Page 45 - OB Risks - Delivering the Goods (Part One)
P. 45
SVMIC Obstetrics Risks: Delivering the Goods
As these cases demonstrate, the importance of effective
communication cannot be overemphasized. Good
communication skills are the result of focus, practice, and
a desire to involve others in the care of the patient. Better
communication will reduce the likelihood you will be involved in
a lawsuit and will certainly improve your ability to defend such
a claim. Strive for standardized language with nursing staff
(e.g. same Fetal Heart Tone monitoring nomenclature). Don’t
just assume you are “speaking the same language” especially
with new staff members or those with whom you have not
previously worked. If communication during calls received
from hospital nursing staff are unclear, attempt to ascertain the
primary concern; and if necessary, address concerns regarding
nursing care through the appropriate chain of command.
Now let’s move on to another all-too-common and manageable
issue – documentation.
Documentation
As you will recall from our earlier graph reflecting the most
common indefensibility factors, documentation issues were
present in nearly half of the claims reviewed. The issues related
to documentation failures are noted in this pie chart.
Page 45
