Silence Kills Chapter Summary

Within the health profession, there is an underlying sense of always having to be right, even when we all are humans and can make mistakes. In Silence Kills, a chapter discusses idea of no discussion of mistakes within the healthcare field. Throughout clinicals in nursing school this very idea can be seen, where it is okay to discuss mistakes and ask questions as nursing students, however practicing doctors and nurses are rarely seen discussing mistakes. Written in various novels is the idea of no discussion of mistakes, what can be done to change this and how to properly conduct the conversation and how this can change the future of not only nursing, but healthcare as well.
One chapter of Silence Kills revolves around a physician, Merilee …show more content…
Discussing the patient’s case with another provider could have provided more insight for the doctor as well as giving the chance for the doctor to ask for other’s opinions. After the malpractice suit is introduced into the story, the doctor could have discussed the malpractice suit with other providers within her practice rather than trying to disguise the fact the malpractice suit happened. From the readings in Difficult Conversations it is learned that through discussing the exceptional and not exceptional care between different parties can benefit all those involved. If the doctor had discussed the case earlier in the patient’s care the patient could have received a different treatment and potentially could have lived a longer life. Along the same lines, if the doctor had discussed the malpractice suit with another provider of the clinic sooner she could have calmed her nerves about what went wrong and would have learned about the other mistakes the doctors have made within the clinic. Discussion of the mistakes the doctor made could not only increase the knowledge of all those involved in the discussion, but could also prevent others from making a similar mistake in the