Some anesthesiologists may hesitate to report medical errors due to concern over blame from their colleagues, according to a study published in the March issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia.
Out of 433 anesthesiologists surveyed, most do not think that personal biases and emotional barriers would influence their reporting of medical errors, the study said. Of the 13 potential attitudinal and emotional barriers presented to anesthesiologists in the survey, there was only one on which more respondents agreed would be a potential barrier to reporting medical errors: "Doctors who make errors are blamed by their colleagues."
Survey respondents also indicated that they favored assistive strategies for reporting, including deidentified feedback about an adverse event; senior colleagues who openly encourage reporting; and legislated protection of reports from legal discoverability.
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Out of 433 anesthesiologists surveyed, most do not think that personal biases and emotional barriers would influence their reporting of medical errors, the study said. Of the 13 potential attitudinal and emotional barriers presented to anesthesiologists in the survey, there was only one on which more respondents agreed would be a potential barrier to reporting medical errors: "Doctors who make errors are blamed by their colleagues."
Survey respondents also indicated that they favored assistive strategies for reporting, including deidentified feedback about an adverse event; senior colleagues who openly encourage reporting; and legislated protection of reports from legal discoverability.
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