We all know how uncomfortable it is when a mistake has been made. There are two options: 1) hide the truth and hope no one realizes or 2) admit it and await the consequences. Nonetheless, it’s hard to admit when you are wrong and have made a mistake, but that doesn’t mean it can be done. Therefore, I’m not surprised to hear Dr. Jerome Groopman admit his mistakes and speak on the mistakes doctors and other medical staff have made.
Many of us can agree that physicians aren’t perfect beings and they are destined to make one or more mistakes in their lifetimes, but it’s being able to admit your mistakes that makes a good physician, a great one. Being able to admit when you are wrong can change the how you relate to others and make you a stronger
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Groopman hits the nail on head-on when he says physicians tend to make snap judgments and use short-cut thinking to determine diagnoses. This method is an opening for mistakes to occur. Making quick judgments and finding shortcuts is not a good practice of medicine. The mistakes are mainly due to overlooking, overestimating, making hasty judgments, and using shortcuts. This isn’t how a patient should be treated. Patients are learning how to deal with their illnesses than to find out there is a possibility of their illness to be something else unknown is frustrating. Before, my grandmother had a final diagnosis of an enlarged heart valve, several specialties when around in circles claiming it was this or that with none to be true. It was frustrating for my family and especially for my grandmother because you expect these people to know what they are talking …show more content…
The problem is physicians simply don’t listen to their patients. Medical students aren’t being trained to listen, they are being trained to “follow preset algorithms and practice guidelines in the form of decision trees.” As Dr. Groopman describes the way his doctor diagnosed him, clinicians need to be taught how to think creatively, differently, and open to all possibilities no matter how significant or insignificant they may
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported in 1999 that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year in the United States due to a preventable medical error. A report written by the National Quality Forum (NQF) found that over a decade after the IOM report the prevalence of medical errors remains very high (2010). In fact a study done by the Hearst Corporation found that the number of deaths due to medical error and post surgical infections has increased since the IOM first highlighted the problem and recommended actions to reduce the number of events (Dyess, 2009).
“When Doctors Make Mistakes” narrates an event where the author Atul Gawande, a doctor, made a mistake that cost a women her life. He relates that it is hard to talk about the mistakes that occurred with the patient's family lest it be brought up in court. In that instance the family and doctor are either wrong or right, there is no middle ground in a “black-and-white mortality case”(658). Even the most educated doctors make simple mistakes that hold immense consequences but can only speak about them with fellow doctors during a Morbidity and Mortality Conference.
In the essay “When Doctors Make Mistakes” written by Atul Gawande, he writes a first-hand account of mistakes made by himself and his colleagues. The essay is divided into five parts, each named to the narrative and emotions of the story he would tell. In each story he tells, he uses such vivid language that we as readers feel as if we are one of his colleagues. Each section has its own importance to the whole point he was trying to get across, ““All doctors make terrible mistakes” (657).
I have been aware of medical errors for some time now. While in nursing school I have heard many stories from classmates and instructors of instances where people they knew, or loved ones had been either harmed or died because of a medical error. I have had experiences with medical errors. When I was in the hospital for the birth of my first child, the nurse that came to change out my IV bag did not check the
The Power of Mistakes Atul Gawande is not only our resident surgeon; he’s also a patient himself. He’s anxious before performing surgery, he dwells on mistakes, and he has emotions: he’s human and he understands us. However, he does not appear to share concerns with his patients initially. Gawande experiences a long, drawn-out development from a young medical student to the doctor he is today. This process of identifying with patients is evident in his anthology of essays, Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science.
Medical error occurs more than most people realize and when a doctor is found negligent the patient has the right to sue for compensation of their losses. Debates and issues arise when malpractice lawsuits are claimed. If a patient is filing for a medical malpractice case, the l...
He said, “Studies of specific types of error, too, have found that repeat offenders are not the problem. The fact is that virtually everyone who cares for hospital patients will make serious mistakes, and even commit acts of negligence, every year. For this reason, doctors are seldom outraged when the press reports yet another medical horror story. They usually have a different reaction: This could be me. The important question isn’t how to keep bad physicians from harming patients; it’s how to keep good physicians from harming patients” (658). Like Gawande asked—how do you keep good physicians from harming patients? Even the best of doctors and surgeons manage to make mistakes that led to being sued or even worst—they get to experience the death of their
Truth in medicine is a big discussion among many medical professionals about how doctors handle the truth. Truth to a patient can be presented in many ways and different doctors have different ways of handling it. Many often believe that patient’s being fully aware of their health; such as a bad diagnosis, could lead to depression compared to not knowing the diagnosis. In today’s society doctor’s are expected to deliver patient’s the whole truth in order for patients to actively make their own health decisions. Shelly K. Schwartz discusses the truth in her essay, Is It Ever Ok to Lie to Patients?. Schwartz argument is that patients should be told the truth about their health and presented and addressed in a way most comfortable to the patient.
Today, medical error has become a major and important challenge to health care systems across the globe. This is because medical errors often lead to harm that may also be non-repairable (Valiani et al. 540; Denham “Chasing Zero”). In 1999, the Institute of Medicine published a report that indicated that medical error in hospitals accounts for between 48,000 and 98,000 deaths annually (Swift et al. 78; Barger et al. 2441). As such, reducing the occurrence of medical errors has become an international concern. Poorolajal defines a medical error as “an act of omission or commission in planning or execution that contributes or could contribute to an unintended result.” (Poorolajal, et al. para 5 -10). In this case, it’s very important to acknowledge
is like a car in a way. When something is wrong, you have to diagnosis it because there are hundreds of
One of the biggest issues the health industry has is the fact that most doctors will not admit making an error, and if they do, they usually
It is shocking to know that every year 98000 patients die from medical errors that can be prevented(Kohn, L. T., Corrigan, J. M., & Donaldson, M. S. (Eds.), 2000). Medical errors are not a new issue in our healthcare system; these have been around for a long time. Hospitals have been trying to improve quality care and patients safety by implementing different strategies to prevent and reduce medical errors for past thirty years. Medical errors are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer in America (Allen, 2013). In addition medical errors are costing our healthcare system an estimated $735 billion to $980 billion (Andel, Davidow, Hollander, & Moreno, 2012).
First, it is important to consider why misdiagnoses occur. Lack of specialized staff contributes to this issue. Fortunately,
Every individual that receives care are subject to a medical error. Medical mistakes and human error has become every patient nightmare. According to (Kohn, 2000, p. 26) “defined as injuries caused by medical management, were 2.9 and 3.7 percent.” The second sample explains the cause of death due to medical error. According (Kohn, 2000, p. 26) “when extrapolated to the over 33.6 million admission to U.S. hospitals the studies imply at least 44,000 and perhaps as many as 98,000 die each year due to medical errors.”
Consequently, it can be assumed that doctors might tend to avoid such a confession in order to maintain their image of being a “good doctor” (J.Shahidi). Not being a good doctor may eventually lead to doctor’s loss of business and as a result physicians may tend to hide the truth even if it opposes patient autonomy