When our children get sick, it’s important to play an active role in their health and medical care. There are a number of steps that parents can take to make sure that their children receive the best possible care from healthcare teams. With relation to medicines, hospital stays, and surgical operations, an informed approach to risks is vital for parents when supporting their children through these processes.
Medication Safety
The first thing that parents should think about is ensuring that they are up-to-date with every medication their child is taking, including vitamins and herbal or alternative medicines. Parents should also ideally be aware of their child’s weight so that the correct dosage can be given, although in most cases a doctor or pharmacist will be able to weigh your child for you if you don’t know this information.
Next, make sure that you are aware of any allergies your child has, and that you inform any medical personnel of these allergies.
Once you have been given a prescription, make sure that you can read what it says. You should clarify with the doctor or pharmacist if you don’t understand the dosage, medication frequency, and how long your child is supposed to take the medication for. When you actually arrive at the pharmacy to pick up the medicine, double-check that the medication that you have been given matches what your child was prescribed. Check that the dose stated on the bottle matches what your doctor told you. In a study performed by the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Sciences discovered that as much as 88% of medication errors were that the wrong drug was provided, or the wrong dose stated on the medicine bottle.
On this same note, when considering pediatric medical negligence, a lawyer from Patient Claim Line notes that the three most common types of claims misreading meningitis symptoms, misdiagnosed appendicitis, and medication errors. Medication errors can occur at four main steps in the medication process: ordering (56% of errors) administering (34%), transcription (6%), and dispensing (4%). In all medication errors, physicians are at fault 69% of the time, so questioning your doctor to confirm the medication being prescribed is the most important time at which a parent can intervene.
When medication errors occur so often, it is prudent to take extra care at all steps in the process when receiving and administering medicines on your child’s behalf.
Hospitals and Surgery
The first thing to look into when your child needs a medical procedure at a hospital is whether or not you can have a choice of hospital for this procedure. Research has shown that, unsurprisingly, when a hospital has more experience with a particular condition, results are better for patients.
Next, when your child is checked in to the hospital make sure that you keep a close eye on their care and the caregivers who have direct contact with them. Studies have found that when healthcare workers are asked “Have you washed your hands?” that they were more likely to wash their hands more regularly throughout the day. Handwashing is a crucial part of stopping the spread of infection between patients and healthcare workers, and between patients.
If your child is having surgery, make sure that your child is always wearing their identification bracelet, and that the exact procedure is confirmed multiple time with everyone in the healthcare team. This is a precaution that is taken in all hospitals, but the parent can also play a role in ensuring that the surgical procedure performed is the correct one and in the correct location.
Finally, there are a number of general steps that you can take to ensure that your child’s medical care is of the highest quality. Being actively involved in your child’s care is one of the best ways to prevent medical errors, and by simply taking part in every step of the process with your child, you will ensure they receive the best care possible.
Make sure you know who is in charge of your child’s medical team, and ask questions at any point if you need to clarify anything. These simple steps can make a big difference in the comfort and care of your child.
