Article Sidebar
Published:
Sep 6, 2013DOI:
10.4314/ahs.v13i3.43Keywords:
delivery Malpractice litigation Medical errors Negligence Voluntary disclosure Nigeria.
Article Details
Issue
Section
Articles
A. AFRICAN HEALTH SCIENCES OPEN ACCESS POLICY
While African Health Sciences has been freely accessible online there have been questions on whether it is Open Access or not. We wish to clearly state that indeed African Health Sciences is Open Access. There are key issues regarding Open Access needing clarification for avoidance of doubt:
- 1. Henceforth, papers in African Health Sciences will be published under the CC BY (Creative Commons Attribution License) 4.0 International. See details on https://creativecomons.org/)
- 2. The copyright owners or the authors grant the 3rd party (perpetually and in advance) the right to disseminate, reproduce, or use the research papers in part or in full, format/medium as long as:
- No substantive errors are introduced in the process
- Attribution of authorship and correct citation details are given
- The referencing details are not changed.
Should the papers be reproduced in part, this must be clearly stated.
- 3. The papers will be freely and universally accessible online in an easily readable format such as XML in at least one widely recognized open access repository such as PUBMED CENTRAL.
B. ABRIDGED LICENCE AGREEMENT BETWEEN AUTHORS AND African Health Sciences
I submitted my manuscript to African Health Sciences and would like to affirm that:
1.0 I am authorized by my co-authors to enter into these arrangements.
2.0 I guarantee, on behalf of self and co-authors:
- That the paper is original, and has not been published in any other peer-reviewed journal; nor is it under consideration by other journal (s). It does not infringe existing copyright or any other person’s rights
- That we are/I am the sole author(s) of the paper and with authority to enter into this agreement. My granting rights to African Health Sciences is not in breach of any other obligation
- That the paper contains nothing unlawful, or libelous. Nor anything that would constitute a breach of contract, confidence or commitment given to secrecy, if published
- That I/we have taken care to ensure the integrity of the article.
3.0 I and all co-authors, agree that the paper, if accepted for publication, shall be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0. (see https://creativecommons.org/)
Main Article Content
Patients’ knowledge and perceived reactions to medical errors in a tertiary health facility in Nigeria
Abstract
Background: Human errors in healthcare delivery pose serious threats to patients undergoing treatment. While clinical concern is growing in response, there is need to report social and behavioural context of the problem in Nigeria.
Objective: To examine patients’ knowledge and perceived reactions to medical errors.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 269 in-patients and 10 In-Depth Interviews were conducted among health caregivers in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
Results: Majority (64.5%) of respondents reported annoyance and disappointment with medical errors. Severity of error (88.5%) and the perception of negligence mediated intention to litigate. Voluntary disclosure significantly reduced patients’ intention to litigate caregivers (chi2=3.584; df=1; P=0.053). Frustration/anger was not more likely to influence patient to litigate than feelings of resignation/forgiveness (chi2=2.156; df=1; P>.05). Financial difficulties arising from error had an
important influence on litigation. Health caregivers admitted possibility of errors; and insisted that although notifying patients/relatives about errors is appropriate, disclosure was dependent on the seriousness, health implications and the causes.
Conclusion: Voluntary disclosure and teamwork is very important in dealing with medical error. The role of medical social workers could be important in the discourse and disclosure of medical error.
Keywords: Healthcare delivery, Malpractice litigation, Medical errors, Negligence, Voluntary disclosure, Nigeria.
Objective: To examine patients’ knowledge and perceived reactions to medical errors.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 269 in-patients and 10 In-Depth Interviews were conducted among health caregivers in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria.
Results: Majority (64.5%) of respondents reported annoyance and disappointment with medical errors. Severity of error (88.5%) and the perception of negligence mediated intention to litigate. Voluntary disclosure significantly reduced patients’ intention to litigate caregivers (chi2=3.584; df=1; P=0.053). Frustration/anger was not more likely to influence patient to litigate than feelings of resignation/forgiveness (chi2=2.156; df=1; P>.05). Financial difficulties arising from error had an
important influence on litigation. Health caregivers admitted possibility of errors; and insisted that although notifying patients/relatives about errors is appropriate, disclosure was dependent on the seriousness, health implications and the causes.
Conclusion: Voluntary disclosure and teamwork is very important in dealing with medical error. The role of medical social workers could be important in the discourse and disclosure of medical error.
Keywords: Healthcare delivery, Malpractice litigation, Medical errors, Negligence, Voluntary disclosure, Nigeria.
