Are Superbug Infections the Ultimate Patient Safety Threat?
The medical community expressed alarm over a case in Nevada involving an elderly woman who died from a superbug infection. Doctors could not keep the infection from spreading, and later determined she was infected with the superbug CRE. This case is a reminder that superbug infections could become the most serious patient safety threat of… Read more »
Tags: PatientCare
Posted in Medical Negligence
Are Female Doctors Safer Than Their Male Counterparts?
A new JAMA Internal Medicine article has good news for senior citizens receiving treatment from female doctors. They may have better patient outcomes. According to the Harvard doctors responsible for the article, senior citizen patients treated by women had lower mortality rates within 30 days of admission. The data shows 11.07 percent patients treated by… Read more »
Tags: PatientCare
Posted in Medical Negligence
Are Sleep Deprived Doctors Causing Medical Mistakes?
Would you trust an airline pilot to fly your plane if they had not received enough sleep? Almost everyone would answer “no” to this question. After all, we depend on airline pilots with our lives. The same goes for doctors and other health care professionals. Would you trust a sleep deprived doctor to carry out… Read more »
Tags: PatientCare
Posted in Medical Malpractice
New Federal Warning System Could Identify Dangerous Medical Devices
Medical devices can be extremely useful for diagnosing patients with health conditions, but these tools can also cause significant problems for patients. For example, duodenoscopes are used in tens of thousands of medical procedures, but are difficult to clean and could expose patients to superbug infections. Almost 200 patients in the U.S. developed infections from… Read more »
Tags: PatientCare
Posted in Medical Malpractice
3 Ways Communication Can Improve Patient Safety in Hospitals
Communication is essential for promoting patient safety. When hospital staff members communicate with patients, each other and the public, it becomes more difficult to cause medical errors. These three examples can show how communication prevents common medical mistakes. Handoff errors: While receiving treatment at hospitals, patients are likely to fall under the care of multiple… Read more »
Tags: PatientCare
Posted in Medical Malpractice