The best hospitals are
known for their god-like care and flawless procedures. These hospitals do not disappoint
but yet exceed patients and relatives expectations. So we all then have
expectations set that hospitals, all hospitals, are safe, reliable, and the
greatest place to be in a detrimental event. But is that really the case? We
through the media, past experiences, and common knowledge have been given this
mistaken idea that every hospital is the safest place to be, but should we be
having this much trust for every hospital we visit?
"In one case, a
middle-aged man with cancer had a complex surgery that involved his pancreas,
gallbladder and stomach. A retractor, a metal instrument used to hold organs in
place or keep a wound open during surgery, was unknowingly left behind in the
abdomen, said Louis Filhour,
a registered nurse who is senior vice president for clinical quality at
Albany Med." Many cases like this one have been seen throughout New
York State in many of the hospitals that we trust, "Both Albany Med and Nassau
University made the Watch List for the second year in
a row." The point of the article isn't to plant a spirit of mistrust
within citizens but rather an understanding that some hospitals are of a lesser
value of service, "The two institutions were among the 26 hospitals whose
below-average safety performance earned them a place on the Watch List in the
second annual patient safety analysis conducted by Niagara Health Quality
Coalition for Hearst Newspapers."
Although these
particular hospitals within the region have performed poorly in safety, there
are many hospitals that have been giving us the best care since they started
performing surgeries on patients, "In the Capital Region, St. Peter's
Hospital was named an Honor Roll hospital,
one of 20 hospitals whose patients had fewer complications, injuries and
infections among the 246 New York hospitals in the analysis."
It
is also essential for readers' to know that impossible events happen and we
should plan for them, "Retained foreign objects remained a problem, even
though it is considered a "never-event" -- a type of incident that
should never happen. There were 84 cases statewide of foreign objects left
behind after surgery, only four fewer than the previous year. While some were
innocent events, like a broken tip of a catheter that is easily retrieved,
others were much more serious." The article reminds us to remain wary
of the hospitals and health care we are receiving and to always get check-ups
so we never fall behind with our health.
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