Critical Decision Making for Healthcare Providers

The consequences of failure to report the problem were patients injury due to the slippery flow caused by the spillage. Research shows that a considerable number of patients are harmed in hospitals causing a lengthy stay in the facility, severe injury and worst case scenarios, death. The patient has to endure severe pain due to a broken hip in addition to the ailment that brought her to the health facility prior to the injury. This shows the lack of patient safety of the hospital from the patient. The hospital might face legal charges thereby losing so much money in settling the lawsuit. She might resort to legal actions that may cost the hospital a lot of finances to settle. His decision not to report the spillage might also cause so much workload to another department precisely the finance and cleaning department thereby exhausting their resources. Lastly, other patients will also loose trust in the hospitals quality metrics ability to take care of its patients due to the one mistake made by Mike. This one incident might cost the hospital its patients since every individual is concerned about their safety, especially in a health setting. They will resort to thinking that the hospital staff does not put their patients safety at par and this will have a negative effect on the hospital that may even lead to closure.

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The role of health care risks and quality metrics are used interchangeably though they operate disjointedly in the health sector. The people responsible for each segment if often given other duties to play. Today, risk management and enhancing of quality unite behind the patient safety and the ways in which they work together in enhancing efficiency is sorted after. This helps an organization makes accessible safe and quality patient care services that in the end minimizes risk by a big percentage. Errors are the use of the wrong tactics in accomplishing a certain outcome (Peterson, 2003). In this case in as much as reporting early for work is essential and right, the means in which he ensured he arrived early was wrong. What Mike should have done is phoned the supervisor and explain his delay thereby ensuring there is less risk of injury to the patient. Mike is seen is seen to have caused vulnerable system syndrome since his lack of reporting made some systems accountable to unsafe practice.

In respect to the risk of litigation, the hospital is on the verge of a lawsuit and claim from the injured patient since she has a right to proper healthcare. The injury is caused by neglect on the office staff thereby subjecting them to the loss of much money and even a probable jail term for the staff responsible for hospital cleaning. There are over 7500 cases In the United States where problems are majorly caused by miscommunication in the health care facility. These miscommunication problems occur due unrecorded, misdirected, not received, not recovered and disregarded information (Colla, 2005). These errors have been known to cost a hospital close to $1.8 billion which is inclusive of weighty malpractice payouts for dire injuries and sometimes even death. These problems happen due to miscommunication of the provider in this case Mike and the consequences regarding the risk of litigation are severe.

Patient safety is an issue of concern worldwide from facilities offering health care services be they commissioned by the government or private sector. This is a wide subject as it covers the latest technology and even a simple act of washing hands before attending to a patient. They involve each providers obligation to the safety of performance. In as much as the effect of adverse events have been recognized, the manner in which they are established and managed varied widely between every organization. Moreover, errors happen in different departments of the health care system, therefore, masking the errors, therefore, subjecting the patients t unsafe environment (Peterson, 2003). In this circumstance, the impact of Mikes neglect to report the spill resulted in the injury of the patient, therefore, making it unsafe for patients to receive treatment without the fear of injury.

The organizations quality metrics is seen to be in question to the patient and once word goes around the people will be reluctant to put their trust in the hospital due to the injury caused by malpractice on Mikes part. The type of error, in this case, is necessary violation since what caused the problem is a time constraint on mikes part (Scalise, 2004). In as much as Mike did not intend for something bad to happen in as much as he deliberately did something he understood to be dangerous to be incoming patients and staff but what caused the injury is his poor grasp of professional responsibilities and weak substructure in the organization for managing unprofessional conducts.

The other hospital department workload is seen to be increased since the department of finance will have to exhaust most of its resources in hiring a good lawyer and paying for damages in case of a lawsuit. However, in an instance where the patient decides not to go to court, the hospital will have to cater for the patient's bills. The department in charge of cleaning and dispensing will also be asked to be thorough thereby increasing their workload (Colla, 2005). A good example is where the rounds of cleaning the floor are increased from five per day to ten.

As mikes manager, I will have a talk with him to pass the necessity for patients care being the top priority even when his work is facing a risk of jeopardy. I will also ensure he is suspended as a warning to other members of staff and also himself. Mike should be able to understand the impacts of miscommunication and ensure there is not a repeat if the same. For the staff, I will use systems thinking since rushing to blame another party or those at the sharp end of error does not help tackle a problem. This systems thinking will ensure the whole system of care is thoroughly examined to help come to a realization of what happened and not who made it happen. It is only when multiple angles of a problem are given the necessary attention can evaluation of whether one person or a group of individuals be made. Looking closely into the matter will eradicate a possible future neglect from all members of staff and not just victimizing Mike. Every individual ought to work in such a way as patients safety is kept at par to ensure that we provide better and efficient health care services.

References,

Colla, J. (2005). Measuring Patient Safety Climate: A Review of Surveys. Qual Saf Health Care.14 (5):364-6

Scalise, D. (2004). Five Years after the IOM Report: The Evolving State of Patient Safety. Hosp Health Netw. 78(10):59-62

Peterson, S. (2003). Four Elements of Successful Quality Program: Alignment, Collaboration, Evidence-Based Practice, and Excellence. Nurs Admin Q.27 (4)336-43.