The Patient's Perspective in Adverse Events

Adverse events, while unintentional still cause hundreds of thousands of injuries, illnesses, and even deaths annually in the United States (Attarian, 2008). Adverse events for the most part are caused by human error or systematic error that causes human error (Attarian, 2008). Evidence-based medicine (EBM) exists to help prevent these issue yet they still occur. So why do we still rely on EBM? Should we not ask patients as they are the recipients of medicine and they can first feel adverse affects?

In the opinion of this writer, EBM should be the primary determinant of adverse events. While it is a tragedy that patients are harmed due to medical error, the proportion is relatively small in comparison to the amount of patients. Placing that amount of pressure on patients is unfair. The purpose of healthcare providers is to take care of patients. They are trained and educated for that task. Experience helps hone these skills and improve the care patients receive. Patients are already nervous about other health issues and worrying about dying due to medical error can create a hyper-vigilant state to the point of paranoia. Furthermore, with the influx of medical information available on the internet, patients may wrongly perceive symptoms or develop hypochondriac tendencies. In addition, not all patients will be able to perceive adverse events (Ransome, Joshi, Nash, & Ransome, 2011, p. 244). For example, patients in surgery my not immediately feel the left over cotton ball in their body until much later.

This topic is the responsibility of medical providers. Facilities know the causes of human errors, such as fatigue, failure to follow procedure or incorrect information. These need to be addressed to prevent adverse events from re-occurring. In this way, facilities can help ensure the safety of both patients and employees. If a tired nurse is making mistakes, instead of blaming the nurse, allow him to rest before continuing work and prevent self-injury and injury to others.

Adverse events are preventable and facilities need to ensure they are doing all possible measures to prevent them from happening.

Attarian, D. E. (2008, May). www.aaos.org. (S. T. Canale, Ed.) Retrieved June 19, 2012, from American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/may08/managing6.asp

Ransom, E. R., Joshi, M. S., Nash, D. B., & Ransom, S. B. (2011). The healthcare quality book: Vision, strategy and tools (2nd ed.). Chicago: Health Administration Press.