Getting Routine Ear Plug Cau Bar Codes Labeling
Reply
Risk Management in Healthcare APA Style Reply
how risk management can help a facility reduce medication errors to prevent litigation? Reply to each Peer about their post.
how risk management can help a facility reduce medication errors to prevent litigation? Reply to Teacher ( Teacher responded this to my post and posed the following questions):
Excellent job on your discussion regarding medical mistakes this week. I am glad to see that you discussed prescriptions. Do you think that barcoding and clear labels on the medication and/or bottles would help avoid medical errors? I discussed this medical error with Martina above; however, it merits further discussion as it was something that I was directly involved with in my past job at our local hospital.
We lost a ten-year-old boy in the operating room due to incorrect medication being given when he was getting routine ear plug surgery. This happened right before Christmas, and it was a very sad case. It was heartbreaking for all involved, including those of us who dealt with the parents, the press, the physicians, and other hospitals around the world who wanted to learn from it. We even had physicians from Japan fly over to discuss this case with our physicians, Chief Medical Officer, and Risk Manager who were involved.
With that being said, effective leadership is linked to improved quality and safety of healthcare organizations especially when it comes to Risk Management, who was very involved in the case I mentioned above. The leadership team must be able to foster an open culture where clinicians and followers are comfortable in discussing patient safety and quality care in an organization. When followers are able to provide input in safety and clinical matters, issues can be addressed since leaders will know what they are in the first place. When the atmosphere of healthcare organizations is of inflexibility and closed channels of communication, it is hard to trust leaders as followers would feel pressured over voicing their concerns. This would only create lack of support when changes are necessary as followers would feel that such changes are from the top only, and often feel unheard. Teamwork is very important in healthcare as it takes a team to treat a patient. Currie and Lockett (2011) describes how the distributive leadership model, which extends beyond the person located within the upper levels of an organization can be beneficial. This model is the result of spontaneous teamwork of followers that is related to institutionalized practices. This would be the kind of proactive leadership within a team that comes from all followers. Interpersonal collaboration fosters leadership cultures that raise inter-professional teamwork and efficient communication among professionals. Thus, it is essential for healthcare leaders to foster such environment.
In addition, leaders must not only be able to foresee potential changes, but they must also be able to secure support for change among followers and manage current operations to assure sustainability of quality and safety. How do health care leaders balance pro-active leadership with the sustainability of quality and safety measures? Does inter-professional collaboration influence this balance? Why or why not? I also provide you with a video from Time regarding this case. Please take a look and let me know your thoughts. Do you think that our hospital handled the aftermath well?
Thank you,
Professor Susan
Currie, G., & Lockett, A. (2011). Distributing leadership in health and social care: Concertive, conjoint or collective? International Journal of Management Reviews, 13(3), 286-300
how risk management can help a facility reduce medication errors to prevent litigation? Reply to Paolo (responded this to my post and posed the following questions):
Hi, You provided sound strategies in your post related to this week’s discussion.
On your second paragraph, you listed specific strategies to reduce the risk of medication errors. Specifically, you stated that nurses are the primary clinicians to observe the proposed steps, however, healthcare is an interdisciplinary team oriented practice. Do you think that a multi-disciplinary approach is much more beneficial to reduce medication errors? Should the organization involve all of the healthcare team the steps you provided in order to get the maximum results?
Curious to hear your thoughts.
Regards,
Paolo