Answer 2 for HCA 675 What are the risks of revealing mistakes in an open culture, as a way of being transparent with patients and families?
Revealing medical mistakes in an open culture in order to be transparent with patients and families is associated with certain risks. For instance, it would lead to guilt and blame. A doctor risks being blamed and even held guilty for disclosing a medical error (Dekker, 2017). There is a penalty related to medical mistakes made by physicians. Upon the disclosure of such occurrences, the patient and the family may decide to sue the doctor to a court of law. The doctor risks losing his/her license or even going to jail. Criticism from patients, families, and other medical staff may make the physician develop low self-esteem. Further, they may have a feeling of unworthiness, demotivation, and even decide to quit the profession (Goodman & Kalish, 2017). Disclosing medical errors may impact the physician’s reputation and integrity. As such, doctors tend to conceal errors to avoid losing respect and trust from patients and other health providers.
On the other hand, concealing medical mistakes may lead to the death of a patient when the situation becomes extreme. It is necessary to disclose medical errors because it is only through that can one learn. Concealing what one does not know may create similar problems in the future (Goodman & Kalish, 2017). A doctor who realizes they have committed an error due to a lack of knowledge and goes ahead to conceal it is likely to commit further errors in the future. Hiding medical errors is against medical ethics. Perpetrators may be brought to justice, have their license recalled and put to jail. Doctors believe that errors should be disclosed to help the patient before things get more complicated. Generally, many medical mistakes can be pardoned because human is to err, but it is almost impossible to understand a physician who hides medical errors (Dekker, 2017).
References
Dekker, S. (2017). The field guide to human error investigations. London: Routledge.
Goodman & Kalish. (2017). Medical Professionals Go to Great Lengths to Conceal Malpractice. Retrieved from https://www.sgklawyers.com/blog/2019/05/conceal-malpractice.shtml
