Based upon Gibson and Singh Part 1 and 2: Breaking the Silence. Gibson and Singh provided alarming statistics based upon the IOM’s 1999 report of 100,000 deaths per year due to medical errors. According to Gibson and Singh, this translates to 275 deaths due to medical errors every day. Based on the number of deaths known, and considering the potential number for unaccounted deaths, reflect on the book and address the following:
1. Describe your level of awareness of the prevalence of medical errors before this course and reading part 1.
2. Part 1 of Gibson and Singh details 10 patient-family accounts and their experience with medical error. Select one of the cases and discuss the following areas:
a. Provide an overview of the case. b. Why was this case so compelling to you? c. Describe in detail your feeling as you read the stories. d. What type of error occurred in the case? e. Compare at quality and safety initiatives that now exist that could have prevented the error? (Cite the source where you found the initiative, guideline or protocol).
3. Discuss our role as nurses in developing a culture of safety interdependent upon a professional code of ethics. a. Why is it that nurses fail to report errors and what are the consequences to the nurse, patient, facility, and system? b. How does the nursing shortage affect safety and the potential for errors in the health care system? c. How frequent and how significant are medication errors in your experience? d. Describe in detail your experiences in managing, correcting, and documenting medication errors and explain how they affect your practice? e. Do you believe quality improvement is really needed? Explain. f. Support your entry with quotations from the book as needed and with literature and sources from our course. Follow APA format. 4. It is acceptable to use first person in this entry. Support your entry with quotations from the book as needed and with literature and sources from our course. Follow APA format. Based upon Gibson and Singh Part 3 and 4 The culture of cover-up is contradictory to our professional code of ethics Gibson and Singh provided a detailed overview of why medical mistakes happen and they provided rationales behind the culture of cover-up in the health care environment. They described potential methods of regulation and reporting to better inform patients and consumers about their health care providers. Gibson and Singh also devoted an entire chapter to the use of technology making health care safer. Examine your own feelings about developing competency in nursing informatics and technology in healthcare. How do you see these systems impacting nursing practice now and in the future? 5. Explain how patients and consumers find valid and reliable information about health care providers and facilities. a. In your experience, do patients and consumers investigate their providers or facilities before making selections? What about you, your friends, and family? 6. How do quality improvement systems affect regulatory and accreditation reporting and reimbursement? 7. What issues come to mind when you reflect on the need for all nurses to use information and technology to communicate, manage knowledge, mitigate error, and support decision- making? How does technology support safety at your facility? 8. Explain how health system safety and technology will influence your practice in the next 10 years. 10. Gibson and Singh compared the current health care system to less flawed, safer industries, like aviation. How do you feel about safety and quality in health care when compared to the aviation industry? Support your entry with quotations from the book as needed and with literature and sources from our course. Follow APA format.
