Importance Of Medical Errors

Medical errors top the list as one of the main errors committed in the health care setting and one of the main issues that threatens patient safety. Medical errors is best described as the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim (err). Problems that contribute to medical errors are: surgical injuries and wrong site surgery, suicides, restraint-related injuries or death, falls, burns, pressure ulcers, mistaken patient identities, and improper transfusions and adverse drug events from medication administration (err). Medication administration is a complex multistep process that encompasses prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, and administering drugs and monitoring patient response …show more content…
Another strategy is to make it mandatory in every state to report events that results in death and serious harm. In addition, put in place voluntary reporting systems to supplement the mandatory reporting system (err). A voluntary reporting systems will target a set or errors that do no or minimal harm and help detect weaknesses that can lead to serious harm. Laws should be put in place to protect the confidentiality of parties involved and the information obtained. Physicians and health care organizations worry over lawsuits but by protecting their confidentiality this lifts their fear and make them feel free to report medical errors. Licensing, certification, and accreditation agencies of health care professionals should set and enforce clear-cut performance standards for patient safety. By instituting these precise standards expectations for safety among providers and consumers are well understood. Also, consumers and purchasers of health care big or small need to make safety a top concern in their contracting decisions. Financial incentives could be created for health care organizations and providers to make needed changes to ensure patient safety (err). Finally, the culture within