My grandfather, age 73 has had trouble with his hip for several years. he had it replaced last week. He was previously taking morphine 45mg, 3 times a day. The hosp had down that he was taking 15mg 3 times a day, so they did not give him enough pain meds in recovery. My mom and I tried to tell them he was in too much pain, and told them what he was taking, the nurses were very nice first but then later on they were almost arguing with us, then they suddenly realized they had made a mistake, quickly walked away from us, went over to the nurses station, talked very quietly for about 5 minutes with their backs to us, paged the doctor,then one nurse came over, and adjusted his pain drip. It looked to me as if they made a mistake and tried to cover it up. My mom and I did not make a big deal about it. They were extra nice afterwards. How often does stuff like this happen? Do they just try to cover mistakes all the time? What if it had been his heart medicine???No wonder I hate doctors!!!
2007-01-19 02:01:09 · 12 answers · asked by Melissa 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Medicine
With all due respect, this doesn't give one a reason to "hate doctors." Medical errors are extremely common, but it is not a problem with the physicians, so much as it is a system wide problem, as you just found out with this experience.
Any small error along the way in the course of a patient's care can cascade into a significant mistake. It could start with something as simple as an error in transcription on a pharmacy list. . .failing to check an ID band before a blood draw or before transporting a patient for surgery. . .failing to check John Smith's birthday before a procedure so you know you have the correct John Smith. . .failing to check to make sure the right leg is to be operated and not the left one. . .etc., etc., etc..
A book was written several years ago on this problem. I believe it is called "Internal Bleeding" and it explores the problem of errors within hospitals and ways they can be avoided. It uses the airline industry as an analogy and is very informative. You might want to check it out.
2007-01-19 02:43:04 · answer #1 · answered by Amy P 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Medication errors do happen often since us nurses have waaay too many patients------please try to understand it is not out fault and we would like to spent more time with patient care if only it could be possible----your grandpa was on quite a high dose and it is possible the dr ordered a lower dosage 1st so he could be monitored for breathing status for awhile before going for a stronger dose later-----we cannot up the dose without a doctors approval.45mg of morphine is considered a fairly hefty dose.especially after surgery.
2007-01-20 01:01:17 · answer #2 · answered by EZMZ 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Nurses are people, and people make mistakes. They did not try to cover anything up with the Dr. When a medication error is made, the Dr. is to be notified and a report is made. Please believe that the last thing a nurse wants to do is have a medication error, especially involving narcotics. Your Grandfather is fortunate to have you and your Mom looking after his well-being. Many of our elderly do not. Many nurses resent the direct involvement of family members for reasons I will not go into due to limited space :-) Keep up the good work!!
2007-01-20 07:01:18 · answer #3 · answered by summersailing 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is a huge nursing shortage, and not all doctors are very cordial when nurses call them to correct orders. It is also very easy for errors to be made unintentionally when prescribing medications due to patient load, misinformation or missing information. It might not have been that they were trying to cover up, just a series of unfortunate events.
2007-01-19 16:55:14 · answer #4 · answered by Haveitlookedat 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Physicians and nurses are human, too; and they make mistakes. Why we expect this select few to be perfect is beyond me -( I think it has to do with the legal system).
This looks to be a transcription error. The patient's progress notes and history are deemed to be accurate. If a health care provider acts on an erroneous entry, that's the fault of the transcriber. Its certainly not any reason to hate doctors.
2007-01-19 10:49:12 · answer #5 · answered by davidosterberg1 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The problem was not a "medical" mistake the problem "they did not give him enough pain meds" the DEA has been down the healthcare communities throat playing 'I Spy' on Pain Relief Doctors on one side and the patients looking to sue them on the other for under treating pain. What is needed is LAWS restricting the DEA from harrassing healthcare doctors, contact your local Lawmaker and see how he feels,, I can guarantee he/she has already gotten a letter from me. I suffer Chronic Intractable Pain and cannot get pain medication without signing a waiver of my fourth amendment rights ,,,,I won't do it as a matter of principal.
2007-01-19 12:03:24 · answer #6 · answered by pompanopete0 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's called human error. I know we expect doctors to be perfect and we put all our trust in their hands, but really they are just like everyone else. They are not perfect and they do make mistakes. I think it happens a lot especially when they have so many patients to care for. It shouldn't happen, but it does.
2007-01-19 20:22:28 · answer #7 · answered by hotmama 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
About 2-4 % However, in most of the cases, the error does not show up and passes off unnoticed. Hence, several doctors are saved from losing their licence
2007-01-19 10:12:39 · answer #8 · answered by RMG 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Its alarmingly common here in Australia too. Along with lots of other medical mistakes. They all cost lives, unfortunately with the current doctor shortage we have here, the problem will probably worsen.
2007-01-19 10:08:11 · answer #9 · answered by minimouse68 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Very Common. In the USA, around 7000 people die due to prescription script errors.
http://news.com.com/2061-10786_3-5628838.html
2007-01-19 10:05:57 · answer #10 · answered by Gerry S 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋