Reply To: Do you learn about medical errors in school and if so, how in depth?

[Erina M]

Hi Gabz! :):):)

JFYI, this post is so unnecessarily lengthy…pls don’t feel the need to reply, SERIOUSLY. You’re too busy to be doing that 😉

lol, this part made me laugh. Know the errors -> Know who to contact/inform -> Suffer the consequence

What a responsible way to teach aspiring med professionals on how managing mistakes humans are prone to make. I agree the majority of institutions do play the “pointing blame” game. You’re right that we have to protect our
ourselves (I sometimes feel like we ONLY have ourselves to trust). Be our own best defender.

The legal aspect/impact to career is just as essential to learn, IMO. The realistic possibilities of being involved in an error is overlooked. Under a standard definition, a medical error is not considered a crime (presumably why its called an error). I also believe that the intention also contributes to the wording; errors are caused by well-meant, good-hearted, hard working nurses, PAs and doctors.

Regardless of intention though, it does often lead to legal action against the medical professional: from suspension of license, lawsuit filed by patient/family, potential escalation to court, severe cases turning into a criminal prosecution (but this is when undeniable malintent/malpractice was the cause I believe).

Apparently there are movements to change how errors are treated. The recent approach is to see errors as representation of a deeper, systematic issue. Remediate measures including reevaluation of procedures, incorporating educational programs and publicly presenting the case within the medical community, for awareness and prevention.

FYI, this ted talk suggests a progressive stance in dealing with errors:

“Doctors make mistakes. Can we talk about that?“

On a side note, I’m not surprised to hear what you witnessed to be the common stance held in hospitals. It’s identical to the corporate world. JFYI, this is the kind of stuff I witnessed. **Sorry to end the post negatively…this story is more a worse case scenario. Most normal, decent
corporates/hospitals are way more civilized than this!

Nobody ever thinks it will happen to them but everybody hopes to learn through others’ mistakes. When it does happen, the battle of the blame game begins; pointing fingers, frantically scrapping pieces of evidence, reexamining procedures word for word, dissecting chemicals of medications used, consciously speaking in a legally sensitive way, calculating the least financially costly solution. The institution starts to build a systematic fortification, using legal experts, politics, partnered pharmaceutical companies, and ultimately the hierarchically vulnerable become the scapegoats…