Essay Sample on Proper Patient Identification

Introduction

Cases of medication errors, transfusion errors, wrong person procedures, testing mistakes as well as the discharge of infants to wrong families, are increasing rampantly in the industry of healthcare because of failure to identify patients correctly (van Dongen-Lases et al. 2016). However, in the fight to minimize the incidences of wrong identification that lead to numerous errors. The practice of involving patients in identifying themselves as well as using the two patient identifiers criteria is essential in ensuring that, no patient is given a wrong identity that will lead to the patient being given wrong medical attention as indicated above. Two identifiers method also provides that no mistake is made when it comes to matching the treatment that is to be administered and the patient who is supposed to get the surgery. This will improve the patient care and above all reduce any errors that are made that can lead to careless deaths.

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As they say that human is to error, there are chances that such a mistake of wrong identification can reoccur even after, being rectified. Therefore, doctors, nurses and medical experts are supposed to use correct patient identifiers, which includes; the full names of the patient, the patient are also supposed to be assigned the exact identification numbers (like the medical record number), the correct date of birth of the patient. The right and working phone number of the patient or any relative or close person who is with the patient at a particular moment. The patient should also provide the medical experts or administrators with the correct social security number; the patient should also provide a valid and correct home address, the administration should also take a photo of the patient at the point of administration.

In order for this method of two identifiers to work properly, it must be associated directly with the patient in question and at the same time the two identifiers should also be associated directly with the medication, the specimen container, blood product, as well as the treatment or the procedure that is supposed to be used as per the disease that the patient is diagnosed with (Ruminski et al. 2015). Some patients and caregivers of various patients may wonder why their names are being confirmed every now and again, but the staff members should take an initiative of explaining to them that, it is for their safety so that no mistake is made when they are being attended.

In ensuring that, these mistakes of wrong identification, don't take place in the future the medical experts, as well as the administrators of the pharmaceutical industry, should understand that they have a primary responsibility of checking the identity of all the patients and ensure that they match them with the correct care according to what they are diagnosed with. On the other hand, they should ensure that they use at least two identifiers, which is the date of birth as well as the name of the patient, this should be in line with the standards and the policies that are set by the hospital. Finally, another vital thing that the doctors, as well as the nurse, should do when they are handling the patients is ensuring that they use dynamic language when they converse with the patients. Like for instance when the doctor wants to know the name of the patient, he or she should request but not command.

References

Ruminski, J., Smiatacz, M., Bujnowski, A., Andrushevich, A., Biallas, M., & Kistler, R. (2015, June). Interactions with recognized patients using smart glasses. In Human System Interactions (HSI), 2015 8th International Conference on (pp. 187-194). IEEE.

van Dongen-Lases, E. C., Cornes, M. P., Grankvist, K., Ibarz, M., Kristensen, G. B., Lippi, G., ... & Simundic, A. M. (2016). Patient identification and tube labeling-a call for harmonization. Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM), 54(7), 1141-1145.