Common Medical Errors in the Intensive Care Units

Abstract

Safety is a global concept that encompasses efficiency, security of care, reactivity of caregivers, and satisfaction of patients and relatives. Patient safety has emerged as a major target for healthcare improvement. Quality assurance is a complex task, and patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are more likely than other hospitalized patients to experience medical errors, due to the complexity of their conditions, need for urgent interventions, and considerable workload fluctuation.

Critically ill patients are highly vulnerable to medical errors, because they usually have both underlying comorbidities and acute organ dysfunctions. In addition, the life-sustaining treatments and highly technical routine care used in ICUs provide many opportunities for medical errors.

The term “medical error” is often used informally to describe any decision or action that, in hindsight, appears to have been incorrect or results in a disappointing outcome. This definition is too broad to be helpful in understanding medical errors and thier effects on health care and the society.

Three types of medical errors and adverse events in ICU are reported: those related to medications (either in prescription, transcription, preparation, dispensation, and administration), those related to procedures (lines, drains, catheters) and those related to the ICU environment including equipement and devices.