Bullying: A Hidden Threat to Patient Safety - Article Review

Bullying is an aggressive behavior by some people, mostly those in higher ranks towards their subordinates. In healthcare centers, bullying of the workers who are in direct contact with the patients can result in an incomplete recovery of the patients. The safety of the patient should always be given the priority. Any interference with the actual administration of the medication should be thoroughly evaluated, solutions found and necessary mitigation measures put in place. Bullying of the health workers by their superior can make them anxious and uncomfortable, making then feel less appreciate ad unworthy, especially when humiliated in front of the patients. Skilled communication, effective decision making, real collaboration, important recognition, appropriate staffing as well as authentic leadership are practical methods of countering workplace bullying and eventually improvement of the services offered to the patients (Longo & Hain, 2014).

Deterring and Remedying Employee Theft

In many institutions, it is possible to have callus employees with ill motives of financial gains. Hence they would even go to the extreme of stealing private medical information of the patients for personal gains. As an employer, one should come up with practical and effective measures which are purposely designed to deter employees from stealing the patients information. First of all, the employer should make clear to the employee the procedures and policies which apply to tampering with patients medical information. (Buzogany & Mueller, 2010). The employees should have it in writing that they are legible to all legal consequences in case they are caught on the wrong. Additionally, employees access to patients medical information should be limited in the best way possible for safety purposes. It is disappointing when an unsuspecting patient gets to know that the health facility workers mishandled their private medical information.

Healthcare Quality and Safety

Doctors remind us on a daily basis on the importance of health and safety in our environment. The medical sector has come a long in the treatment and prevention of diseases, but still, yet, there is a lot that needs to be accomplished. On a daily basis, people interact with different environments with different exposures to viruses, germs ad bacteria, and some of these pathogens end up in hospitals during treatment. Thus, doctors should not only be cautious about their safety but also that of their patients (Longton, 2015). Great care should be taken when handling patients, so as not to contract any illnesses or transfer them to another patient due to carelessness. Critical thinking, teamwork, excellent communication, evaluating and maintain a safe environment are tools that are properly utilized by healthcare providers can improve not only their safety but that of their patients against diseases.

Protect the Integrity and Quality of Healthcare

Recently, there has been an intensification in cases about unethical behaviors among the medical practitioners. Unlike how it used to be a couple of years ago, some health workers can now barely get themselves to do what is right, and that includes upholding patients information with utmost confidentiality. However, this extreme behavior can be positively analyzed to find and fix the loopholes in the medical sectors (Barnard, 2013). Some health workers witness daily unethical behaviors at work, but they are scared to tell on the violators or the fear of losing their jobs. Consequently, health team should sit down as a whole and discuss all the challenges they face daily, and that would be a good kick off to a more ethical medical sector.

References

Barnard, C. (2013). Protect the Integrity and Quality of Healthcare. Journal for Healthcare Quality, 35(3), 7-8.

Buzogany, B., & Mueller, M. J. (2010). Deterring and Remedying Employee Theft. The Journal of medical practice management: MPM, 25(5), 317.

Longo, J., & Hain, D. (2014). Bullying: A hidden threat to patient safety. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 41(2), 193.

Longton, S. (2015). Healthcare quality and safety. Nephrology nursing journal, 42(1), 9-10.