Question

James is a first-year surgery resident on his first pediatric rotation. His attending (consultant) asks him to immediately start intravenous (IV) replacement fluids on a two-year-old boy who is experiencing vomiting and diarrhea. James has recently learned the guidelines for calculating fluid replacement rates for very small children; however, he confuses them and picks a rate that is too high.

Which of the following reasons that errors often occur in health care most clearly played a role in this scenario?
(A) Diagnosing and treating patients is incredibly complex and often performed under time pressure and/or with insufficient information.
(B) The "culture of safety" (meaning the attitudes, perceptions, and values that employees share in relation to safety) may be weak in health care compared to other high-risk industries.
(C) Providers may not be prepared to work as a well-integrated team, so multiple caregivers and patient handovers leave room for miscommunication at every turn.
(D) The science of medicine is filled with nuance and gray areas, and what one health care organization feels is good practice, another may not.

Answer 1

Errors often occur in healthcare due to the complexity and time pressure involved. The scenario involving James, a first-year surgical resident, illustrates this as he made a mistake in calculating fluid replacement rate for a two-year-old boy.

Step-by-step explanation:

This scenario illustrates the reason that errors often occur in healthcare due to the complexity and time pressure involved in diagnosing and treating patients. James, the first-year surgery resident, made a mistake in calculating the fluid replacement rate for the two-year-old boy. This mistake could be attributed to the complexity of the guidelines and the urgency of the situation. It is important for healthcare providers to be well-prepared and work as a team to avoid miscommunications and errors.