Going into the hospital as a patient – for any reason – can be quite scary. You’ve probably heard countless hospital horror stories, and on top of this, you obviously have some type of health issue that requires a hospital stay. If you will be a patient in a hospital for any length of time, you need to be aware of common hospital mistakes.
What are the Most Common Hospital Mistakes?
The most common hospital mistakes that are made fall into specific categories. These categories include confusion, doctor’s mistakes, surgical errors, diagnostic errors, wrong site surgeries, and medication errors.
There is little that you can do to prevent doctor’s mistakes, wrong site surgeries, surgical errors, or diagnostic errors from occurring, but there are steps that you can take to prevent confusion mistakes and medication errors. As with anything else, you absolutely must be your own advocate.
How Can You Help Hospital Mistakes to be Avoided?
When you are given medication to take, ask what it is and what the dosage is. Ask why it has been prescribed for you, and by which doctor. Force the nurse or medication aide to double check your records, no matter how rushed or busy they may seem, before you take that medication. If you are receiving medications by IV, do the same thing. If you are in a drugged state, make sure that you arrange to have a loved one there asking those questions in advance.
Confusion errors typically refer to confusing one patient with another one. This happens more often than you might think, especially if you are in a semi-private room or a ward – where other patients are in the same room. The nurses, doctors, and other staff should be addressing you by name, and if they aren’t, ask them to just so that you know they are not confusing you with someone else.
What Should You Do if a Hospital Mistake Occurs?
Sometimes, no matter how hard you work to make sure that hospital mistakes do not occur, they will occur. Because these mistakes can be so serious, leading to potential death, infection, increased medical expenses, and permanent damage, you need to speak to a patient advocate through the hospital immediately to bring the mistake to their attention, and depending on the damage that has been done, you may need to seek the services of an attorney as well. Do this very soon, while all of the details are fresh in your mind, and get your hands on as much documentation as possible.
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