Scenario Description
The scenario described in the case presents a situation where Mike, who works a lab technician, is running late in trying to get to his workstation. Previously, Mike has had an encounter with his supervisor leading to his promise that he would be on time in future. However, in this particular incident, Mike finds himself running late due to an accident on his commute that resulted in his delay. Mike understands that his lack of clocking in on time may lead to termination of employment, which he and his family depend on for their livelihood. When getting into the facility, Mike encounters a spill on the floor and must make the decision on whether to deal with the spill or go ahead and clock in to protect his employment position.
Consequences of Failure to Report
Mike’s failure to report the spill at the respective desk resulted in a situation where one of the patients, in the health facility, slipped due to the spill on the floor. The case study indicates that Mike experiences a situation where he is asked to go a collect a patient’s information where he learns that the patient slipped due to the spill that he had ignored in the morning. From his assessment, Mike believes that the patient may have broken her hip from the fall within the lobby, which in turn increases the level of guilt attributed to his knowledge of the spill. The situation highlighted results in his asking of questions relating to whether he would have been able to prevent this patient from falling in the event that he had reported the spill on the floor in the lobby.
Another consequence associated with Mike’s failure to report the spill on the floor within the lobby is the negative perception that the patient developed towards the health facility’s policy on patient safety. According to the statement presented within the case scenario, the patient asks, “I thought the hospital was a safe place. Don’t they have programs to prevent these things?” That acts as a clear indication that the patient did not hold a positive view with regard to the concept of patient safety that would have been expected for the facility. According to Lee, Phan, Dorman, Weaver, and Pronovost (2016), all health professionals must abide by the set code of ethics that governs their position towards ensuring that they protect the safety of their patients. That means that lack of reporting by Mike may have resulted in a breach of this code of ethics that governs one’s position as a health care professional.
Impacts of Failure to Report
Mike’s failure to report the spill on the floor may have had notable impacts on areas such as patient safety, the risk of litigation, organization’s quality metrics, and workload of other departments in the health facility. On the area of patient safety, Mike’s failure to report resulted in a situation where the health facility was not in a position to protect its patients from risks of injury. Khater, Akhu‐Zaheya, AL‐Mahasneh, and Khater (2015) support the idea that all health facilities ought to put in place policies governing the area of patient safety as a way of ensuring that they provide their patients with a guarantee of a safe environment. However, this depends wholly on the commitment of all employees involved towards ensuring that patients are safe while in the confines of the health facility to prevent any form of injuries. In the case of Mike, his lack of reporting resulted in a situation where the facility did not provide the expected guarantee of safety to its patients attributed to the fall of the patient from the spill on the floor.
Regarding the risk of litigation, the decision by Mike not to report the spill exposed the health facility to a risk of litigation attributed to the idea that the patient involved in the accident may decide to file a lawsuit against the facility. The lawsuit may fall within the platform of negligence, as the facility did not provide a safe environment, as expected. Gray (2015) indicates that health facilities may face liability for their inability to take action in a given situation that may have resulted in the occurrence of an accident. On the area of quality metrics, the decision by Mike created a situation where the level of satisfaction among patients visiting the facility reduced significantly. This meant that the quality metrics that define the overall existence of the facility reduced immensely attributed to lack of confidence from its patients. Lastly, the decision by Mike increased the workload in other departments within the health facility, as the other departments focused on handling the patient after her fall from the spill on the floor. In the event that Mike may have reported the spill, it would have been easier for the department involved to focus on dealing with the spill, which would have prevented the occurrence of the scenario identified.
Personal Opinion
If I was Mike’s manager, I would have called a meeting where I would emphasize the need for accountability in every individual’s actions regardless of the outcomes. In this case, Mike’s decision not to report the spill resulted in the occurrence of an accident that exposed the health facility to litigation and liability for the accident. During the course of the meeting, I would provide other staff members with this particular scenario as an example to ensure that none of the staff members repeat the same action in future. It would be important for me to highlight the consequences associated with failure to report such instances regardless of the situation that one is facing. I believe that this would be of value towards preventing reoccurrence of such instances in future.
References
Gray, A. (2015). The Liability of Providers of General Health Services in Negligence. Deakin Law Review, 20(1), 221-261.
Khater, W. A., Akhu‐Zaheya, L. M., AL‐Mahasneh, S. I., & Khater, R. (2015). Nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture in Jordanian hospitals. International nursing review, 62(1), 82-91.
Lee, S. H., Phan, P. H., Dorman, T., Weaver, S. J., & Pronovost, P. J. (2016). Handoffs, safety culture, and practices: evidence from the hospital survey on patient safety culture. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1), 1-8.
