Posted: September 2nd, 2022

Medical Errors

Medical Errors
Competing needs are the source of medical errors that occur in hospitals. Scarce resources reduce the ability of an organization of employing many nurses who can take up fewer hours per shift (MacPhee, Dahinten & Havaei, 2017). The other competing need is increased number of patients who demand attention due to their severe conditions. The competing needs shape the perspective of policy. The policy will be designed to balance competing needs. It will focus on the patient who is the first priority in healthcare services.
The competing needs include an increased number of patients with severe conditions and lack of sufficient nurses. They lead to the national health issue of medical errors. The reason is that nurses are prone to medical errors when they work for long hours (Kelly & Porr, 2018). Long hour shifts lead to burnouts and poor concentration. It can thus lead to missed treatment, administration of the wrong drug or wrong site operation. Hospitals that have sufficient nurses have reduced medical errors significantly (Milliken, 2018). Therefore, the health issue can be solved by developing a policy that outlines the number of hours nurses should work.
Medical errors have impacted patients by causing permanent or temporary paralysis. It has also caused the death of patients due to overdose or wrong operation. They have also increased the cost of treatment when the sickness of patients deteriorate into severe conditions (Senders, 2018). The policy will be essential in guiding hospitals on the exact number of hours a nurse should work. It will also provide guidelines on how to balance competing needs and still achieve the set goals. For example, working hours should be accompanied by a break to reduce possibility of medical errors.

References
Kelly, P., & Porr, C. (2018). Ethical nursing care versus cost containment: considerations to enhance RN practice. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1).
MacPhee, M., Dahinten, V., & Havaei, F. (2017). The impact of heavy perceived nurse workloads on patient and nurse outcomes. Administrative Sciences, 7(1), 7.
Milliken, A. (2018). Ethical Awareness: What it is and why it matters. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 23(1).
Senders, J. W. (2018). Medical devices, medical errors, and medical accidents. Human error in Medicine. 159-177. CRC Press.

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