The effects of adverse iatrogenic events extend beyond patients and families to health care staff and organisations
Errors are common during the delivery of complex care in the Australian health care system.1 Adverse iatrogenic events (critical incidents) resulting in patient harm or death may be the most distressing for all involved. Many of these errors are preventable, but investments in programs to prevent health care-related adverse events have had varying success.2,3
The full article is accessible to AMA members and paid subscribers. Login to read more or purchase a subscription now.
Please note: institutional and Research4Life access to the MJA is now provided through Wiley Online Library.
- 1. Wilson RM, Van Der Weyden MB. The safety of Australian healthcare: 10 years after QAHCS. Med J Aust 2005; 182: 260-261. <MJA full text>
- 2. Runciman WB, Hunt TD, Hannaford NA, et al. CareTrack: assessing the appropriateness of health care delivery in Australia. Med J Aust 2012; 197: 100-105. <MJA full text>
- 3. Wang Y, Eldridge N, Metersky ML, et al. National trends in patient safety for four common conditions, 2005-2011. N Engl J Med 2014; 370: 341-351.
- 4. MDA National. Dealing with the stress of adverse events and medico-legal issues. Defence Update 2012; (Spring): 9-12. http://www.mdanational.com.au/media/202643/defenceupdate_spring_final.pdf (accessed Jan 2014).
- 5. Nash L, Daly M, Johnson M, et al. Psychological morbidity in Australian doctors who have and have not experienced a medico-legal matter: cross-sectional survey. Aust N Z J Psychiatry 2007; 41: 917-925.
- 6. Scott S, Hirshinger L, Cox K. The natural history of recovery for the healthcare provider “second victim” after adverse events. Qual Saf Health Care 2009; 18: 325-330.
- 7. Ullstrom S, Andreen Sachs M, Hansson J, et al. Suffering in silence: a qualitative study of second victims of adverse events. BMJ Qual Saf 2014; 223: 325-331.
- 8. Wu A, Steckelberg RC. Medical error, incident investigation and the second victim: doing better but feeling worse? BMJ Qual Saf 2012; 21: 267-270.
- 9. National Mental Health Survey of Doctors and Medical Students. Melbourne: beyondblue, 2013. http://www.beyondblue.org.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/bl1132-report---nmhdmss-full-report_web.pdf?sfvrsn=2 (accessed Jan 2014).
- 10. Reason J. Human error: models and management. BMJ 2000; 320: 768-770.
- 11. Gifun JF, Karydas DM. Organizational attributes of highly reliable complex systems. Qual Reliab Eng Int 2010; 26: 53-62.
- 12. Hollnagel E, Braithwaite J, Wears RL, editors. Resilient health care. Farnham, UK: Ashgate, 2013.
I gratefully acknowledge the workplace support of Alfred Health, along with the significant scholarly support of Professor Carlos Scheinkestel in enabling the completion of this article.
No relevant disclosures.