The Nurse' Responsability in the Prevention of Medical Errors Essay

The Nurse Responsability in the Prevention of checkup Errors - Essay ExampleIn its report coroneted To Err is Human Building a Safer Health System (2000), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) noted that between 44,000 and 98,000 Americans die annually in U.S. hospitals owing to preventable medical exam errors. A medical error infers an adverse event that can be avoided given the current state of medical knowledge. IOM dallying definition of medical error details the failure of a planned action to be concluded as proposed or the application of a wrong plan to get a line the aim. Errors in this sense incorporate problems in practice, products, procedures, and systems. There is no private unanimously acknowledged method of classifying medical errors. However, there are five unmistakable categorizations of medical errors. These intromit forms of healthcare given such as medication, surgery, and diagnostic imaging severity of the injury encompassing minor discomfort, death, and serious injury. Other categorizations include legal definitions of issues such as negligence and malpractice the setting encompassing hospital, emergency room, care for home, and intensive care unit, and persons involved such as a physician, nurse, pharmacist, and patient. Medical errors impede therapeutic outcomes and can cause severe illness or death. In addition, medical errors may lead to litigation against healthcare providers. Causes of Medical Errors The nerve centre causes of medical errors are multifaceted, and no single factor can be demarcated to be the principal origin of medical errors. However, medical errors mainly flow from factors homogeneous communication errors for example, misinterpretation of the doctors prescription may lead to instances of medication mix-up, where the administered drugs detail closely similar names. In addition, medical errors may proceed from human errors stemming from overwork and burnout. Some medical errors are attributable to the long workin g hours that medical professionals cover. The onset of managed care has heralded the reduction of size of nursing staff, while compelling others to work mandatory overtime shifts. Other causes include increasing specialization and fragmentation of the healthcare sector. The number of people involved in patients treatment is commensurate with occurrences of medical errors. Furthermore, medical errors emanate from manufacturing errors, equipment failure, diagnostic errors, and poorly designed buildings and facilities (Westrick & Dempski, 2009). Steps or Measures that Nurses can take in order to Prevent Medical Errors Healthcare professionals such as nurses should guarantee the quality of treatment, although a significant share of responsibility lies with patients in avoiding medical errors. The single most significant way in which nurses can aid in prevention of medical errors is being active members of their healthcare team. Healthcare providers must work successfully in collaborativ e teams in order to enhance patient safety. Nurses should adopt stricter standards of acceptable error rates. This will be crucial in do significant strides in enhancing safety and minimizing error. The commitment towards enhancing the quality of medical care and associated processes is one of the steps that nurses should adopt to reduce errors. Nurses should also report medical errors in order to improve the process. Reporting of medical errors plays a crucial role in abating further errors