What are the most effective ways to communicate with physicians about medication errors?

If any of you have ever seen the movie "Meet the Parents," with Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller, then you know that once the circle of trust is broken, it's extremely difficult to get back inside. Dishonesty and lack of clear communication are two of the easiest and fastest ways to find yourself on the outside of the circle of trust with your coworkers, as well as with the providers you work underneath. Work hard to earn and keep the trust of the health professionals you are surrounded by on a daily basis. I promise you won't regret it.

Communication is a key component of efficient teamwork. Lots of times patients can choose to tell a nurse with whom he has established a good rapport more of whats happening to them. When the nurses and doctors treat patients as a team, it improves patient care and patient satisfaction.

There is nothing wrong with practicing how to best communicate with providers or colleagues prior to the actual real-world scenario occurring at your place of employment, or in your academic setting. Make sure you cover all your bases and show up to the conversation fully prepared to make your point, while ready to back yourself up with factual bits of information you were able to discover through your own assessments and/or research.

Be timely with your communication and never delay conveying important or emergent messages when patient safety or the well-being of any of your coworkers hangs in the balance. Part of the privelege of being able to refer to ourselves as healthcare providers stems from the fact that we use proper discretion when deciding when it is appropriate to act on the assessments we are continually making.

Start by privately discussing the error, focusing on the facts without assigning blame. Present relevant details like the medication, dosage, route, and patient's condition clearly and concisely. Provide any documentation supporting your concerns. Use a structured communication tool like SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation) to organise your thoughts and convey information systematically. This approach promotes a shared understanding and facilitates a constructive dialogue toward resolving the issue and improving patient care processes.

Nurses are an important barrier in the swiss cheese model of preventing medication errors. Nurses must always be aware of the indication of patient admission and what the team is treating the patient for. If patient has additional problems like constipation or dry cough or high sugars; then the nurses must be aware of these ongoing patient complaints/ problems. This way, if a medication looks like it doesn’t make sense in the patient care; nurses must definitely question the doctor taking care for the indication of the medication. This is a very effective way of preventing a medication error. An alert and well oriented nurse is always appreciated by a good team of doctors.

Despite developing a culture of safety in healthcare, medication errors can easily slip through the cracks. Communication with a respectful attitude is key to informing the physician. Maintaining good professional relationships and psychological safety in the workplace are paramount and this can foster trust and consensus. In that way, the issue can be addressed collaboratively and the physician is felt supported and not abandoned.

Remember, the doctor wants to help the patient and you. They are not judge nor juror. Do you’re best to refrain from going into the conversation believing that the provider thinks you did something wrong. They don’t. They want to keep the patient safe just like you do. Keep your head up, communicate clearly and efficiently with the patient, family, providers, and supervisor, and maintain your professionalism throughout it all. We never want to make a mistake but we must always maintain the integrity to admit when we have.