Critical Decision Making for Providers

Running Head: CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 1
Critical Decision Making for Providers
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CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 2
Critical Decision Making for Providers
Critical decision making is a very vital quality that every healthcare facility employee
must possess considering the nature of their workplace environment where at times employees
are supposed to go out of their way to save a life of a patient. At times medical practitioners
ought to go an extra mile and do something which is not among their terms of service just to save
a life.
The Consequences of failing to report
Mike’s choice to either inform the concerned person about the spill or to let go of the
spill is likely to have adverse outcomes. If he decides to report the incident, he will definitely be
late for his job again. This is a situation which may lead to termination of his job. If Mike deems
it fit for him not to report the spill, he will report to his work on time, however, the spill may
cause an accident, especially on a patient who may walk by and fall down an event which may
leave patient nursing injuries such as a fracture, brain hemorrhage, mortality, superficial injuries,
or even an open wound-which make patient vulnerable to contracting other diseases (Oliver,
Healey & Haines, 2010). Apart from injuries, failure to report the incident will have adverse
effects on the affected patients because injuries may lead to prolonged stay in the hospital. Also,
injuries on patients may lead to life time disabilities.
The healthcare facility will also be affected negatively; the patient’s fall is expensive in
both time and resources and may not be recovered. The patient may also take legal action against
the facility in an effort to be compensated. (Inouye, Brown & Tinetti, 2009)
The Impacts of Failure to Report

CRITICAL DECISION MAKING FOR PROVIDERS 3
Mike's choice of not reporting the spillage to the relevant department or the concerned
person will no doubt have an adverse impact on all the aspects that are involved. The decision of
failing to report the spill will put the patient’s safety at a stake. The wellbeing of a patient is very
crucial because when a patient slides and falls in the hospital that paints a bad image on the
hospital workers as well as the health facility. Apart from undesirable results on the patient, the
financial implications of the patient’s injury on health institution are also not interesting.
According to Medcrave, research revealed that falls increased the cost of hospitalization per
patient to about $6,669. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has estimated that costs
related to falls may increase to $67.7 billion by the year 2020.
Besides negative financial implications, there could also be lawsuits involved. The
patient may file a case against the healthcare facility. This action may translate into additional
expenses and resources since in this case; the facility will have to hire a lawyer to represent them
and will also have to compensate the patient in case the verdict does not favor them. Besides the
costs that the facility will have to incur in case they are sued, the legal action against a healthcare
facility will taint its positive public image, which can affect its rating and satisfaction scores, a
situation that may cause a decrease in a number of clients. If the patient falls, this will be an
increased workload for staff members because they will be forced to work extra hard to ensure
safety of the patient is guaranteed. This will include regular checkups, screening and close
monitoring of patient among others.
Remedies
The decision made by Mike, the lab technician, is futile and jeopardizes patients’ safety
and their wellbeing will in the hospital. As the manager of this particular healthcare facility, one