Personal Reasons
Being a part of the surgical team, I am specifically concerned about patient safety in this clinical setting. I am well aware of the fact that medication errors constitute a substantial portion of medical errors that lead to adverse patient outcomes. Clearly, the surgical team has to implement a wide range of tasks and function in a rather stressful environment due to potential emergencies (Göras et al., 2019). Nevertheless, I also believe that the vast majority of the cases could have been prevented. I am committed to being an advocate for patient safety improvements associated with medication error elimination.
Setting and Context
It has been acknowledged that over 2% of the reported sentinel events are directly linked to medication administration errors (Redman, 2017). At the same time, the cases that do not lead to serious negative effects remain unreported, so the scope of the problem is considerably larger. The existing bulk of evidence suggests that this type of errors are preventable in most cases (Hauk, 2018; Litman, 2018; Redman, 2017). Moreover, clear guidelines and different kinds of policies are available to healthcare professionals (Burlingame, 2018). Although these standards are instrumental in minimizing medication administration errors, the elimination of the problem has proved to be unattainable so far.
Affected People
As mentioned above, the scope of the problem is large, and it affects many groups of people. Patients who have to undergo surgical procedures are vulnerable irrespective of their age, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics (Litman, 2018). The medical staff has to make numerous decisions based on circumstances that are often unique, and patients have no opportunity to ensure their own safety in the setting in question. Therefore, surgical teams need to collaborate and communicate effectively, ensuring complete compliance with the most recent protocols and policies, so that patient safety could be safeguarded.
References
Burlingame, B. L. (2018). Guideline implementation: Medication safety. AORN Journal, 107(4), 476-487.
Göras, C., Olin, K., Unbeck, M., Pukk-Härenstam, K., Ehrenberg, A., Tessma, M. K.,… Ekstedt, M. (2019). Tasks, multitasking and interruptions among the surgical team in an operating room: A prospective observational study. BMJ Open, 9(5), 1-12.
Hauk, L. (2018). Avoiding errors when preparing medications in the perioperative setting. AORN Journal, 107(3), P9-P11.
Litman, R. S. (2018). How to prevent medication errors in the operating room? Take away the human factor. British Journal of Anaesthesia: BJA, 120(3), 438-440.
Redman, D. D. (2017). Reducing medication errors in the OR. AORN Journal, 105(1), 106-109.