Surgeons Don't Report Dangerous Injuries: New Study
Young surgeons frequently don't report their own needle-stick and scalpel injuries, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Conducted by researchers at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University, the study focused on 700 surgical residents at 17 different teaching hospitals, and concluded that residents often do not report the potentially-dangerous injuries because they don't want to lose face among peers, don't want to hurt their career opportunities, and because they're too busy. Early treatment for those injuries is critical in preventing the spread of many communicable diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B & C. Researchers noted the stress many young physicians face in deciding whether to report these injuries, not only to hospital administrators and patients, but also their significant others.
Previously on the DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, we have posted articles on:
- Overworked interns and medical errors
- The 100,000 Lives campaign to stop medical errors
- Eight dangerous medical tubing errors
- The Institute of Medicine's medical errors report
- The Medical Error Disclosure and Compensation Act
- DC Hospitals' poor patient safety ranking