Patient Perspective

In your own words, explain why or why not the perspective of the patient is the most important determinant as to whether an adverse event as occured.

Adverse events are unfortunate events that can happen within the healthcare system. Adverse describes a negative consequence of care that has resulted in unintended injury or illness, which may or may not have been preventable. (Kizer & Stegun, 2005)

When determining whether or not an adverse event as occurred, the perspective of the patient should not be the only determinant factor. Even though the perspective of the patient is critical in determining whether or not an adverse event has happen, the perspective of the healthcare clinician should be equally important. Even though the patient has been misfortunate to have this adverse event happen to them, a lot of times, the patient does not have expertise into what has actually happened. Due to the patient not being as knowledgeable as the healthcare clinician, it is important to have the medical background of the clinician to help with the determination.

I believe there should be a full investigation done by the facility and also the patient or the family of the patient. By having the perspective of both the patient and the clinician allows for a more detailed and in-depth look as to what really happened to cause this event. Patients have a tendency to over-react, and overreacting causes mislead judgment. When something as serious as an adverse event happens, a lot of times patients are looking to see how much money they can get out of a situation. As sad as that sounds, people will look to see how much they can sue for.

There are various monitoring and detecting systems within the healthcare systems that can help detect an adverse event. For example, there are trigger alerts, these alerts help provide providers with a detailed examination of patient records. Clinical triggers help clinicians identify for potential errors, and these clinical triggers can be incorporated within the computerized physician order and even electronic medical records. (Savitz)

Even though there are many systems in place to help avoid errors, nothing is completely error proof. Despite all the precautions and preventions methods in place, there are always some unforeseen things that can happen.



References:

1. Savitz, L. & Bernard, S. Measuring & Assessing Adverse Medical Events to Promote Patient Safety.
2. K. Kizer & Stegun, M. Serious Reporable Adverse Events In Health Care. Retrieved June 38, 2010 from National Medical Library http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/bookshelf/br.fcgi?book=aps4&part=A7695