Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis
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Misdiagnosis
Human beings are prone to making mistakes when undertaking activities. Health practitioners are not an exemption when it comes to making mistakes. Medical errors may occur at the office of the physician, hospital or the pharmacy. Over the cause of my profession as a nurse, I have also been caught up in a couple of situations where a patient was misdiagnosed. There was a time when I was working; a 70-year-old man came to us complaining that he was feeling sick with shortness of breath. Laboratory tests were quickly done on the individual which include: CBC, and culture. The patient was given albuterol and stayed for observation of COPD exacerbation. During the night I noticed a change in the patient’s level of consciousness and reported the same to the doctor who concluded that he had sundowning. While conducting my hourly rounds, I noticed that the patient was very diaphoretic, incoherent and was holding his chest. Immediately I called the doctor. His cough had bloody sputum, and he became tachycardic 116-120, respiratory rate was 30, and oxygen levels were 90%. A chest x-ray was quickly conducted, and the patient was found to be having a pulmonary embolism.
Errors can be prevented by implementing the appropriate health recommendations. Through the use of the health cheese models errors done by a nurse can be noted by another health practitioner. Older adults are often prone to misdiagnosis due to the multiple medications they take.

According to Sanjeev and Anuradha (2013), research conducted by Bowser at three teaching hospitals, 354 out of 795 patients had experienced medical mistakes. Between 100,000-200,000 deaths in the USA can be attributed to pulmonary embolism (PE). Such kinds of deaths can be prevented if the correct measures are taken. Through the improved accuracy of helical CT scans PE can easily be detected.
On the other hand, Venus thromboembolism which is one of the major causes of cardiovascular deaths may be avoided by training and granting physicians access to the portable ultrasound devices (Tarbox and Swaroop 2013). Modification in antithrombotic therapy is being undertaken in patients experiencing normotensive PE, accompanied with the development of four direct orally anticoagulants with no need of biological adaptations other than renal monitoring (Bertoletti and Humbert 2015).
Over the past two decades, massive improvements have been made in the process of diagnosing PE. Righini, Robert-Ebadi, and Gal (2017) state that the current systems being used have done away with the need for invasive diagnosis. Nowadays algorithms are based on the use of pretest probability assessment specifically the D-dimer measurement, and chest imaging test is conducted if it is essential. Using such diagnostic measures may enable a health practitioner to make the right decision. Shaming and blaming of nurses when mistakes occur is of no therapeutic value. Instead, appropriate safety measures should be undertaken to correct the errors. It can be done by getting a second opinion from another practitioner, an analysis of the cause, and reporting of errors voluntarily so that others may learn from them.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY l 1033 Bertoletti, L., & Humbert, M. (2015, November). Pulmonary embolism: An update. Quality Medical Review, 373-374. Retrieved September 19, 2018
Righini, M., Robert-Ebadi, H., & Gal, L. G. (2017). Diagnosis of acute pulmonary. Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 1251-1261. Retrieved September 19, 2018
Sanjeev, D., & Anuradha, D. (2013, July-September). Medical errors in practice which medical fraternity must not forget: A critical look. International Journal of Health System and Disaster Management, 1(3), 190-194.
Tarbox, A., & Swaroop, M. (2013). Pulmonary embolism. Internal journal of Critical Illness and Injury Science, 3(1), 69-74. Retrieved September 19, 2018