Identification of managerial, financial, legal and ethical implications - Essay Example

Running Head: Medical Errors and their Implications here here Module here Medication Errors and their Implications Medication errors are common in the field of health services. Health services providers do not always make these errors deliberately, but history tells us that sometimes these errors are made on purpose as well. Whether made deliberately or unintentionally such errors have ethical, financial, managerial and legal implications. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that these implications are identified and the cost of these errors is not just measured in terms of costs to the sufferers, but also in terms of financial, legal and ethical implications.

Ethical Implications: Nurses all over the world are taught ways to minimize the chances of errors, however these errors still occur. Such errors also carry ethical implications and they should be answered properly in order to choose the best course of action. These errors include harm to the patient, whether to disclose important but unnecessary information to the customers and whether or not the healthcare personnel should accept their mistakes. One good solution to this problem is that everything in the healthcare system should be based on patient welfare.

Information should only be disclosed to the patient if it is considered that it will benefit the patient, otherwise information should be kept with the healthcare institution and doctors and nurses who have treated the patient. (Nguyen et al. 2010) Financial Implications: Medication errors carry some financial risk and costs also. There are two types of financial costs associated with medication errors. First type of costs is direct costs and these are the cost of treatment. The second type of costs is indirect costs.

These costs occur to reverse an error or money spent in eliminating the medication errors. For example, for the patient who has been wrongly diagnosed or fell further ill due to wrong treatment, there will be some costs in order to treat him again or in order reverse the wrong treatment. These are defined as indirect costs and are important financial implications resulting from medication errors. (Bates, 2007) Legal Implications There can also be a lot of legal implications of medication errors.

Patients can challenge the medical institutions in a court of law and can sue them from money. This may lead to cancellation of a license or huge sum of fines. All of these can very threatening for an organization and many medical institutions try to avoid medication errors because they fear the consequences. In other words, legal implications play an important role in encouraging medical institutions to take utmost care in their treatment of patients (Walrath and Rose, 2008). Managerial Implications: Managerial implications include loss of productivity, loss of customer and increased expenditure.

Hence managers all over the world try to avoid medication errors in order to make their organizations more profitable and efficient. There can also be many other managerial implications of managerial errors such as cost of training to reduce such errors, license upgrade and revival fees. Hence managers often try to find ways to reduce medication errors so that their extra costs do not occur. References Bates, DW. (2007). Preventing Medication Errors. American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, 64(14).

Retrieved from :http://www.ajhp.org/content/64/14_Supplement_9/S3.short Johnson, Maree and Young, Helen. (2011). The Application of Aronson's Taxonomy to Medication Errors in Nursing. Journal of Nursing Quality Care, 26(2). Retrieved from: http://journals.lww.com/jncqjournal/Abstract/2011/04000/The_Application_of_Aronson_ s_Taxonomy_to.5.aspx Nguyen, Elisa E.; Connolly, Phyllis M.; Wong, Vivian. (2010). Medication Safety Initiative in Reducing Medication Errors. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 25(3).

Retrieved from: http://journals.lww.com/jncqjournal/Abstract/2010/07000/Medication_Safety_Initia tive_in_Reducing.6.aspx Waltath, Jo M and Rose, Linda E. (2008). The Medication Administration Process: Patients’ Perspective. Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 23(4). Retrieved from: http://journals.lww.com/jncqjournal/Abstract/2008/10000/The_Medication_Administrati on_Process__Patients_.10.aspx