Missed diagnosis, sometimes known as misdiagnosis or missed injuries, is a prevalent problem in the health care field. It is likely that you or someone you know has received a misdiagnosis or suffered from a missed injury. One study at an adult trauma center found that missed injuries occurred in 2% to 50% of their trauma visits (Collins et al., 2011). The focus of this paper will be on why misdiagnoses happen, what the practitioner can do, and what the patient can do. This paper will also discuss study findings regarding the reasons behind misdiagnosis, and strategies to avoid or lessen instances of misdiagnosis. First, it is important to consider why misdiagnoses occur. Lack of specialized staff contributes to this issue. Fortunately, …show more content…
The most discussed measure of protection is patient education on symptoms and disease presentations from a reputable source after the diagnosis has been received. An article by Buppert (2012) discusses a common missed diagnosis, which is appendicitis. According to the author, “missed appendicitis is one of the top ten conditions that lead to malpractice claims. Among ER physicians, it is in the top five. On the other hand, about twenty percent of patients taken to surgery for presumed appendicitis do not have it”. It is clear that patient vigilance in the presence of striking statistics such as these is imperative. However, the patient should not consult unqualified sources such as WebMD, or Wikipedia. Ideally, a professional journal, such as the Journal for Nurse Practitioners, should be accessed for the most classic and consistent symptoms of a condition. Additionally, the patient should always know their rights, including the request of a tertiary survey, and be an active part of the health care team. Other steps the patient can take are to become familiar with the medications they are taking and why they are taking them, and to ask questions when something is unclear. As explained by Taylor, Lillis, Lynn, & LeMone (2015), “research shows that patients who take part in their decisions about their health care are more likely to have better outcomes”. The patient is the center of the health care team, and should be reminded of this by practitioners. The medical decisions made by practitioners depend on the patient’s compliance and understanding of the possible negative and positive outcomes. Being an educated patient, or at the very least, an active participant in their own health care, will allow the care plan to work seamlessly, from admission to discharge and
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
Hospital medical errors can involve medicines (e.g., wrong drug, wrong dose, bad combination), an inaccurate or incomplete diagnosis, equipment malfunction, surgical mistakes, or laboratory errors. High medical error rates with serious consequences occurs in intensive care units, operating rooms, and emergency departments; but, serious errors that harmed patients may have prevented or minimized. Understand the nature of the error
Providers must act in the best interest of the patient and their basic obligation is to do no harm and work for the public’s wellbeing. A physician shall always keep in mind the obligation of preserving human life. Providers must communicate full, accurate and unbiased information so patients can make informed decisions about their health care. As a result of their recommendations, providers are responsible for generating costs in health care but do not generate the need for those expenses. Every hospital has both an ethical as well as a legal responsibility to provide care, even if the care may be uncompensated.
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
There is nothing traumatizing in the world has adding pain to where it already exists. This is the hell situation which every medical error victim is exposed. As the statistics are currently showing, the fatalities are increasing day by day. The trend seems to be hiding on the old ideology of “man is to error”. However this is not being tolerated any more and the American medical facilities are being held 100% accountable for the mistakes they make in their service delivery. Professional diligence is not a matter of negotiation in this generation and probably future generations. If a medical facility cannot treat people diligently, then the only better option remaining for that facility is to be made to account for the losses they have caused on affected patients and be closed down immediately.
is like a car in a way. When something is wrong, you have to diagnosis it because there are hundreds of
In saying 1.5 million Americans have witnessed hospital errors in the care of the medical center or even 40,000-100,000 deaths is a ridiculous amount of faults. Errors should be minimized, especially when dealing with people’s lives. The number of deaths is so high hospitals should take notice and really pinpoint where their facility is miscalculating and create in-service training to all employees and not just the ones that are making the errors but all employees. This will decrease the chances of errors made in the hospital. With continuous training every month there can be a huge change in the number of mistakes. The fact that these inaccuracies are even causing deaths really highlight the importance of the need for a change. Families
Despite records breaking of medical malpractices and serious misconduct that put patients at risk, many doctors are still able to practice medicine. Whether narrowly avoided or followed as a consequence of patient injury, medical errors have increasingly taken a center stage in health care debates. Health care professionals, patients, policy makers and politicians have engaged in a close fight with the extreme consequences and facts of medical errors. Because of cases ranging from failure to disclose medical errors, wrong site surgery, negligence and incompetence, doctors should lose their medical license.
“Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, causes an injury to a patient” (ABPLA). The problem with medical malpractice involves malpractice claims, unnecessary procedures, the general system, communication issues, and reform efforts. Although medical malpractice is a significant concern, much is being done to address this problem.
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).
On average, doctors misdiagnose about one in every twenty patients that they observe (Sharpe 1). Misdiagnosis occurs when the wrong aliment is assigned to a patient’s symptoms (Bergl 2). Twelve million adults are misdiagnosed each year (Sharpe 1). Medical errors not only transpire in hectic emergency rooms, but in any setting (Bersch 3). The American medical system is one of the most advanced in the world, but when technology is combined with human error, it can lead to worsening conditions and even death (Glazer 139). Far too many patients are misdiagnosed by doctors in the United States.
As humans when we are faced with any psychological or emotional problems, our initial thought is to turn to a therapist, doctor or any other health practitioners. Our initial thought when we are faced with problems regarding our health is to turn to a health professional because for ages that’s how it has been. When it comes to our health, health professionals nowadays do more harm than help. Many might disagree, but often patients are misdiagnosed with mental illnesses they do not have. Misdiagnosis occurs when a therapist or other health practitioners decide that a patient is suffering from a condition that he or she may not be suffering with. When misdiagnosed, patients are given unnecessary treatment, which could potentially
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.”
The health care is extremely important to society because without health care it would not be possible for individuals to remain healthy. The health care administers care, treats, and diagnoses millions of individual’s everyday from newborn to fatal illness patients. The health care consists of hospitals, outpatient care, doctors, employees, and nurses. Within the health care there are always changes occurring because of advance technology and without advance technology the health care would not be as successful as it is today. Technology has played a big role in the health care and will continue in the coming years with new methods and procedures of diagnosis and treatment to help safe lives of the American people. However, with plenty of advance technology the health care still manages to make an excessive amount of medical errors. Health care organizations face many issues and these issues have a negative impact on the health care system. There are different ways medical errors can occur within the health care. Medical errors are mistakes that are made by health care providers with no intention of harming patients. These errors rang from communication error, surgical error, manufacture error, diagnostic error, and wrong medication error. There are hundreds of thousands of patients that die every year due to medical error. With medical errors on the rise it has caused the United States to be the third leading cause of death. (Allen.M, 2013) Throughout the United States there are many issues the he...
If I could be like anybody, I would wish to become more like my late grandfather, whose memories have inspired me to strive for success, like the smell of old, dusty books which reminds me of his admiration on learning. An avid collector, he had many books, most of which went unread. He owned books on everything from medicine to Spain, to several sets of encyclopedias. After he faced health problems, he came less to the library and read fewer books. They became just part of the scenery, collecting only dust and memories. I have read a few now, after he is gone, and each time it brings back a hurt like a sore that refuses to heal. But I suppose it is a quest of sorts, because if can take on his thirst for knowledge, cheerful smile, and willingness to help others, then like a match in the darkness, I will bring a little light into the world. If that light touches others, maybe it will spread far and wide, to light up the heavens for years to come. It is exactly the reason why Jabil Al- Aaruq (Al- Aruq Mountain), near Taiz holds a great deal of memories that are very special to me. One of the other fond memories is, when I was a little boy, my father used to tell me about my grandfather, who treated people, especially very poor people with sympathy and compassion. He would often go out of his way to provide assistance and support to the needy in the village. People in the village still recall his kindness and politeness with praises and blessings.