In the healthcare landscape, when it comes to reporting medical
errors there is a possibility that medical professionals might not
showcase accurate information. Even though the medical error is
considered to be a serious source of concern that has the potential
to compromise the quality of care and the health outcome of
individuals, elements such as guilt, shame, and a sense of failure may
prevent the professionals from discouraging them from revealing
their shortcomings or from accepting their fault. Poorolajal (2015)
has identified that even though the rate of committing medical errors
is high, the reporting rate is extremely low (Poorolajal et al., 2015).
One of the main reasons for underreporting medical error or sharing
inaccurate information is that medical professional has a fear of legal
consequences. Similarly, they also feel that such an incident may
adversely affect the trust of patients and give rise to extreme
emotional reactions in patients. Thus, instead of reporting medical
errors, they try to provide inadequate data regarding such incidents.
A leader can play a proactive role in addressing the issue relating to
sharing of inadequate data and information by a medical professional
when a medical error occurs. By creating and fostering a culture of
ethics and integrity, leaders can help to eradicate the issue of non-
reporting or sharing of inadequate data. Ethical leadership is crucial
to remove the culture of shame and blame and instead lay emphasis
on patient safety and the quality of care that is delivered to them
(Barkhordari-Sharifabad & Mirjalili, 2020). The leaders must try to
create a learning environment where the professionals can own their
mistakes and errors and learn from them instead of trying to escape
from the situation. The leaders must serve as an example and provide
guidance to healthcare professionals so that the health and wellness
of the patients can be given topmost priority under all circumstances
(Chegini et al., 2020).
References
Barkhordari-Sharifabad, M., & Mirjalili, N. S. (2020). Ethical
leadership, nursing error and error reporting from the nurses’
perspective. Nursing Ethics, 27(2), 609-620.
Chegini, Z., Kakemam, E., Jafarabadi, M. A., & Janati, A. (2020). The
impact of patient safety culture and the leader coaching behaviour of
nurses on the intention to report errors: a cross-sectional
survey. BMC nursing, 19(1), 1-9.
Poorolajal, J., Rezaie, S., & Aghighi, N. (2015). Barriers to medical
error reporting. International journal of preventive medicine, 6.
