After the IOM report was published, more attention was focused on the issue of medical errors by the federal government, regulatory agencies, healthcare personnel and consumers. The IOM defines a medical error as “the failure of a planned action to be completed as intended or the use of a wrong plan to achieve an aim.”

        One of the first questions commonly asked is, “Why are so many errors occurring?” Typically, individuals have been blamed for many of these mistakes. This “blame game” is the reason many healthcare providers are reluctant to report errors. In reality, however, errors are often the result of faulty systems that allow them to happen. Improvement of these systems can result in a dramatic decrease in errors at a facility. For example, a computerized medication system can help to prevent errors due to poor hand-writing or inappropriate medication orders. Therefore, the typical ways of dealing with errors, such as blaming individuals and providing additional training for them, are less effective ways to deal with errors.

Types of medication errors

There are many types of medical errors, and they can range in severity from no ill effects to serious injury, disability, or death. Some of the more common types of errors relate to:

Medications: Errors in prescribing, transcribing, dispensing, administering or monitoring medications.
Surgery: Includes errors such as operating on the wrong site or leaving a surgical instrument inside the body.
Diagnosis/Treatment: Failure to properly diagnose or treat in a timely manner
Equipment: Errors due to misuse or lack of knowledge of equipment, for example.
Infection: Development of an infection as a result of receiving healthcare.
Injury: Harm occurs, such as a fall or the development of pressure ulcers.


Guidelines to Help Prevent Errors Even though medical errors are often related to systems problems, there are many things you can do to help prevent them:

Communicate effectively: Start by getting clear and accurate information about the care you are to give your assigned patients. Ask questions until you are satisfied that you have the necessary information to do your job properly. Write down any information you’ll need later.

Patients/consumers can do a lot to help prevent medical errors too! I have had many surgeries and different forms of medical treatment, and lots of different medications that I have needed to take over the years. But I have never been the victim of a medical error. It almost happened a couple times, but I was able to prevent it.

The key is communication, as was brought out.
Your doctor should tell you what he thinks is wrong AND what makes him think that is the problem. He should also tell you exactly what the treatment plan is that he will employ (what medications he wants u to take, how long u r supposed to take them, when u come back for a follow up, what to do if you get worse not better). Anything that confuses you or if the doctor says something that seems the opposite of something else said, make sure you have him clarify for you!! Because if you know what your doctor wants to do and you know what is supposed to happen then you can be aware if something is different. Like if a nurse at a hospital tries to give a medication that differs from the one you and your doctor spoke about. IF that happens tell the nurse what medicine the doctor told you to take and if she argues tell her to go check the records or even call the doctor and talk to him or make the doctor come talk to you and explain why he changed the treatment without telling you. Sometimes they forget they prescribed one drug because a more common one interacts with a medicine you are already taking for something else.

when we start accepting our errors and making efforts to correct, then may be we will improve

arrogance on the part pf the medical team is not helping the matter at all

the unnecessary "secrecy" of treatment
on part the doctors by writing in iilegible handwriting,
on the pharmacists by removing name of the drug from the prescription bottle
on the nurses by tabulating on patient's chats medication they didnt give (deceiving themselves and all the clincians)
and on the lab scientist by interperting the results in coded alphabets will never help us

finally on the part of the patients by not sueing the hospitals for malpractice