HR Pulse - Winter 2007 - (Page 16) JUST CULTURE Redefining Accountability to Improve Patient Safety By Anne Coulter “ 16 HR Pulse Winter 2007 T o err is human; to forgive is divine.” This often-quoted sentiment from early 18thcentury poet Alexander Pope is not one that has generally been taken to heart in the healthcare industry. In a perfect world, healthcare professionals would never make mistakes and patients would come to no harm while in their care. Of course, the world is far from perfect. Mistakes will happen in hospitals and other healthcare facilities because humans are fallible beings who create fl awed systems and make fl awed choices. The Institute of Medicine estimates that approximately 1 million injuries and between 44,000 to 98,000 deaths occur in the United States each year because of treatment errors in hospitals. Marx believes that improving patient safety requires a shift away from the traditional focus on errors and outcomes to one that concentrates on system design and behavioral choices. ©iStockphoto.com/John Kounadeas
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