Medical errors

As a medical professional, it is important to ensure that medical terms are spelled correctly and that the correct abbreviations are used because such information is used by the patient when purchasing medication or on follow-ups (Bernstein, 2004).  Since patients are attended to by more than one practitioner, using the correct abbreviations ensures that patients understand what they are being treated for and what medicine to buy when they leave the health facility. If wrong abbreviations are used, the patient may end up buying wrong pills or get misdiagnosed by other doctors during follow-ups especially if treated by another doctor. 

The wrong abbreviations and spellings could have serious consequences for both the patient and the caregivers.  On the side of the patient, wrong abbreviations may mislead the patient into thinking that these suffer a serious condition even when this may not be the case.  When wrong abbreviations translate to serious ailments, patients are forced to unnecessarily deal with the trauma associated with such diseases (Connor & Stanford, 2014).  On the side of the caregivers, wrong spellings and abbreviations could result in lawsuits especially if they result in the patient being misdiagnosed. Since the patient is under the care of medical professionals, they have the right to take legal action if misled by the mistakes made by caregivers when writing down abbreviations or due to spelling mistakes.

In order to avoid making spelling mistakes or using the wrong abbreviations, medical professionals must take it upon themselves to learn the proper spelling and abbreviations for the medical terms they use.  Since the terms may differ depending on location or type of institution, it is the caregiver’s responsibility to ensure that they learn the appropriate terms before using them with patients.  Lastly, medical professionals should go over any written information before presenting it to patients so that they can identify any mistakes and rectify them before presenting it to the patients

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Berntsen, K. J. (2004). The patient's guide to preventing medical errors. Westport, Conn:             Praeger.

Stanford, C. C., & Connor, V. J. (2014). Ethics for health professionals. Burlington, MA: Jones   & Bartlett Learning.