients.
Many healthcare providers have landed into legal cases following mistakes that could be prevented. The mistakes could occur in medical laboratories, surgery theatres, chemists, nursing homes, doctor assessments rooms, clinics, or in records rooms. In addition, such faults can results from the patients themselves. Most of the faults involve medicines, surgeries, diagnosis, poor communication, equipment, records, and laboratory results.
Surgeries can also go wrong. An error could lead to bleeding to death, damage to a major nerve, or even result to infections if asepsis is ignored. Wrong diagnosis could lead to an error. Some conditions often manifest in similar signs and symptoms where a doctor misses the correct diagnosis and treats a wrong disease.
Mistakes could occur because of poor anesthesia administration, or error on the environment and equipment sterilization. In drugs stores, pharmacist may give the wrong drugs, commit labeling errors when dispensing drugs, and poor explanation to patient on medicine usage. Poor communication between patient and healthcare providers can lead to misdiagnosis.
Ignorance and lack of educating patients may lead to such mistakes. Doctors and nurses may ignore some important routine procedures such as turning immobile patients thus leading to development of some complications such as decubitus ulcers. This adds more risks to the patients by contracting infections.
Only skilled and experienced personnel should deal with radiological machines. Poor recording of details about patients and improper methods of getting information from patients may affect the process of treatment, which may lead to missed diagnosis and wrong medications. Thus, there is need of advanced communication skills among healthcare providers. Studying these mistakes and learning how to prevent and handle them will definitely change the standards of care.
There is need for our health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and infection control professionals to take this course to boost their knowledge and gain new skills in dealing with these errors. The training entails understanding different types of medical errors, factors that increase risks of these faults, strategies of preventing them. This way, there can be a decrease in most preventable mistakes in health facilities. It also eliminates possible lawsuits, which may arise when such faults are committed.
Medical errors are defined as faults or mistakes committed by health professionals, which result in harm to patients. Most of these faults are preventable, and they have resulted from carelessness, which in turn has affected patients, family members, and healthcare providers. Such mistakes contribute to high healthcare costs when treating patients.
Many healthcare providers have landed into legal cases following mistakes that could be prevented. The mistakes could occur in medical laboratories, surgery theatres, chemists, nursing homes, doctor assessments rooms, clinics, or in records rooms. In addition, such faults can results from the patients themselves. Most of the faults involve medicines, surgeries, diagnosis, poor communication, equipment, records, and laboratory results.
Surgeries can also go wrong. An error could lead to bleeding to death, damage to a major nerve, or even result to infections if asepsis is ignored. Wrong diagnosis could lead to an error. Some conditions often manifest in similar signs and symptoms where a doctor misses the correct diagnosis and treats a wrong disease.
Mistakes could occur because of poor anesthesia administration, or error on the environment and equipment sterilization. In drugs stores, pharmacist may give the wrong drugs, commit labeling errors when dispensing drugs, and poor explanation to patient on medicine usage. Poor communication between patient and healthcare providers can lead to misdiagnosis.
Ignorance and lack of educating patients may lead to such mistakes. Doctors and nurses may ignore some important routine procedures such as turning immobile patients thus leading to development of some complications such as decubitus ulcers. This adds more risks to the patients by contracting infections.
Only skilled and experienced personnel should deal with radiological machines. Poor recording of details about patients and improper methods of getting information from patients may affect the process of treatment, which may lead to missed diagnosis and wrong medications. Thus, there is need of advanced communication skills among healthcare providers. Studying these mistakes and learning how to prevent and handle them will definitely change the standards of care.
There is need for our health care professionals such as doctors, nurses, pharmacists, laboratory technicians, and infection control professionals to take this course to boost their knowledge and gain new skills in dealing with these errors. The training entails understanding different types of medical errors, factors that increase risks of these faults, strategies of preventing them. This way, there can be a decrease in most preventable mistakes in health facilities. It also eliminates possible lawsuits, which may arise when such faults are committed.
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