What about doctors? The impact of medical errors

Elwahab, Sami Abd; Doherty, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.surge.2014.06.004

Cited by 34 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] In addition, our study brought up a distinction of three different ways in which interviewees (physicians) coped during their recovery process. In a hospital without an appropriate collegial support program, the extent to which support is given depends on the willingness of a close colleague to do so.…”

Section: Recovery Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The need and availability of support systems for physicians involved in a serious adverse event

Leferink

Bos²,

Heringa

et al. 2018

JHA

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Objective: Serious adverse events occur in healthcare, and do not solely have consequences for patients (first victims), but also affect physicians involved (second victims). These second victims experience diminished emotional well-being and less professional performance. An increasing number of hospitals organize support for second victims, although scientific evidence on the kind of support that is expected and needed is poor. This study therefore investigates support needs after serious adverse events from both personal (physicians) and organizational (quality and safety staff members) perspectives. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews in a Dutch university medical center. Physicians (N = 19) who had been directly involved in a serious adverse event participated. In addition, quality and safety staff members (N = 3) reflected on the support needs as expressed by physicians. Verbatim transcripts were three-fold coded, which led to several themes for our inductive thematic analysis. Results: Contrary to recent developments in healthcare organizations, participants did not plea for a hospital-wide support team. Acceptance of the emotional and professional impact of an adverse event by direct colleagues and supervisors is more important. Where such a cultural context is provided, physicians prefer support of a close and reliable colleague to cope with emotions and doubts, a supervisor who monitors recovery, and a healthcare organization that provides information about required procedures to learn from the events. However, this ideal was seldom found in the competitive working environment. This underlines the need for a shift from a competitive professional culture into a more supportive one. Conclusions: Ideally, direct colleagues support each other after an adverse event. This form of collegial support can only be successful if there is general acceptance of healthcare professionals' vulnerability and their support needs within the direct working environment. To create the right circumstances to meet these support needs, both healthcare professionals and hospital organizations have to recognize and take their responsibilities.

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Section: Recovery Processmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[4] Second victims feel confused and experience emotions of anger, anxiety, guilt, grief, self-criticism, and shame. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] These emotions have an impact on both their professional and personal lives. [14,15] Second victims therefore need time to recover from adverse events.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The need and availability of support systems for physicians involved in a serious adverse event

Leferink

Bos²,

Heringa

et al. 2018

JHA

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“…The senior executives within employing organisations have a major leadership role and should ensure that effective human factors training takes place. They should create a non‐prejudicial environment for all professionals to voice concerns which should be open and transparent (Jackson et al , ; Abd Elwahab and Doherty, ). This is especially important for healthcare providers.…”

Section: Organisational Vs Personal Causes Of Human Errormentioning

confidence: 99%

Human factors – recognising and minimising errors in our day to day practice

2015

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A significant cause of mistakes in healthcare and which are potentially harmful or fatal to patients can result from both individual clinicians and their employing organisations. The understanding and recognition of the role of human error within the healthcare setting is improving, but we still have much to learn when compared with other high-risk organisations such as aviation where such errors can be devastating at a much larger scale. The importance of both organisational issues and human factor issues at a more personal level including tiredness, the effect of emotions and the role of situational awareness, needs to be understood by all those involved in healthcare. Potential mistakes can be reduced with simple measures which need to be recognised by, emphasised and embedded in both teams and individuals. In this review, we address the need for greater awareness of human factors, assessing the path to error and how this can be reduced to minimum levels in clinical practice.

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“…Patients' awareness of medical errors has increased, and as a result, complaints and litigation have also increased dramatically [8]. Despite all the efforts to prevent the occurrence of medical errors, they still occur.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medical Error Disclosure can Rescue Malpractice Litigation

Yassa

Peter

2018

AJFSFM

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Patient safety is the main goal of each hospital. Many steps can be taken to improve patient's safety by the healthcare system. This study aimed to increase awareness about medical error disclosure, which helps to decrease malpractice litigation. Two hundred physicians with different qualifications were asked to complete a questionnaire about medical error disclosure and its impact on the patient's safety and malpractice litigation. The studied group included doctors in different age groups, ranging from 25 to 60 years old.Thirty-one percent of them reported that the main cause of medical errors is poor team design, followed by 27% blaming work pressure. Other causes of medical errors are due to human errors, and 49% were due to miscommunication with patients. Only 35.5% of doctors had the courage to disclose their errors. Most of them fear the negative reaction of patients' families and loss of reputation. Twenty-seven percent of physicians confirmed that it is the right of the patient to know about the error that took place but they did not know how to inform their patients about the error. Medical error disclosure is one of the most important steps towards achieving patient's trust in any healthcare institution.

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What about doctors? The impact of medical errors

Cited by 34 publications

References 14 publications

The need and availability of support systems for physicians involved in a serious adverse event

The need and availability of support systems for physicians involved in a serious adverse event

Human factors – recognising and minimising errors in our day to day practice

Medical Error Disclosure can Rescue Malpractice Litigation

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