The Occurrence of Human Errors in Health Care (Essay Sample)

The Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP)

The occurrence of human errors in health care cannot be wished away. However, the prevalence and extent of these errors can be downplayed when and if training and proper strategies in their prevention are effectively implemented, enforced, and upheld. According to Lewis (2009), there is an average of approximately 200 million surgeries that are performed in the world every day. Unfortunately, the rate of adverse events that arise from these surgeries is also unacceptably high. Lewis further notes that many initiatives and strategies have been devised in the past decade to help in addressing safety issues in health care, but they have not succeeded in resolving the errors that have been occurring.

Strategies I Would Implement to Enable the Different Professionals to Receive Training and Reduce Errors Related to Surgery

Research shows that medication errors contribute significantly to in-hospital mortality and morbidity. If I were the administrator in charge of reducing errors related to surgery, I would ensure that surgical residency training plans and teaching hospitals are proactive in reducing the occurrence of surgical mistakes. I would also define the nature and scope of problems that would go a long way in achieving meaningful error reduction (Lewis, 2009). Additionally, I would reinforce targeted education to healthcare professionals to address and resolve specific knowledge gaps. This would not only reduce the prevalence of errors resulting from a knowledge deficit, but it would also significantly curb the incidence of medical and surgical errors in healthcare and residency training programs. Also, I would implement costly strategies such as the physician order entry program, which will help to computerize health practices and reduce the high frequency of surgical and medical order errors.