Articles Tagged With: communication
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Ethics in the ICU: Negotiating Requests for Inappropriate Treatments
When requests for potentially inappropriate treatments occur, the initial steps include increasing communication and improving mutual understanding to find a path that is appropriate while honoring the goals and concerns expressed by patients and their families. -
Ethicists Challenged to Respond to Physicians’ Inappropriate Behavior
If a physician yells at a nurse or patient because of a disagreement over the treatment plan, involvement by human resources or another department is needed. But if a physician’s belligerence or disrespect affects someone’s decision-making, that is an ethical problem.
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Medication History Often Inaccurate on Inpatient Side
Medication histories were more accurate when obtained by pharmacy technicians, according to a recent study. Of 183 patients admitted through the ED in 2017 and 2018, medication histories were accurate just 38% of the time with the usual process (typically, a nurse reviews the medication list and updates it accordingly) and 70% of the time with pharmacy technicians.
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Aortic Aneurysm Claims Generate Highest Average Indemnity for ED
ED malpractice claims involving aortic aneurysm generated higher average indemnity ($369,872) than any other medical condition, according to a recent analysis. Failure to timely diagnose is the most common allegation in malpractice actions, followed closely by poor communication between providers.
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Clear Masks Improve Patient Communication, But Surgeons Hesitant
Recent research at a hospital revealed patients preferred clear masks because they allowed them to see the clinician’s face, but more than half of surgeons said they were unlikely to use a clear mask. -
Best Practices for Handling Adverse Events
Mistakes and near-miss errors occur in every healthcare setting. With proper planning, surgery professionals can minimize adverse events and react appropriately if they do occur to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
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Diagnostic Errors Often Prompt Patients to Sue
The main reason patients sue is for an adverse event caused by delayed, missed, or failed diagnosis. Another reason patients sue is due to failure of communication, which led to an adverse event. Efforts to convey a sense of caring can reduce the likelihood of a lawsuit. -
Avoid the Common Mistakes That Encourage Patients to Sue
Much of risk management is focused on avoiding liability and discouraging lawsuits, but what really makes a patient or family decide to sue? Much of the motivation comes from how they feel after interactions with physicians and staff — or the lack thereof. The biggest factor in a patient or family filing a medical malpractice lawsuit is the patient-physician relationship. -
‘Total Breakdown in Communication’ Led to Settlement of Advance Directive Case
EDs can learn a lot from this particular case about how to avoid litigation for disregarding advance directives.
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HCAHPS, Other Satisfaction Scores May Suffer from COVID-19 Effects
Before the pandemic, 73% of patients surveyed said they were very satisfied with the communication with their healthcare providers. During the pandemic, that figure nosedived to 60%. The number of patients who said they were not satisfied at all tripled.