Medical professionals do their best to care for patients, but hospitals are busy, often chaotic places and mistakes can happen. Unfortunately, a mistake in this environment can result in serious harm to you or a loved one.
There are several common mistakes that hospitals make which may cause an injury or other error that can threaten your health. Familiarizing yourself with these mistakes may help you catch one and prevent harm.
Common Hospital Mistakes
Hospitals have a large responsibility to care for and protect their patients, but mistakes can happen anywhere. Here are a few common hospital mistakes that may lead to a patient injury:
- Disorganized discharging
- Medication mix-ups
- Falls caused by spills, debris or equipment in the way
- Antibiotic Misuse
- Technology complications or failure
- Understaffing
- Inadequate flow of information and/or training
- Communication errors (including poor documentation and labeling)
- Procedural mistakes
These are some potential mistakes you may encounter at a hospital which may lead to an error in your care or cause an injury during your stay. Hospitals do their best to improve your help and give quality care, but for many patients, this is not the case. According to consumerreports.org, approximately 440,000 Americans die each year due to a hospital-based mistake or error and a significant number are affected by mistake caused during a hospital stay.
Being aware of these potential errors may help protect you, but injuries may happen despite your best efforts and the efforts of healthcare professionals. If this happens, there is a way to make things right.