Medical errors by nurses in hospitals are the result of?

[Brian]

Survey question:

Medical errors by nurses in hospitals are the result of:

Mandatory overtime

Budget cutbacks

Incompetence

Shortage of qualified staff

FYI, here are the results of the monthly survey from allnurses.com:

Mandatory overtime 7.85%

Budget cutbacks 14.94%

Incompetence 10.52%

Shortage of qualified staff 66.69%

We encourage your comments and discussion on this question. To post your comments, just click on the "Post Reply" button.

[This message has been edited by bshort (edited October 14, 2000).]

[-jt]

"......What sparked this survey question is that the Chicago Tribune ran a series of articles on September 10, 11, and 12 on medical errors resulting in patient deaths and injuries. Here they are if you are interested in reading them:

Nursing mistakes kill, injure thousands https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=278

Training often takes a back seat https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=279

Nursing accidents unleash silent killer https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=280

Oversight panels don't see all facts of medical mistakes cases https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=281

Problem nurses escape punishment https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=282

Many Nursing Associations responded to the articles with press releases, here are a few of them:

Minnesota Nurses Association https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=274

Washington State Nurses Association https://allnurses.com/news/jump.cgi?ID=277

Please post your thoughts or comments on this issue.........."

ok - Here's a link to the response from the president of the New York State Nurses Association:

(I agree with her)

Getting Past the Headlines:

"Im sure many of you have heard about the series of Chicago Tribune articles, which appeared in major newspapers across the country and on the Internet from September 10 to 12. Although we know logically that the media depends on sensationalism and attention generating headlines to sell newspapers, physically the nausea you feel when you see nursing portrayed so negatively has you reaching for an emesis basin! There were five articles published

with titles such as Nursing mistakes kill, injure thousands, and Nursing accidents unleash silent killer. My immediate reaction to the headlines was concern over the damage to the publics trust of the nursing profession. As I read the articles, however, I found myself agreeing with the substance of the reporting.........."

http://www.nysna.org/pubs/report/report00/1011002.htm

[-jt]

"ok - Here's a link to the response from the president of the New York State Nurses Association: http://www.nysna.org/pubs/report/report00/1011002.htm

(I agree with her)"...........

and heres a link to the what the reporter had to say on why he wrote those articles & what he learned:

"Why the articles were written

Michael J. Berens, author of the series, says he began to investigate the topic after the Chicago Tribune noted that no large newspaper had taken a hard, critical look at the conflicting stories being told by nurses and the hospital industry. Nurses claimed RN staffing and mandatory overtime adversely affected their patients. When Berens talked to the American Hospital Association (AHA), they said, Hey, theyre nurses. They have a vested

interest. The result, Berens explained, was a he-said, she-said story, which drove us to investigate and to quantify. The key to the story was getting the data. Nurses complaints get dismissed too casually because they dont have hard data.........."

http://www.nysna.org/pubs/report/report00/1011001.htm