Introduction
Within the hospital, medical errors can occur due to negligence, delayed diagnosis, and inadequate follow up among others. Such mistakes have disastrous effects on patients, institutions, doctors and nurses. To prevent accidental injury, management must ensure they build a safe health care system. Many people die due to such issues, and organizations should develop strategies to improve the processes of care. Healthcare professionals make mistakes during the delivery of care, but they fail to inform the families or patients. Medical errors have resulted in many deaths, and healthcare systems must be improved to prevent such incidents from occurring.
Summary of Healthcare Issue
Medication error happens in healthcare settings regularly when physicians give patients the wrong drug or dosage. The mistakes have an adverse impact on the health of the sick person, and it is costly. In clinical practices such cases are common, but they remain undocumented and unreported. Due to underreporting, much is not known concerning the consequences and causes of medical faults. The information remains undisclosed because the culprits clearly understand the penalties so they decide to conceal the matter. Many doctors claim such liabilities are likely to happen due to personal distress or breakdown in communication. New measures and strategies are being formulated to help curb this problem in hospitals.
My Interest in the Topic
This topic is of great interest because medical mistakes can result in some complications such as sickness and death. Learning these errors provided a solid foundation of understanding how to prevent such issues from happening. To improve the standard of care, one must devote himself to learning how to monitor, prevent, and respond to faults when they occur. By gaining skills and knowledge to eradicate medical errors, healthcare professionals can protect themselves, patients, and improve the quality of care. While working in hospitals there are many instances of medical inaccuracies. The patients are left with the burden to pay for their treatment, yet they are not responsible.
Identifying Academic Peer-Reviewed Article
In identifying relevant academic journals which I would use in my study, I searched through Capella University Library. There were several databases that I believe had the right articles and journals which I would utilize for my study. They include PubMed Central and ProQuest central. The keywords used include medication administration, medication error and medication safety. Through the search, I managed to pinpoint relevant peer-reviewed literature on medical error. I employed an advanced search option to help me narrow down to scholarly and peer-reviewed journals. My inclusion criteria focused on the subject (nursing and medicine), publication type (journal articles) and year of publication (up to 5 years old journals).
Assessing the Credibility and Relevance of the Information Sources
To ensure credibility, I used the following factors to select peer-reviewed journals: timeliness, authority, audience, relevance, and perspective. The paper must be recent, no more than five years old and the author must have the authority to write on the topic. The journal must be addressed to experts and professors as the intended audience and the information presented must be connected with my topic. I also checked the methodology used which helped the author to arrive at a viable conclusion. Finally, to ensure the selected sources have the relevant information, I dedicated my time to reading the information and finding out if it relates to my medical error topic.
Annotated Bibliography
Doshmangir, L., Ravaghi, H., Akbari Sari, A., & Mostafavi, H. (2016). Challenges and solutions facing medical errors and adverse events in Iran: a qualitative study. Journal of Hospital, 15(1), 31-40.
The aim of the study was to identify some medical errors and formulate solutions to address them in the Iranian health system. It has been established medical errors are the source of many deaths which can be avoided. Some of the mistakes were induced as a result of external agents, manpower, security culture, and weak patient’s security system. The proposed solution to address the issue in the hospital includes error documentation and the identification of medical mistakes. The authors recommended healthcare professionals to disclose reasons for a medical fault which is a great step in preventing them. Programs which can help to educate physicians are vital in preventing medical errors in the hospital.
Kahriman, İ., & Öztürk, H. (2016). Evaluating medical errors made by nurses during their diagnosis, treatment and care practices. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25(19-20), 2884-2894.
The study focused on investigating whether the nurses committed medical errors. The researchers further went ahead to find out the types and reasons for medical faults. All over the world, health mistakes have emerged as a considerable problem resulting in the death and disability of many people. The journal was considered for inclusion because it addresses my topic adequately, and the authors are recognized professors with credible credentials. The writers have the authority to write on the topic. One thousand and ninety-two nurses were interviewed, and 22% indicated they had made medical errors that have endangered patients’ safety. 4% of the interviewed nurses confirmed their medical fault had injured patients. Some of the reason for medical faults includes delayed treatment, using instruments without checking and fatigue. Such issues can be addressed through medical staff education and patient medication safety training. Two out of five nurses committed medical errors due to communication, fatigue, among other reasons as recognized by the authors.
Robertson, J. J., & Long, B. (2018). Suffering in silence: medical error and its impact on health care providers. The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 54(4), 402-409.
Robertson and Long (2018) argued that physicians are human, and chances are high for unintentional errors to occur. Medical errors have a negative impact on families, patients, and contribute adverse mental and emotional effects. The authors established that they emerge due to depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, burnout, poor work performance, and lack of concentration. The medical fault has an adverse impact on health providers because they are working towards improving patients’ health. The authors provide strategies that health care organizations and providers can use to identify and reduce the adverse impact of medical errors.
Vermeulen, J. M., Doedens, P., Cullen, S. W., van Tricht, M. J., Hermann, R., Frankel, M.,… & Marcus, S. C. (2018). Predictors of adverse events and medical errors among adult inpatients of psychiatric units of acute care general hospitals. Psychiatric Services, 69(10), 1087-1094.
The purpose of the study was to identify the factor contributing to the incidence of medical errors or adverse events during inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. A medical error is defined as the omission or commission of clinical care which has a negative impact on a patient. A mistake occurs when a physician makes a wrong judgment in terms of diagnosis or drug prescription. The article was considered for inclusion because it provided detailed information about my topic and the authors have a reputable credential to write on the issue. The study identified some factors which are likely to contribute to medical errors within a hospital. These elements include admission during the weekend, the longer length of stay, older patients, and medical insurance. From the findings when older patient stays for a long time in the hospital, they are likely to experience a medical error. The information provided by the authors can be used to improve the patient’s safety by avoiding medical faults.
Summary of What Learned from Developing Bibliography
From the research, I have gained meaningful insights on medical error and a different understanding of how it influences service delivery in the hospital. I have learned some of the factors which contribute to this issue in healthcare settings such as fatigue, admission process, working during the weekend, age of patients, and inadequate communication. Some of the potential interventions which can be adopted include medical staff education, packaging improvement and documentation of error. I have also learned new strategies which can help to prevent the problem from occurring, such as error documentations. I have used the sources to create a personal database which will make it simple for me to access them when I am working on medical error.
References
Doshmangir, L., Ravaghi, H., Akbari Sari, A., & Mostafavi, H. (2016). Challenges and solutions facing medical errors and adverse events in Iran: A qualitative study. Journal of Hospital, 15(1), 31-40.
Kahriman, İ., & Öztürk, H. (2016). Evaluating medical errors made by nurses during their diagnosis, treatment and care practices. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 25(19-20), 2884-2894.
Robertson, J. J., & Long, B. (2018). Suffering in silence: Medical error and its impact on health care providers. The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 54(4), 402-409.
Vermeulen, J. M., Doedens, P., Cullen, S. W., van Tricht, M. J., Hermann, R., Frankel, M.,… & Marcus, S. C. (2018). Predictors of adverse events and medical errors among adult inpatients of psychiatric units of acute care general hospitals. Psychiatric Services, 69(10), 1087-1094.