Medical Errors

Medical errors are among the most common issues in health care today. Medical errors include medication errors, poor documentation, diagnostic errors, equipment failure, and other minor errors which include lack of hand washing. Many types of medical errors are overlooked, and they happen to cause big problems that could lead to injuries, emotional abuse, or even death. Something similar happened to Mrs. A, who had been hospitalized for an aortic aneurysm at the age of seventy-four. She soon developed symptoms of infection caused by lack of hand washing. She ended up in the hospital longer than usual. However, this infection turned into a drug- resistant septicemia which required intravenous antibiotics. To worsen Mrs. A's problems, she was given antibiotics to which she was allergic, but luckily she survived. Should medical errors be reported to reduce occurrences or should they just be regarded as negligence and be forgotten? All errors, regardless of being small or big, should be reported.

In the case of Strubhart v. Perry Memorial Hospital Trust, a personal representative of the infant, Kristi L. Strubhart sued Perry Memorial Hospital for negligence after causing Geoffrey B. Tearney's, an infant's death. The infant's mother was taken to the hospital for labor and was seen by the attending physician, Dr. Seal. The doctor was a private physician but was allowed to use the facilities at the hospital. After a difficult birth, Geoffrey was placed in the nursery by Dr. Seal. Dr. Seal left the hospital and left Geoffrey in the hands of a medical student and other nurses. They were all informed about Geoffrey's traumatic delivery. Nurse Bowles called the medical student to check Geoffrey a few times during the early hours of the day. The medical student said Geoffrey was fine. Hospital records showed that vitals were not taken two times. Geoffrey was taken to Oklahoma City Hospital after 7:00 a.m. due to hypovolemic shock caused by subgaleal hematoma, probably from the improper forceps delivery. The infant suffered from internal bleeding and died of hypovolemic shock in the evening. The plaintiff sued the hospital employees for negligent care of the infant. Nurse Bowles should have contacted any doctor during that time or the infant should have been hospitalized to a neonatal care facility. The plaintiff also exposed many other negligent cases committed by Nurse Bowels and Dr. Seal. The plaintiff and Dr. Seal settled for $150,000.00 and $500,000.00 from the hospital (Strubhart). This case connects to my dilemma because the nurses were negligent in the care after knowing about the forceps delivery. If the nurses paid more attention to their work, this error could have been prevented and Geoffrey might have lived.

Similarly, these errors take place in the pediatrics department where children's prescription doses have to be measured and given according to the children's height and weight. Minor errors like a missing decimal can claim lives. According to Tess M. Pape in the article "Searching for the Final Answer: Factors Contributing to Medication Administration Errors," three nurses were accused of negligent homicide as a result of a medication error because they misread the physician's order and gave an extra dose of penicillin G intravenously to a newborn. The nurses were not familiar with the correct dose and route of administration (Pape). Two of the nurses agreed to plea bargains with no jail penalty while the other nurse pleaded innocent and demanded a trial, where she was declared not guilty. This error was made due to lack of knowledge. This error would have been prevented if the nurses asked for clarification