Honestly, the reason why medical professionals don't always provide
accurate information or data when it comes to reporting errors is
because of retaliation or punishment. Health care professionals
report feeling worried, guilty, and depressed following serious errors,
as well as being concerned for patient safety and fearful of
disciplinary actions. They also are aware of their direct responsibility
for errors (Wolf & Hughes, 2008). However, this can cause more
harm to patients. By not reporting mistakes, one cannot learn and
prevent the same mistakes from happening. Malpractice lawsuits
have seemed to be on the rise and physicians are not the only ones
being sued anymore. Of course, we all want to believe that our
hospitals and workers are doing everything they to prevent mistakes.
However, when an error does occur, it is more likely to be "covered
up" rather than dealt with due to the fear of lawsuits, punishment or
retaliation.
I think the best way to eradicate a culture of shame and blame is to
enforce and implement a culture of teaching and learning, especially
during medical mistakes and errors. Although unfortunate, those
times are opportunities to evolve the system and understand why
mistakes happen and how to prevent such errors. This starts with
strong leadership. In the article "Creating a Culture of Quality" it
states that implementing a model focused on quality improvements is
key. These include "creating patient registries, employing nurses and
other personnel to ensure patient follow-up, implementing training
programs to enhance patient participation, using electronic medical
record systems, conducting system-wide evaluation and feedback,
and working with community organizations to effect behavior
change"(Greenfield & Kaplan, 2004). Identifying they issues that
cause medical errors and preventing them should be a priority. It
should be on the forefront of hospitals to small medical practices.
References:
Greenfield, S., & Kaplan, S. H. (2004). Creating a Culture of Quality:
The Remarkable Transformation of the Department of Veterans
Affairs Health Care System.AnnalsofInternalMedicine,141(4), 316-
8. https://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?qurl=https%3A%2F
%2Fwww.proquest.com%2Fscholarly-journals%2Fcreating-culture-
quality-remarkable%2Fdocview%2F222245056%2Fse-
2%3Faccountid%3D3783
Wolf ZR, Hughes RG. Error Reporting and Disclosure. In: Patient
Safety and Quality: An Evidence-Based Handbook for Nurses.
Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US);
2008 Apr. Chapter 35. Available
from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK2652/
