Misadventures in Health Care: Inside Stories (Human Error and Safety Series)

Misadventures in Health Care: Inside Stories presents an alternative approach to attributing the cause of medical error solely to the health care provider. That alternative, the systems approach, pursues why an incident occurs in terms of factors in the context of care that affect the care provider to induce an error. The basis for this approach is the fact that an error is an act, an act is behavior, and behavior is a function of the person interacting with the environment. Eleven vignettes illustrate the importance of the systems approach by describing health care incidents from the perspective of the care providers--the perspective that can identify the factors that actually affect the provider. These stories provide general readers with opportunities to apply their knowledge in analyzing incidents to identify error-inducing factors. This book is important reading for policymakers, researchers and practitioners in law and in all medical specialties, and professionals in the social sciences, human factors, and engineering. In addition to sensitizing the reader to the importance of contextual factors in error, Misadventures in Health Care is a case study reference to supplement texts in professional schools such as law and medicine, as well as the full range of academic disciplines. It also is important reading for the general public because it presents an approach for addressing a very pressing social problem-- that of misadventures in health care. As the visual component of contemporary media has overtaken the verbal, visual reportage has established a unique and extremely significant role in 21st-century culture. Julianne Newton has prepared this comprehensive analysis of the development of the role of visual reportage as a critical player in the evolution of our understanding of ourselves, others, and the world. The Burden of Visual Truth offers a first assessment of the role of visual journalism within the context of the complex, cross-disciplinary pool of literature and ideas required for synthesis. Newton approaches the subject matter from several perspectives, examining the theoretical and ideological bases for visual truth, particularly as conveyed by the news media, and applying relevant research on photojournalism and reality imagery to contemporary newspaper, broadcast, and internet professional practice. She extends visual communication theory by proposing an ecology of the visual for 21st century life and developing a typology of human visual behavior. Scholars in visual studies, media studies, journalism, nonverbal communication, cultural history, and psychology will find this analysis invaluable as a comprehensive base for studying reality imaging and human visual behavior. The volume also is appropriate for journalism and media studies coursework at the undergraduate and graduate levels. With its conclusions about the future of visual reportage, The Burden of Visual Truth also will be compelling reading for journalism and mass communication professionals concerned with improving media credibility and maintaining a significant course for journalism in the 21st century. For all who seek to understand the role of visual media in the formation of their views of the world and of their own identities, this volume is a must-read

bogner (institute For The Study Of Human Error) Presents An Alternative Approach To Attributing The Cause Of Medical Error Solely To The Health Care Provider. Eleven Vignettes, By Contributors In Surgery, Anesthesia, Nursing, And Other Medical Areas, Describe Healthcare Incidents From The Perspective Of Care Providers. Material Is Of Interest To Policymakers, Researchers, And Practitioners In Law And In All Medical Specialties, And To Professionals In Human Factors. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, Or

This volume considers human error as a phenomenon to be understood so it can be effectively addressed, thus enhancing safety. This involves challenging the presumption that to err is human and supplanting it with a synthesis of insights conveyed by stories from the rarely considered perspective of health care providers -- those who know firsthand what can be involved in an error as well as the myriad of unsafe factors in the context in which health care is provided. In all aspects of life, human error has been the attributed cause of faulty products and accidents with consequences ranging from inconvenience, through loss of property and resources, to death.