Throughout this conference, I have been reminded many times of stories from my friends and family members about times when they have been victims or near-victims of medical error. Today’s discussions about disclosing medical errors and maintaining honest and open communication between providers and patients particularly made me think about my grandmother’s death. Just as with the Lewis Blackman story and many other examples that we have heard about at this conference, there was somewhat of a cascade of small mistakes and communication lapses that lead to her death. I think that writing it out here may be helpful to me because it will help me understand what happened to her and how all of the conversations at this conference can prevent these problems in the future. I heard all of the details of this from my grandfather a few years ago, so I might be slightly… Continue reading →

It seems outrageous to me that hospitals are one of the most unsafe places one can be. Both Michael’s and Lewis’s stories reminded me of stories I have heard from my own family members about poor experiences with the healthcare system. I feel fortunate that none of my loved ones have had as devastating an outcome as the stories of these two young men, but I know that I will fear for them if they are ever in the hospital. I feel like the public is being lied to. I feel like we in healthcare all have a duty to make our systems safer and improve the quality of the care that we provide. Patients deserve to be treated with respect. They deserve to know what we are doing with their bodies and what their options are.

This week has been wonderful and eye-opening so far. I love how… Continue reading →