Module 6 Risk Minimization in Healthcare Discussion

Minimizing risk within an organization is an important aspect of quality in healthcare. Consider the following in your initial post for this week’s discussion:

• Discuss how the patient experience has evolved across health care organizations in KSA. Describe the most prevalent issues and concerns that patients express.

The healthcare system is made up of individual players, but its ultimate goals of patient care and safety are accomplished through teamwork. Likewise, when medical errors occur, though they may result from an individual’s actions, the appropriate next steps fall on the institution to identify, learn from, and improve on the prevention of such events. This process focuses on systemic policy changes, not individual performances, to progress.

For example, consider an emergency room triage system that primarily relies on color-coded wristbands to stratify patients who present with various complaints. When given a red wristband, this signifies to a healthcare provider that a patient needs immediate medical care. A white wristband may signify that there is no real urgency, etc. Many hospitals utilize such systems to manage a hectic emergency department efficiently.[5]

Imagine that a real estate conference is being held in a busy downtown. Attendees are required to wear a purple wristband for admission to the event. At one point in the evening, a 65-year-old conference attendee with a significant medical history for hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia begins to feel crushing, substernal chest pain. He drives himself to the local hospital and awaits care in triage. It is 7:00 PM on a Friday night, and a shift change has just occurred. Moments later, the patient stops breathing. The nurse who just began her shift rushes to the patient’s side and notices a purple wristband. Mistaking it for a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) band, she doesn’t call the code.[6]

It is clear to see that this was one individual’s medical error in misidentifying a patient’s wristband, resulting in a sentinel event. However, what if, to check in to the ED, a front desk employee’s responsibility was to give patients the appropriate, color-coded wristband and to check for any bracelets/bands that a patient may be wearing? Medical errors are likely to happen in this environment, but systems-based safety policies, though loaded with redundancies, can reduce the chances that such a medical error progresses any further.

How pervasive is this issue? In 1999, a monumental report was released by the U.S. Institute of Medicine that brought to light the significant issue of medical errors. By their estimates, between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year from preventable medical errors.[1] Throughout the years, many academic papers have attempted to quantify or rank medical error as a leading cause of death in the United States. Though the Joint Commission releases an annual report summarizing the sentinel events reviewed by the committee, they include a caveat that these submissions by accredited institutions are encouraged, but not required. Therefore, the true number of sentinel events is difficult to pinpoint, and statistical conclusions cannot be accurately drawn. Nonetheless, the importance of identifying, reviewing, and learning from sentinel events cannot be undersold. Not only would an increase in sentinel event reporting result in a more accurate epidemiological picture of medical error in the United States, but hospitals would benefit from a culture of transparency and proactivity that promotes patient safety at all costs.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource