How Medical Errors Affect Health Care Supervisors

The healthcare delivery framework is a marketplace which facilitates the provision of expert care to patients and their subsequent family members and the collection, storage, and trading of data. The efficacy of the healthcare delivery system requires the effective management of the patient information to facilitate the acquisition and exchange of patient data and to prevent uncertainties; this may be enhanced by establishing an effective performance management system to support and monitor data processes and healthcare professionals’ workflow. The improper management of clinical workflow procedures, healthcare practitioners, and data systems usually lead to the prevalence of medical errors. The phrase medical error may be defined as the failure to complete a planned action as intended or the utilization of a wrong plan to attain a particular aim; it is the act of commission or omission in planning or implementation which contributes to an unintended outcome (Encinasa & Hellinger, 2014). Studies associate medical errors with various effects, for example, high morbidity rates, mortality rates, and economic burden on society. According to a study conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, medical errors account for accounted for over one billion deaths in the United States during the year 2009 (Riga, 2017). During the same year, the aggregate yearly cost of measurable medical errors in the U.S amounted to more than one billion U.S dollars (Riga 2017). Medical errors usually impact all stakeholders within the health care sector negatively, thereby creating a domino effect. Health care institutions, health care practitioners, patients, and their respective families, and the community as a whole frequently share the burden caused by the medical error equally. In the paper, I will critically analyze the effects of medical errors on health care supervisors. 

The Effects of Medical Errors on Health Care Supervisors 

In complex health care settings, medical errors are usually unavoidable. Health care institutions regularly offer patients impacted by medical errors and their respective families counseling following the incidence and consequently overlook the effects of these errors on health practitioners. With health care practitioners holding themselves to high degrees of excellence while performing their respective duties and the society expecting them to be free of errors during their practice, the execution of a medical error by a physician is likely to increase his job-related stress and trigger high emotional distress. According to a study conducted by Mamede, Schmidt, and Rikers (2017), physicians often report various psychological conditions, for instance, guilt after executing a medical error; they often feel upset, scared, and self-critical. Additionally, medical errors also impact their levels of job satisfaction, the capacity to sleep, self-worth, and their relationships with colleagues negatively. A study conducted by Rechmann, Westbrook, Koh, Lo, and Day (2012) which involved 184 residents revealed that medical errors often cause significant decreases in the quality of life and significant increases in burnout and depression rates among health care residents. According to the study, one component associated with medical errors is determining how and whether to disclose the information concerning the errors to patients. Health care supervisors often contemplate various factors, for instance, the risks associated with destroying the relationship that exists amid the patient and the doctor, potential malpractice litigations, and subsequent job sanctions before disclosing the error to patients. 

Although health care supervisors understand that the likelihood of the occurrence of medical errors in their practice is common, unrealistic expectations among the members of the society, patients, and clinicians tend to create an environment whereby mistakes represent the failure in morals or cause for stigmatization. A study conducted by Encinasa and Hellinger (2014) revealed that surgical and medical physicians often experience intense negative emotions due to the execution of a medical error but lack forums that promote non-judgmental, healthy, and open discussions concerning their mistakes. Additionally, different researchers highlight the everyday experiences suffered by physicians following a medical error. In a structured interview conducted by Riga (2017) involving medical specialists and internists, respondents delineated dysphoric feelings as a common psychological response following an error with many experiencing feelings of humiliation, embarrassment, anger, guilt, and fear which persists for months or years. In another interview conducted by Reckmann et al . (2012) involving family physicians, similar themes emerged when respondents were asked to recollect their worst medical error. Frequently reported emotions during the study included fear (fifty percent), shame (fifty-four percent), self-blame (eighty-six percent), disappointment (ninety-three percent), and self-doubt (ninety-six percent) (Reckmann et al ., 2012). The emotions mentioned above often arise partly due to the profound sense of vocation and the high professional standards espoused by many clinicians. Administrative investigations and malpractice suits may also prolong and heighten these emotions dramatically by forcing the involved health care practitioner to re-live negative feelings and events for years or months. In a survey involving 3171 physicians from different specialties in Canada and the United States and aimed at evaluating the effects of medical errors on health care practitioners, similar responses also emerged. In the research, sixty-one percent of the participants reported the prevalence of anxiety concerning future errors, forty-four percent reported significant confidence loss in their practice, and forty-two percent reported sleeping difficulties (Chaudhury, Mahmood, & Valente, 2013). Additionally, forty-two percent reported reduced levels of job satisfaction, and thirteen percent reported that their reputation had been tarnished following a medical error (Chaudhury, Mahmood, & Valente, 2013). The respondents’ nationality and specialty did not impact the emotional effects of medical errors; this implies that the issue is crucial across all care settings. 

Medical errors often contribute to the already increased stress of medical work, and this possibly exacerbates the health care supervisor’s increased risk of suicide, substance abuse, and depression (Riga, 2017). For specific health care supervisors, the lingering emotional effects of a medical error may cause disabling psychiatric disorders, for example, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The emotional effects of medical errors may also affect the job performance of physicians substantially. In prospective longitudinal research involving registered nurses, self-perceived medical errors were interlinked with increased levels of depression and fatigue (Chaudhury Mahmood, & Valente, 2013). Moreover, the registered nurses who experienced fatigue reported high rates of medical errors in successive months (Chaudhury, Mahmood, & Valente, 2013). The study's findings evince a vicious cycle whereby negative emotions and errors relate. Therefore, programs aimed at breaking this cycle and supporting health care practitioners after medical errors is essential to improve aspects such as provider well-being, staff retention, malpractice, and patient safety. Various groups of health care practitioners are likely to suffer the adverse psychological effects of medical errors; they include doctors who were dissatisfied with the disclosure of their severe medical error and female physicians. 

Conclusion 

Medical errors are caused primarily due to various human factors. Medical errors due to human factors may occur following the correct implementation of an incorrect plan sequence, or from the incorrect application of a correct plan sequence. Medical errors may be due to the advanced complexities in the health care system, issues concerning, knowledge, competency, and training, communication failures, and equipment errors. Some of the effects of medical errors on health care supervisors include psychological conditions such as guilt, decreased levels of job satisfaction, depression, substance abuse, and stigmatization by society. To adequately address the issue concerning medical errors and their effects on health care supervisors, organizations should implement safe practices during healthcare delivery, improve performance standards in patient safety, offer support to health care practitioners, and promote safe medical practice through tools and protocols, research, and effective leadership. 

References 

Chaudhury, H., Mahmood, A., & Valente, M. (2013). The Effect of Environmental Design on Reducing Nursing Errors and Increasing Efficiency in Acute Care Settings: A Review and Analysis of the Literature. Environment & Behavior , 41(6), 755–786. 

Encinosa, W. E., & Hellinger, F. J. (2014). The Impact of Medical Errors on Ninety-Day Costs and Outcomes: An Examination of Surgical Patients. Health Services Research , 43(6), 2067–2085. 

Mamede, S., Schmidt, H. G., & Rikers, R. (2017). Diagnostic errors and reflective practice in medicine. Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice , 13(1), 138–145. 

Reckmann, M. H., Westbrook, J. I., Koh, Y., Lo, C., & Day, R. O. (2012). Does Computerized Provider Order Entry Reduce Prescribing Errors for Hospital Inpatients? A Systematic Review. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association , 16(5), 613–623. 

Riga, M. (2017). Impact of medical errors and malpractice on health economics, quality, and patient safety . Hershey, PA: Medical Information Science Reference.