Some medical mistakes are the results of incompetence, but many mistakes result from stressful circumstances. Distraction on the road can lead to people causing preventable crashes, and distraction at work can mean major issues with how someone performs their job.
A distracted health care professional might administer the wrong drugs, miss important information provided by a patient or confuse two different cases with tragic consequences. What are the biggest sources of risk in a medical environment?
Digital Distraction
The average American has a shorter attention span now than they did just a few years ago, and many people feel an instant need to check in with their phone when they receive a notification from social media or an incoming text message. Medical professionals are not immune to digital distraction.
Picking up a phone to check the message may take a few seconds, but it can cause crucial cognitive distractions that can have a significant impact on the quality of patient care provided.
Conversation-related Distraction
Nurses and other support professionals working in health care facilities often can’t go more than a few steps without needing to answer questions from patients or their family members. A nurse who has to suddenly refocus their mental efforts not on the distribution of medication but on a specific person’s case might make a mistake when providing information to that patient or when handing out those pills.
When medical staff becomes distracted and makes a mistake while providing care to you, you may have a right to take legal action against the facility. Understanding what causes medical malpractice can help you seek justice and compensation after suffering harm in a health care facility.