Blog #3: Patient's Perspective

To begin, I would like to take the opportunity to define adverse event as the following, “an injury caused by medical management rather than the underlying condition of the patient” (Kohn et al., -----). I do believe that the perspective of the patient is the most important determinantas to whether an adverse event has occurred. It can be said that at times, an adverse event may not have occurred; nevertheless, as health care practitioners abide by the law of ‘duty to care’, it is important for them to acknowledge the current situation. The term ‘adverse event’ in itself is stating that a condition has been brought upon that is out of the reach of the patient. In other words, the error derived from the health care organization. To prevent lawsuits and liabilities and to satisfy legal criteria, a patient’s perspective must be considered an important determinantas to determine whether or not an adverse event has truly occurred. If health care organizations choose to refuse a patient treatment or refuse to prioritize such an event, then it falls upon the facility/hospital that has failed to provide and to meet a reasonable standard of care for the patient in question.

As a health care professional, the patient’s point of view is extremely important. Without the patient’s opinion and information based on how they currently feel, a proper medical diagnosis cannot necessarily be provided. Personally, I believe that regardless of how big or how small an issue truly is, the patient always comes first and they should be treated, or at least stabilized. Working at the Community Living Center at the Orlando VA Medical Center, often times we see patients who fear to acknowledge a problem that has occurred or something that they are currently feeling. In reality, I believe that patients should share their perspective when an adverse event has occurred. After all, they are the ones who have truly been affected. If health care physicians and medical personnel have committed an error, whether by carelessness or mistake, I personally believe that they should seek a solution to the adverse event and realize what the problem is. If not, this act of negligence will indeed repeat itself.

I try to think about this particular situation this way… imagine someone dialing 9-1-1. Now imagine them not being acknowledged because the representative on the other line ‘believes’ or ‘assumes’ that it is truly not an emergency. If the issue is put to the side, regardless of whether there is truly an emergency or not, something has to be done. This is just to avoid bigger issues and to take the proper precautionary actions to prevent an adverse event in the near future. In the end, the primary goal of any health care organization is to ensure the patient’s safety. Therefore, it can be said that the perspective of a patient is essential to ensure the quality of care provided by physicians and medical personnel.

• References
• Kohn, L. T., Corringan, J., Donaldson, M. S., & Institute of Medicine (U.S.) Committee on Quality of Health Care In America. (2000). To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System. New York: National Academies P.