Errors of Encountered in Health Services in General - Dissertation Example

The following are a few of these considerations: 1. Nurses’ scope of practice, and adverse outcomes of patients There has been considerable attention devoted to nurses’ errors in the operating room; the significance of reporting mechanisms has been underscored as an important instrument in developing error prevention measures in operating room procedures, and health care in general. Espin (2007) examined the implications of such errors as encountered in individual practice. Empirical studies have established that nurses’ preferences in reporting errors were generally confined to the perceived scope of their practice; where reports went beyond these boundaries, the reports were rationalized in the context of the patient’s unfavourable outcome.

Through survey and qualitative analysis, it was determined that nurses’ perceived scope of practise was a major factor in their reporting preferences, and the seriousness of the outcome to the patient was only secondary. The findings support the observation that nurses tend to be selective in their reporting; these have negative implications, according to Espin, as many errors will likely remain unreported where they do not fall within the nurses’ scope of practice, or where the negative repercussion to the patient is not perceived as compelling. 2. Nature of the error reduced by error reporting Partly due to the normal course of modernization in health care and partly due to the need to meet global standards, similar efforts to improve nurses’ error reporting have been pursued in different countries.

In Korea, a study sought to develop and evaluate an error reporting promoting program (ERPP) with the aim of reducing the incidence rate of nursing errors in operating rooms (Kim, et al., 2007). This quasi-experimental study registered a drop in incidence rates from 28.4% to 15.7% for the experimental group upon whom ERPP was administered, representing a significant decrease in the areas of “compliance of aseptic technique”, “management of document”, and “environmental management,” but has little effect in “habit-related”, “knowledge-based” and “multidimensional” nursing activities.

The ERPP was thus adjudged effective in reducing incidences of certain types of nursing errors in the operating room. 3. Organizational and management factors A serious inquiry into aspects of errors committed by health professionals must necessarily seek the underlying human factors that give rise to errors, and that compromise the reporting thereof. It is premised on the principle that humans are so intrinsically predisposed to the error that it is inherently biologic (D’Addessi, Bonglovanni, Volpe, Pinto and Bassi, 2009).

However, surgery stands apart in that surgical error is commonly presumed to be caused by the lack of skill or ability, and the result of negligent actions. After all, in many instances, technical operative errors, whether committed by nurses or other OR personnel present, tend to cause surgical morbidity and affect adversely the patient’s outcome (Cuschieri, 2005). Additionally, however, the operating theatre is comprised of a unique and complex set of team dynamics – i.e., specialists in various disciplines functioning in a highly precise and closely coordinated system.