TO ERR IS HUMAN

A mistake can be labeled as a situation that could have been prevented. Everybody makes some mistake or the other at some point of time, and doctors are no exceptions. But they find it very hard to acknowledge the error. There are many reasons for this.

Doctors try their best to not to make any mistake, and therefore, just like everybody, their first response is to always try to justify or explain it away by blaming someone else. Common justifications are, “It wasn't my fault that a mistake was made, it was made by the nurse or the assistant.” We all need to live with our self-esteems intact, and doctors have egos which need protection, which is why it's hard for them to acknowledge that they are human and can err.

Doctors think of themselves as being in a helping profession and want their patients to get better. When they realize (often to their horror) that they have committed a mistake which has ended up harming their patient, it becomes hard for them to live with this bitter truth. In order to prevent cognitive conflict, it’s perfectly natural for them to refuse to accept the truth, and even hide the fact from themselves.

Doctors will often try to cover up errors because they are scared that if they acknowledge that they have goofed, their colleagues will think poorly of them, with their juniors and staff members no longer respecting them.  They are also understandably worried that that if their patients find out that an error was made, they will want to punish them by taking legal action against them in a court of law.

Also, doctors have been brainwashed by their professional liability, insurance companies, hospital management professionals, risk management companies and lawyers to never confess to having made an error. They are told to shut up, rather than apologize to the patient. This is because lawyers are worried that if doctors are truthful and acknowledge that they have made a mistake, this will be used against them in a court.

Doctors are also scared that if they tell the patient they made a mistake, the patient will no longer trust them, and this will damage the doctor-patient relationship. This is why the reflex action for most doctors is to cover up mistakes, much like a child does, rather than face up to them, like a mature adult should.

The first response is often one of denial, to hide the mistake, not just from the patient or from the rest of the medical team, but even from themselves. It is hard for all to acknowledge the fact that we have made an error, and not just for doctors.

All doctors agree that mistakes can be made in medical practice. But all of them will also claim in the same breath that they have not made any, leaving one wondering that who is making all these mistakes.

Doctors need to learn to be honest and open, not just with patients, but with themselves also, so that even if a mistake occurs, they can do something constructive about it. Not only will this minimize the harm caused by the error, they can also take action to prevent the mistake from happening again. This is extremely important, not just for the patient and the healthcare system in general, but for the doctor himself. Trying to cover up mistakes ends up in creating a major burden of guilt and shame, which can progressively worsen as time goes by.

Doctors need to remember that patients can be quite forgiving, and many will accept the fact that honest errors were made. They can forgive their doctor for these, but they will never forgive a doctor for trying to cover these up by lying to them.