Analyzing a Recent Medical Error- Causes, Consequences, and Preventative Solutions

Analyzing a Recent Medical Error- Causes, Consequences, and Preventative Solutions

Over time, several medical error reports have made the news headlines globally. In Michigan, a nurse was recently charged with failure to respond to a medication error properly, resulting in serious mental and physical harm to a vulnerable male veteran. In a story that shattered the news headlines in the state, the case was reported by the district attorney and processed in a district court in the state.

The parties involved in the case included a nurse and a male veteran. The veteran was under the custody of the nurse during the incident. Per the reporting, the nurse was attending to her duties as a licensed Practioner Nurse (LPN) when she noticed that two inappropriate doses were administered to the vulnerable male veteran. However, she failed to report to or notify her supervisor or the attending physician of the incident. The ramifications of her inactions were dire. The nurse’s inaction resulted in significant physical and mental harm to the patient. Subsequently, a legal suit was filed against the nurse. Nurses have a legal and ethical mandate to fulfill their nursing duties to their patients. Not fulfilling these duties is a contravention of these provisions.

The incident is a manifestation of a nurse-related medical error. Several factors interplay in the occurrence of various medical errors. These include nurse fatigue, inadequate knowledge of medications, fragmented care approaches, and communication breakdowns in healthcare (Isaacs et al., 2023). These factors may affect the nurse’s ability to detect or respond to errors appropriately. Several interventions can be done to address these errors. These include establishing a transparent system of communication that fosters cross-discipline communications, enhancing nurses’ knowledge on medication and various aspects of patient care, including incident reporting, creating healthcare teams that employ best practices communication and teamwork such as information sharing, and addressing nursing shortages (Ahsani-Estahbanati et al., 2022). These can help reduce medical errors.

References

Ahsani-Estahbanati, E., Sergeevich Gordeev, V., & Doshmangir, L. (2022). Interventions to reduce the incidence of medical error and its financial burden in health care systems: A systematic review of Systematic Reviews. Frontiers in Medicine, 9. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.875426 

Isaacs, A., Raymond, A., & Kent, B. (2023). Content analysis of nurses’ reflections on medication errors in a regional hospital. Contemporary Nurse, 59(3), 202–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/10376178.2023.2220432

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Research online and find a recent medical error that made the news. Answer the following questions.

What happened in the incident?
Who was involved?

Analyzing a Recent Medical Error- Causes, Consequences, and Preventative Solutions

What were the ramifications for the patient and/or staff?
Reflect on the incident and think about some causes and possible interventions that could have prevented the error.