“I have made a mistake”

“How often do you hear someone say that?…NEVER!”

I’ve heard this sentiment few times thus far in the conference, from all the levels of participants here. And what a simple change to start.

Every day in my role as a senior resident on a team, I am setting an example for the students, interns, nurses and co-residents with whom I work.  Every day a member of my team may take an action that we could classify as a mistake, oversight, error or omission. If you look hard enough, they are present in the details. Particularly among the sickest of our patients.

Next time I recognize such an occurrence, rather than stating “john didn’t see this result before going down”, ” the intern didn’t notify me of this change”,  “the nurse didn’t call to tell me,” I’m going to recount the events by stating instead that WE on the… Continue reading →