Lack of System Thinking and Medical Errors (Term Paper Sample)

Lack of system thinking and medical errors
[Name]
[Instructor]
Introduction
Patient safety is a crucial theme in the health society. Health care delivery is usually based on a "first, do no harm" principle throughout the history of medical practices. In the recent years, there has been a failure in the medical practice to live successfully up to the principal of patient safety while delivering treatments.
There is evidence that a reasonable number of patients get injured from their healthcare which sometimes lead to permanent injuries, death or overstay in hospitals. Such incidences arise not out of negligence of the health professionals but because the health system is so complex such that effective treatment and outcome for each patient relies on many factors, not only the competence of a single healthcare provider.
Structures and information in the health sector
Whenever so many professionals (doctors, nurses, social workers and dentists) are involved in delivering a treatment, it becomes so difficult to ensure patient safety in such an environment. Unless the system of providing care is structured in such a way that ensures timely and complete information that brings understanding to all the professionals involved.
Prescribing a medication without the consideration of the possible underlying effects on the health of patients or the administering of many drugs without giving attention to the possibility of adverse drug reactions have the potential of affecting a patient’s health. Misuse of technology, lack of proper communication between the various level of health provision and the delays in giving treatment have harmed patients. This point is more specific in third world countries where hospitals are few and crowded, in such conditions, it becomes difficult to attend to patients who might be in need of quick medical attention (Don & Taghreed, 2009).
In Kenya, there have been strikes by health workers due to poor structures in the health system. The health care providers went on strike on two occasions in 2014 complaining of poor pay and lack of medical facilities that are necessary for delivering treatments. This condition was a result of the new constitutions that the Kenyan government adopted in 2011. According to the new constitution, health care became a devolved function and the responsibility for creating health system was left to the county governments. The transfer of the responsibility was not done in an effective manner, and the county governments were not well funded to handle the service. This situation almost paralyzed the health services in Kenya and many lives were lost during the strikes.
Patient safety
Patient safety is a broad spectrum that involves the latest technologies like the electronic prescription and upgrading hospitals to meet standards and deliver extra services like washing hands properly and improving team-work among the health workers. When a hospital exists like a family, and there is proper communication between the staffs, medical errors that result from negligence and misinformation are avoided. The features of patient safety have a little to do with financial resources and more to do with the commitment of health providers to practice safety (Rahab, 2002).
Health workers can improve patient safety and reduce medical errors by interacting with patients and their families, following procedures, learning from the previous errors and maintaining effective communication with the health team. Such activities cut down costs because they reduce the harm caused to patients. A common trait among the medical professionals is to get defensive whenever there is a medical error like a wrong prescription. This is out of the fear of losing their medical license if they are found. This practice has made it difficult to correct and find permanent solutions to past errors. If mistakes can be reported and deeply analyzed, they can help identify the contributing factors. The understanding of the conditions that leads to medical errors is essential in finding changes that are going to prevent errors from being made in the future (Rahab, 2002). Almost every physician works hard to avoid mistakes at all cost, and there seems to be no room for making effort to better the current standards.
System failures
Adverse situations in the health system have been recognized in the past. However, the extent to which they are given attention varies across health structures and health workers. Misinformation and on the degree of harm, and the fact that many errors do not result in harm at all, explains why it has taken too long to prioritize patient safety. A medical mistake may affect only one patient at a particular time, and a physician may only observe an adverse event irregularly. Mistakes and system errors do not occur at the same time or place, and thus it is sometimes difficult to mask the degree of errors in the system.
The collection of patient outcome information and its publication is not a requirement in all health institutions. However, studies based on patient outcome shows that the adverse events as a result of medical faults can be prevented. Many studies confirm that medical mistakes are rampant in the health system and that costs are significant. In Australia, for example, medical faults led to over 18,000 deaths and disabled over 50,000 patients. That is quite a significant figure (Yogi, 2000)
In the year 2002, the WHO agreed to a resolution based on patient safety due to the need to minimize harm and suffering that patients and families go through as a result of medical errors. The resolution was also based on the economic advantages of enhancing patient safety. Research shows that extra hospitalization costs, infections acquired as a result of medical errors and medical expenses have cost some nations between billions of dollars in a year.
Patient safety and the blame culture in the health system
The way failures and mistakes in the health care have been handled in the past is referred to as the person approach. An individual directly involved in the incident that led to an error is singled out and hold accountable. This action of blaming has been the traditional way of solving health-care issues. This culture of blame has paralyzed the growth of the health systems. System improvements are not possible where there is so much focus on blaming particular individuals. The focus is more on the individual staff instead of how the system failed in protecting the patient and preventing a wrong medication from being administered (Astika, 2014).
However, system approach to solving medical errors do not imply that system thinking promotes a "blame-free" culture. In all medical cultures, health providers are required to be accountable and uphold high standards while handling sick people. Competence and ethics form a crucial part of the medical profession.
In learning about system thinking in the medical field. Students ought to recognize that as trusted health providers, they have to maintain responsibility and accountability in their actions. Health workers b...