Lying could set more than your pants on fire – if it involves your doctor, it could result in serious medical complications. Being an informed patent is key to being a safe patient. Part of being an informed patient is to make sure that your doctor has access to all your medical records as well […]
Across American hospital rooms, thousands of alarms beep every minute, some for as long as ten minutes at a time until they are responded to, or shut off. The cacophony and fatigue arising from these alarms has proved to be a hazard that seriously impacts patient safety. The ECRI Institute estimates that alarm fatigue is […]
Persons, who suffer from cerebral palsy, may suffer from spasticity, especially in the upper limbs. This spasticity causes floppy muscle movements that hinder physical activity. A new study finds that Botox can actually help improve spasticity in these patients. Muscle stiffness is a major concern for children with cerebral palsy. It can cause children with […]
The number of hospital consolidations has increased, but this trend of hospitals merging with others hasn’t necessary translated into better standards of patient care or safety. According to a new study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, hospital mergers which are often promoted as a way for hospitals to cut costs and […]
Children who suffer from cerebral palsy may suffer from a number of motor and gait impairments. New studies indicate that ballet lessons, or any kind of dance classes for that matter, can help these children experience improvement in their motor and movement abilities. The study was conducted on children with cerebral palsy. All the children […]
The state of a physician’s mental health could very strongly influence his risk of committing medical errors. According to the results of a new study conducted by a group of psychiatrists, symptoms of depression in doctors are often not identified or treated, and this places patients at risk of injury or harm as a result […]
A researcher who spoke at the recent Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting discussed how a culture of “psychological safety” can help make for better and higher- performing surgical and medical teams. According to Amy Edmondson, psychological safety exists when every member of a team, right from the lowest- ranking member to the highest […]
According to the Indianapolis Star today, “women in Iraq and the Gaza Strip have a better chance of surviving childbirth than women in the 33 Indiana counties where inpatient delivery service simply does not exist.” There was a USA Today feature earlier this year which documents how mothers were dying due to preventable factors that […]
The most common medical error is also one of the deadliest. According to a new report, diagnostic errors are the most common of all medical errors. The report published by ECRI states that diagnostic errors are the most common errors in outpatient care settings. The second most common errors are medication errors, which also have […]
The British Medical Journal recently published an editorial calling for the abandonment of the term ”second victims” to refer to healthcare providers who have caused patient harm as a result of medical errors. The term “second victim” was coined by Albert Wu back in 2000 in an editorial that was also published in the British […]
