A new study conducted at a local hospital reaches a common-sense, but overlooked answer to reducing medical mistakes. The study found that having doctors and nurses practice or simulate stressful situations, and how they would act and communicate can reduce medical malpractice. In the study, the hospital recreated the sometimes chaotic environment of a labor and delivery room. Many times, medical errors and mistakes in the delivery room can lead to catastrophic birth injuries. In this instance, the doctors and nurses staged a post partum hemorrhage to run through the appropriate protocol when faced with this dangerous condition.
One of the biggest lessons learned was the importance of effective communication. In fact – poor communication – whether the failure of the health care team to convey accurate information, to provide updates in a timely manner, or to ask the right questions of a patient – can have disastrous and potentially fatal, consequences. Thus, the importance of being able to convey critical information while under stress is crucial to reducing medical errors. Clear communication during handoffs of patients from one caregiver to another is crucial to patient safety,
Running through how the health care team would respond and communicate with each other as well as with the next health care team reduced the incidence of error greatly.
Hopefully this "practice" will translate into improved care and reduce the incidence of medical negligence.
For more information or if you or a loved one has been injured as the result of a preventable medical mistake, please contact the experienced California birth injury lawyers at Bostwick & Peterson, LLP for an immediate consultation.