One thing we talked about towards the end of today’s session was our fears as clinicians and how for many of us our number one fear is making a mistake that could cause harm to a patient.  As an anesthesia resident, I am constantly worried about this. Much of what we do in the OR is not double or triple checked by another clinician.  For every drug given to a patient, we are the prescriber, pharmacist, and administrant. We are often tasked with having to give multiple drugs in a very short amount of time, and the thought of giving the wrong medication or the wrong dose is an easy one to imagine.  On top of it, we have many medications that look very similar on their vial.  For the most part, medications are color-coded to help prevent mistakes, but there are still errors in this… Continue reading →

My name is Brian Nevitt and I am a PGY3 anesthesia resident at Georgetown University Hospital. I chose to attend the Marseille Experience because as an anesthesia resident I have begun to really appreciate how important communication is to ensuring safe and reliable patient care.  All too often I see mistakes made because of ineffective communication or a lack thereof.  As an anesthesia resident, my interactions with such a wide array of healthcare providers has inspired my desire to be an advocate for patient safety. In this sense, I have become particularly interested in how anesthesia training influences patient safety outcomes.  Anesthesia training requires a lot of on-the-job learning and many times communication can break down.  Along with several of my colleagues we are currently working to develop a cognitive aid for incoming anesthesia residents to assist in their transition to practicing anesthesiology.  We hope… Continue reading →