The text describes patient safety as freedom from accidental
injury. The patient is the center of the healthcare experience. Providers
strive to ensure the best for their patients. Providers must understand that
patient’s safety is the upmost of priorities. In such a delicate field, healthcare
professionals deal with the lives of people. It is up to the providers to
ensure that they are free from harm, pain, injury, suffering, and the least
negative experience as possible. When patients unfortunately experience harm,
pain, injury and suffering from a health care encounter, that is considered to
be an adverse affect. Patients, the center of healthcare, determine whether an
adverse event has occurred.
A
provider will only know if an adverse event has occurred if the patient has
informed him of any pain they are experiencing. Providers are unable to feel or
experience what the patient experiences. They must rely on the accounts of the patients
to determine if they have been adversely affected. Sometimes if the patient is not in a position
to express any pain, this may be considered a way a provider has determined the
occurrence of an adverse affect. An example I have in mind is from an episode
of Grey’s Anatomy. Although the story was fictitious, it is real life situation
that has the possibility to occur. A patient underwent a brain procedure. The
attending physician was called out of the latter part of the surgery. He
allowed for his two residents to complete the surgery, which they had the capabilities
to do successfully. The residents took upon themselves to remove more from the
brain than that was authorized. When the patient woke up from the surgery, the residents’
unauthorized removal affected the speech of the patient. The patient was unable
to speak properly, and even though they literally could not express their
suffering, by being unable to communicate have confirmed an adverse event.
Providers may believe they are in a position
to judge the occurrence of an adverse event; however, it is a very subjective
topic. What one patient may perceive to be painful may be tolerated by another
patient. What may be a traumatic outcome for one patient may not be for
another. With such high subjectivity, it is ultimately up to the patient to
inform the provider.
The
determination of adverse events is not always in clear black and white. It must
be understood that some medical interventions cause harm. Chemotherapy, for
example, is very difficult to endure. Although the radiation kills the
cancerous cells in the body, the side effects leave the patient with
characteristics of an adverse event. They experience pain, physical and
emotional suffering. However, the goal of the intervention is being achieved.
In this case, it is difficult to determine if the patient is experiencing an
adverse event. However, even though
these side effects are known to occur, does not make the procedure acceptable
as is. Scientists and researchers need to be hard at work to create treatments
that will not leave the patients physically distraught. It serves as a
contradiction, in order to get better in one area they must deteriorate in
others. Adverse events should be used to motivate researchers to continue to
improve the patient experience.
Reference:
Ranson, E. R., Joshi, M. S., and Nash, D. B. (2011). The healthcare quality book. 2nd ed. Chicago: Health Administration Press.
