13521 Errors in Healthcare for Physical Therapists Why Bad Things Happen and Managing the Aftermath

Course overview

Discussion of errors in healthcare for physical therapists, including why bad things happen and managing the aftermath when adverse events occur. The specific topics discussed include the challenge of differentiating between a medical error and an adverse event, how defining an error determines how we approach it, the limits of personal responsibility for safety, and the difficulty of setting appropriate safety goals. Topics also include how everyone associated with an adverse event experiences consequences, how adverse events provide opportunities to learn and improve patient safety, some of the challenges of attempting to retrospectively trace adverse events and their causes through time, the differences between "blame" and "accountability," and the importance of creating an organizational culture where reporting is an appealing option.