Guest Editorial: Can we really reduce error rates?

Even the best trained individuals – when put into a position where stress levels are too high, where policy and procedure guidelines are poorly conceived or nonexistent, where there is lack of enforcement and inadequate monitoring of performance – are going to make mistakes. [...]the family got the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied clinical medical physics 2011, Vol.12 (2), p.2-4
Main Author: Amols, Howard I
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Drug overdose
Fatalities
Health physics
Health Physics - education
Health Physics - methods
Health Physics - standards
Hospitals
Humans
Medical Errors - prevention & control
Patient safety
Physicists
Physics
Radiation Injuries - prevention & control
Radiation Protection - methods
Radiation therapy
Regulatory agencies
Safety
Science education
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Summary:Even the best trained individuals – when put into a position where stress levels are too high, where policy and procedure guidelines are poorly conceived or nonexistent, where there is lack of enforcement and inadequate monitoring of performance – are going to make mistakes. [...]the family got the impression that nobody cared, nobody was willing to take responsibility, nobody learned anything from the event, and nothing was going to change as a result of the accident. [...]we need a public education program informing the public on what medical physics is and why they shouldn't go to a hospital that doesn't have a medical physicist. Let's start policing ourselves, and let's stop waiting for ASTRO or ACR or RSNA or the government to fix things for us. Because that could take time and our patients can't wait any longer!
ISSN:1526-9914
1526-9914
DOI:10.1120/jacmp.v12i2.3626