Human Errors

According to research done in the aviation sector, a crew member handling an unfamiliar task increases the probability of an error by 17 times. Working under time pressure increases the rate by 11 times. Information overload, a scenario made increasingly worse by the proliferation of information technology, makes error more likely to happen by 6 times, while overconfidence and poor judgment of risk heightens the probability by 4 times.

One system used in accident analysis: the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS).

Speaking about time pressure, isn't that what we face all the time? In clinics we can only afford a few minutes per patient or else irate patients in the waiting room will start complaining. In wards we can only be by the patient's bedside for a few short moments or else we risk being late for meetings, clinics or operations. During night calls, time limitation is often at its worst. Try seeing 20 new admissions between midnight and daybreak, of which a couple of them are pretty ill and require more effort and time for adequate resuscitation, at the same time juggling with urgent referrals and reviews of existing patients in the hospital, plus clearing the emergency cases in the OR.

Just imagine the immense potential for err...

Just how safe is it if we continue to practice like this?

First do no harm. We are bounded by this principle, and we go to great lengths to abide by it. The numerous hours of grueling training we put in as we strive to be as error-free as possible, is one example. Of course, our conscience often acts as our last line of defense, even when our consciousness is fluctuating after a sleepless night having dealt with x number of collapses and y number of new admissions. In fact, in order not to commit any error, we often end up harming no one else but our own self - stretching our physical and mental selves beyond the limits.