In many cases, medical treatment and care in the US is world class. However, even experts and well-known institutions make mistakes. Such mistakes can happen in virtually any healthcare setting, including nursing homes, hospitals, surgery centers, clinics, pharmacies, medical offices, and patients’ homes.
Some of the more common errors include those related to medications or anesthesia, infections contracted in hospital, avoidable delays in surgery or treatment, missed diagnoses, poor follow-up after treatment, and technical errors. There are many other types of medical mistakes, and all such mistakes have a root cause. If you feel that you’ve suffered as a result of medical errors, you may be able to claim for compensation. However, be aware that there is usually a medical negligence limitation period, so start looking into your case as soon as possible.
Read on to learn more about the common causes of medical errors.
Poor communication
A breakdown in communication is a common cause of mistakes in medical settings. Poor communication could include either written, verbal, or both. This type of issue can occur in any healthcare setting or system and can involve communications between doctors, patients, nurses, and other members of the healthcare team. A failure to read or write sufficient patient notes is one example of poor communication. Also, if a patient does not adequately explain their symptoms to a nurse, this could also be classed as a communication breakdown.
Technical problems
Technical problems might include failures or difficulties with medical equipment, implants, devices, or grafts.
Poor flow of information
Information flow is crucial in any healthcare or medical setting, and particularly between different agencies and services. Poor information flow occurs when essential information fails to accompany the patient when they are moved to another hospital unit, for example, or discharged from one organization and are handed over to another. Inadequate flow of information can lead to problems for the new agency in prescribing medications, failure to receive and act on test results, and poor medication continuity.
Human problems
Human problems happen when procedures, policies, and standards of care are not adhered to. An example of this might be insufficient specimen documentation and labeling. Poor training can also lead to human problems. If a member of staff doesn’t have the knowledge that is required to carry out a task, mistakes can be made that may lead to serious consequences.
Staffing issues
A shortage of staff on a shift doesn’t necessarily cause errors in itself. However, medical workers in an understaffed unit are likely to be put under pressures and this could lead to situations in which they might make errors. Staffing issues can also lead to professional burn out.
Issues related to patients
These problems might include unsuitable patient identification, poor assessment of the patient, a breakdown in obtaining consent, and inadequacies in instructing and passing on information to patients.
Inadequate transfer of knowledge
These problems can include failures in training and unreliable or insufficient education for members of the healthcare team. Transfer of knowledge is vital to patient care, particularly when new employees are involved, or temporary care is drafted in.
