Medical professionals may hesitate to provide accurate data when it
comes to the reporting of medical errors. Such errors include surgical
& medication errors and infections. These are preventable errors that
are increasing as the population using hospitals increases (mostly due
to lack of insurance coverage so patients use the ER under federal
funding programs) and as the number of qualified staff is in a
shortage to keep up with the high demand of patients. It is then easy
for overworked and tired staff to make medical errors when they are
rushed to get to the next patient. Most hospitals my hesitate to
report any medical errors that were preventable in fear of retaliation
and reputation. If errors are reported it may look bad which can
upset stakeholders who are funding the hospital or it can deter
patients to go to a different hospital for quality care.
Leadership can eradicate a culture of "shame and blame" into an
innovative climate with constructive criticism. People learn best by
making mistakes so they know what not to do next time. If the
leadership hides errors under the rug in fear of retaliation or
reputation but does nothing to teach their staff, than they are not
good leaders. Having a culture where errors are addressed and ideas
are encouraged will help to prevent medical errors from happening
again in the future.
References:
Greenfield, S., & Kaplan, S. H. (2004). Creating a culture of quality:
The remarkable transformation of the Department of Veterans
Affairs health care system. Annals of Internal Medicine. 316-W-61.
Wachter, R. M. (2004). The end of the beginning: Patient safety five
years after ‘to err is human.’ Health Affairs, 23534-545.
Doi:10.1377/hlthaffw4.526
