I feel most nurses who come upon physician errors have a tendency to either look the other way or consider alternative answers for the discoveries they've made. I come to this conclusion from the outcome made by John Hopkins Medical Ctr and Mass General Hospital through their research which ultimately caused them to change the causes of death in the U.S. For 25 years the U.S. has been dropping sharply in the international health poll quality. Its a complicated study but the U.S. public is left with the evidence that the 3rd leading cause of death is Medicalmals and over treatment. The details emerging from this study reveal quite the gap between patient, nurse and physician communication. Bluntly stated the professionals have been covering up errors for years.
I had trouble sleeping at night so I told my stories which were eventually a costly venture opening up doors for the general public that are commonly closed. However, the stories are in viral mode and are being believed and acted upon. Be careful to your approach in identifying these criminals. They're in the room with you, and may in fact be your friend. Write it down on an incident report, copy it and keep the copy in a safe spot-on campus. Try to be as factual as you can be, having a witness is everything when they come after you. If you want to be involved with changing our world standing in health care quality in th U.S.you need to be proactive. Its your country, and someday you or your child could be a victim. So many safety issues escape the dollar value and the power of the Goliath 'for profit' system. PearyB RN
I do not believe people intentionally commit crimes against patients, but in error, and the crime occurs when it goes unreported and damages happen. This is not a new discovery. Its easy to cover-up errors in many situations. I can see most opinions here are understanding and quasi sympathetic, however, a rant or rambling post doesn't necessarily mean a deleterious mind. As a nurse and caregiver, patient safety is your main focus.
So now you're saying that the physicians aren't committing crimes, after all, just mistakes, but nurses (and others) are committing crimes if we don't immediately rat our colleagues out? Hmmmm ... I've made my share of innocent mistakes and errors over the years in my practice, and I'm grateful that my colleagues didn't jump on them and make a point of bringing them to the attention of anyone and everyone.
At what point, precisely, would you say an error rises to the level of being worth ruining someone's career over??
Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
Technically error reporting is voluntary. Some state have legislation that mandates reporting but it varies. Even reporting to the Joint Commission is voluntary. Here is a detailed paper from the AHRQ...http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/clinicians-providers/resources/nursing/resources/nurseshdbk/WolfZ_ERED.pdf
The AHRQ rhetoric is lengthy but certainly has merit. I won't say that the situation will pass by every nurse, but there may come a time when you are in the middle of a life or death situation which was created by error. You have to decide what to do and you have no idea which road you'll take until you get there. Its a business now, and when I went to school it was a way of life and a profession, so I went to gladiator school and took a wicked beating. Business is more important, but not to me. For me it was the right thing to do, however, remember this, doctors have money and buy and buy and buy. Would I do it again. I can't say that I would, it was that bad.
If I find an error in resident orders, I call the resident and explain why I think it's an error, and they will either change it or explain to me why it's not an error based on information I was not aware of. To me, that means the system is working; it's not an error that I'm going to report. It never reached the patient.
In your posts, I don't know if you are being extreme with reporting (everything is reported), or if you are advocating some discernment in error reporting. In general, we need to communicate, collaborate, and create a collegial atmosphere to keep the system working properly. Each nurse needs to reflect on individual situations and determine what is the ethical thing to do. You can't make blanket statements about error reporting of physician orders.
It wasn't too long after these posts that the Senate Sub Committee came out with its Pt Safety Hearing Report. The Chair of that hearing was none other than the Independent from Vermont Bernie Sanders. Any nurse, health care provider and physician who watched this or even testified would call my initial post here a very strong possibility. I am legally restricted from pt. details, but my name here is real, as is the evidence I have to substantiate what the Senate Sub Committee has brought forward in July of 2014. The ultimate question is, "So many go unreported"? The criminal element in our health care systems is as I said it was a year ago. You can call me whatever you wish, but when your wife, son, or mother is one of the 1000 victims/day of unreported, preventable damages and death, remember where you first read it. Peary Brown, R.N.
elkpark
14,633 Posts
So now you're saying that the physicians aren't committing crimes, after all, just mistakes, but nurses (and others) are committing crimes if we don't immediately rat our colleagues out? Hmmmm ... I've made my share of innocent mistakes and errors over the years in my practice, and I'm grateful that my colleagues didn't jump on them and make a point of bringing them to the attention of anyone and everyone.
At what point, precisely, would you say an error rises to the level of being worth ruining someone's career over??