Discuss Error effects and the interceptive measures initiated.
Medical Error Reporting – Policy and Procedures
1. Purpose
The aim of this policy is to define the procedures used for reporting medical errors and malpractices to ensure accuracy and proper medication use. The objective is to enable healthcare practitioners to identify errors and offer accurate data for assessment of errors to ease implementation of recommendations that will be used to prevent future errors.
2. Reporting
Practitioners who discover errors will fill the standard medication error form and present it to the immediate officer responsible for overseeing the process or any relevant personnel in the Quality Improvement (QI) team (Kasper, 2016).
A. The QI unit will document the filled medication error form and forward a copy to the site of error. The department where the error occurred will be assessed by the manager of that unit.
B. The QI team will trace causes of errors and provide appropriate instructions and recommendations using the error form and track changes.
C. The medication error form will bear the following information.
a) Details of the practitioners who were responsible when the error occurred.
b) Details of the affected patient including; name, hospital number, time and date of the occurrence, and time that the incident was detected (Kasper, 2016).
c) Nature and cause of the issue.
d) Error effects and the interceptive measures initiated.
3. Training and Education Training will be conducted annually and will be facilitated by the development team. The program is aimed at improving practitioners’ skills to empower them with the capacity to operate efficiently to minimize errors. The institution requires practitioners to participate in educational programs that will focus on proactive measures to avoid errors at the system level. Those who will be inconvenienced with the program will be provided with e-learning equipment to participate at their convenience. The aim of continuous training is to encourage practitioners to embrace the safety culture and strive to promote quality care (Nettina, Msn&Nettina, 2013).
4. Discipline
Discipline will be checked in the scope of competence to act professionally according to the medical professional ethics code (Kasper, 2016). Practitioners are required to be efficient by exercising professionalism in detecting and reacting to potential near miss or big save, or other potential situations that errors can be detected. Professional negligence and actions that depict misconduct resulting from malicious intentions are prohibited.
A. Sharing of patient information or publicizing sensitive patient information or discriminating them on grounds of their health, religious, political, or social status will be regarded as a disciplinary issue (Starmer, 2014).
B. The use of inappropriate equipment or procedure in the care-giving process when there is suitable equipment, and the practitioners can follow the right procedure is professional misconduct that will be regarded as a disciplinary issue.
C. When practitioners detect errors that are potentially harmful to the patient and fail to take action, rectify or report the incident will be liable for disciplinary actions.
D. Disciplinary issues will be handled as follows:
1. The discipline and ethics department will handle cases of professional misconduct by tracing the cause and assessing the level of misconduct.
2. When the head of the disciplinary department determines that practitioners acted in bad faith under this policy the following actions will be taken.
a) Ethical misconduct caused by disagreement or lack of cooperation with in a team will be solved by the mediation team, and the involved healthcare providers will undergo teamwork training.
b) Misconduct resulting from intentional actions aimed at; harming patients or experimenting with them, the responsible practitioner will be required to fill the disciplinary form.
1) Practitioners whose actions resulted from their health complications such as stress and anxiety will be taken through a treatment plan to restore their efficient states.
i. Practitioners who will have caused intentional harm to patients in bad faith and have no social and health problems will be suspended for a period of six months.
References
Kasper, D. L., Braunwald, E., Fauci, A. S., Hauser, S. L., Longo, D. L., & Jameson, J. L. (2016). Harrisons manual of medicine. New York: McGraw-Hill Medical Publishing Division.
Nettina, S. M., Msn, A. B., &Nettina, S. M. (2013). Lippincott manual of nursing practice. Beijing: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Starmer, A. J., Spector, N. D., Srivastava, R., West, D. C., Rosenbluth, G., Allen, A. D., … & Lipsitz, S. R. (2014). Changes in medical errors after implementation of a handoff program.New England Journal of Medicine, 371(19), 1803-1812.
